How To Avoid The 2 Biggest Mistakes Homebuyers Make Before Buying!
September 24, 2019
As a homebuyer, you may be wondering how to avoid making a mistake when you buy your home… as we all would.
But, setting the bar too high may serve to have counterproductive effects. Instead, allow for the possibility of a few mistakes while trying to mitigate as many, and especially large ones, as possible.
Today, we’re going to talk about two of the most avoidable mistakes when you’re looking to buy a home.
Not understanding the importance of a high credit score!
Is it enough just to qualify for a loan? It depends on your goals but overall just qualifying for a loan with an entry-level credit score has its downside. First, a lower credit score can cost you the most money, both in points and interest.
Mortgages are ranked by credit scores in different tiers. For example, a credit score of over 720 will get you the lowest interest rates and could save you thousands of dollars while a score from 680 to 720 will get you fairly decent rates. But a score of 620 (and in some cases, even lower) is the bare minimum to qualify for a loan.
The bottom line is you should educate yourself on what credit means to you and how to better your credit score to maximize your potential savings.
Note: Most lenders have credit programs that will give you a plan to improve your credit score, putting you in an ideal position to buy a home, based on your personal goals and circumstances.
Not getting pre-approved early in the process!
It costs you absolutely nothing but some time to speak with a lender and find out if you can qualify, how much you can qualify for or what you can do to improve your homebuying position. Honestly, this should be the first step taken toward homeownership.
The mistake many people make is waiting until they want to move into a home until they take this critical step. The truth is that the market is unforgiving to the unprepared and many homebuyers find out the hard way.
Imagine finding the perfect home for you and your family. One where you instantly fall in love with everything about it, then you go to the lender to get pre-approved and get the approval, then going to make the offer on the perfect home just to find out that it’s already pending a contract because it took a day (in some cases just hours) to get a loan approval.
That’s not a mistake you want to find out the hard way. The solution, of course, is to get the preapproval taken care of early so you can be first to make the offer and strengthen your buying position.
What’s the lesson? Educate yourself and be prepared to make an offer when you start looking to buy a home and you’ll avoid the two biggest mistakes homebuyers make.
I’m Keven Card, from soldbykevencard.com and if we can help in any way, drop us a line.