Home Buying Blunders


Looking for a home to buy is an exciting experience. Your emotion balanced with logic is the wisest way to approach it. Educating yourself about this long and stressful process of home buying will result in the biggest investment that you will be making in your life. Wrong decisions may lead to irreversible and home buying mistake | avoiding home purchase pitfallscostly mistakes.

So, what should you avoid so as not to make this mistake?

  • Avoid using your heart over your head. You might fall in love with a home instantly forgetting that you are making a huge financial investment and that someday you might want to sell it, only to find out when it is too late that your home is tough to resell.

  • Avoid viewing homes alone. Bring your spouse, your children, or a friend with you. You might miss some imperfections because of your excitement. Their point of view will surely be of great help.

  • Avoid looking at homes you cannot afford. Buying a home does not only mean a down payment and fixed monthly mortgages. There will also be expenses for repairs, maintenance, new appliances and furniture, property taxes, and insurance. A clear understanding of your finances prevents wasted time.

  • Avoid viewing homes with no checklist on hand. You should have a list of everything you need and what you would like to have in your home according to your priorities.

  • Avoid buying a home in an unfamiliar neighborhood. Spend some time in the area, and ask questions regarding criminal activities, and accessibility to schools, supermarkets, or churches. It is not only a home you are purchasing but the location as well.

  • Avoid buying a home on your first visit. Do not rush. Visit the home that you like twice, thrice, or even more than that. Make sure that this is the home that you really want to settle in. Have a professional home inspection done to eliminate future headaches like the exterior components which include roofing, gutters, and downspouts, and the interior systems which include electrical, plumbing, and flooring.

  • Avoid letting the seller or the agent know that you are in love with the house. Because in doing so, they could ask for a higher price.

  • Avoid getting too personal with the seller. Be friendly, but treat the transaction as professionally as possible. Remarks about changes and future repairs might not be taken well by the seller.

  • Avoid making major purchases. A new car, jewelry, or expensive appliances can wait until after you have purchased and settled in your new home. Because if you are buying items before the home purchase it will increase your “debt-to-income ratio” and it will affect the amount of loan you qualify for, be difficult to get your loan approved because a huge debt may hamper your ability to pay the mortgage, or worse, your loan may be denied.

  • Avoid changing jobs. That is, unless you are going to earn more or if the line of work is within the same field. Constant job changes may be an issue in qualifying for a loan. Stable job history is a plus. If you really want a new job, wait until after the home you are buying is yours.

  • Avoid switching banks. Problems in the verification process may occur when you move your money to another bank.

  • Avoid giving earnest money deposit directly to the seller. An escrow company can hold the deposit or it can be placed in a trust account until closing day. Your contract should state what will happen to the deposit in case the transaction does not push through.

  • Avoid verbal agreements. Put everything in black and white. Whatever was agreed upon verbally does not count in the eyes of the law.

  • Avoid signing documents without reading them first. Read, familiarize, understand, then sign before finalizing your home purchase.

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