4 Wide-spread Home Buyer Slip-Ups

We see a wide range of dumb reasons why a home buyer ultimately find themselves missing out on purchasing their home. Practitioners recently shared a few of the wide-spread mistakes with realtor.com®, including the best way to correct the problem.

4 Wide-spread Home Buyer Slip-Ups

1. Shopping outside their affordability.

“It sounds obvious, but some home buyers just have trouble sticking to a budget,” says Benny Kang, a real estate professional in Irvine, Calif. Shopping online may increase the temptation to bump up the price range. One way to avoid this situation is to encourage your buyers to get pre-approved for a loan so they know what they can truly afford and stay within their limits.

2. Submitting low-ball offers within a very hot market.

“If you’re in a seller’s market, making a crazy low-ball offer can piss off the seller,” says Kang. Buyers would be smart to offer full price when homes are priced well. Help buyers understand how a comparative market analysis can offer insight into pricing. Check out article concerning low-ball offers

3. Making a massive purchase while in escrow.

Buyers often don’t understand they must delay big purchases and opening new credit lines during the process of purchasing a home. “Even buying a fridge can throw off your credit or debt-to-income ratio,” says Kathy Conway, a Philadelphia real estate professional. In cases where a big purchase is done, the mortgage lender’s underwriter will be required to re-evaluate the buyer’s finances and recheck her credit report before closing to ensure that the buyer still qualifies for the mortgage, so we want to warn buyers if they’re approaching this period.

4. Forgetting to budget closing costs.

Buyers don’t only need money for the down payment. There are a number of additional fees at settlement, too. Buyers can receive an estimate from their mortgage lender of what the closing costs are going to be before even making an offer on a property. With our buyers we have them review that information carefully. Closing costs may range drastically but typically cost 2 to 7 percent of the home’s purchase price.

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