3 Things I Would Never Do As a Realtor When Buying a House
1 – 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐞-𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐧. Your loan pre-approval amount dictates how much you can spend, which in turn dictates the rest of your search parameters. Don’t fall in love with a home only to find out you can’t afford it!
2 – 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧. While there are some market shifts taking place, we are still in a primarily seller’s market. Unless a house has been on the market for a few weeks, you are setting yourself up for disappointment and wasted time by taking this approach.
3. 𝐁𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐣𝐨𝐛 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐈’𝐦 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 (or hoping I can use the salary from an upcoming new job to qualify). The cardinal rule when going through the purchase process is *don’t make any big financial changes.* This includes starting a new job! Even if you are going to be making more at said new job, lenders have very stringent requirements around employment.
What is something you learned or a mistake you made when you bought a home?
This content is not the product of the National Association of REALTORS®, and may not reflect NAR's viewpoint or position on these topics and NAR does not verify the accuracy of the content.
