Home Buyer Tips: 4 Mistakes to avoid when buying a home

John Polson:

Have you been thinking about buying a home in today's real estate market? If you are, you are not alone. Are you worried about making a bad decision, or making a mistake while shopping for a home? If so, you are also not alone. 2021 is an amazing time to buy a home. With interest rates at record low levels, buying conditions are about as good as they can be. The market is hot, but there are lots of pitfalls to avoid when shopping for a home. I've been there, having bought and sold a number of homes myself, and had those same worries and concerns.

My name is John Polson And as a real estate agent I have helped many people buy and sell homes. I got into this business because I wanted to use my knowledge and experience to help as many people as possible as they go through perhaps the most significant financial decisions most people will make in their lives. I also have experience as a mortgage originator, so I have a look behind that curtain and I have knowledge and experience to share with my clients to help through the financial part of this very challenging process. Today I am here because I want to share with you four tips on mistakes to avoid that could save you thousands of dollars, and if you make these mistakes it could cost you thousands of dollars, if not lots of time and added headache.

So starting with tip number one, when you are browsing online, don't just call on the home that you see for sale listed in the MLS, or on that website that you're shopping through. Remember that the listing agent works for the seller. Talk to your buyer's agent and make sure that you, if you do call that listing agent, that you let that listing agent know that you're working with a buyer's agent. It's okay to call the listing agent when you have a buyer's agent and get a few questions asked, but you want to make sure that you have somebody that's looking out for your best interests. That listing agent is working for the seller and it's their job to make sure that they lookout for the best interest of that seller. If you don't have a buyer's agent, please call me. Either myself or one of our highly qualified agents will be glad to represent you and protect your interest as your buyer's agent.
Tip number two, don't just rely on everyone else's opinion, or count on approval by a committee on what you should do for the home that you should buy. Buying a home is a very emotional, and it's a very personal decision. If you are shopping when you have a spouse or a partner, then you want to make sure that you have that person's approval, and that you're on the same page as far as what you're shopping for, but I often have a lot of younger folks that will be shopping, and maybe they have the advice of a number of friends that they're talking to, or they have family that is helping them navigate through the process.Sometimes I have multiple family members that are coming with that home buyer in the process. And I love that experience, but make sure that you know what it is that you want, and make sure that you can communicate effectively the things that you need in a home, because it's a very personal decision and it becomes very difficult when you have a lot of other people's input, because you'll never be able to please everyone in that process, but you need to make sure that you are getting the things that you need when buying for that home.
Which brings me to tip number three, don't just go into the process blind. Don't make the decision that just because interest rates are great, and just because everybody's saying now's the time to do it, this is the time that you have to buy a home. That is not necessarily true. Make sure that you have a plan. Think about where you are in your life, and know where you are going to be in the next couple of years, if there's any uncertainty or you're just not sure, then maybe now isn't the best time to buy a home. But if you do, if you had that transition and you've gotten a new job, or maybe you're starting a family, or maybe you just need more space, or maybe you've been renting and you're tired of renting. Maybe you've got a dog and that dog needs to have a yard and you've been renting in an apartment and it's driving you crazy having to walk down the hallway, go to the elevator to take your dog outside. So yes, there are any number of reasons that are going to be very personal to you, but know what your why is. You should know very well that this is a commitment that is going to involve a lot of decisions, and you're going to want to know what your why is and why you're buying this home.
So tip number four, do not commit the cardinal sin of home purchasing, and that is taking on more debt. Don't go out and buy a car, avoid the credit cards, don't buy furniture with credit. Now, once you've bought your home, and you've closed on the deal, then you can do those kinds of things. But we've seen it any number of times, particularly in the midst of the approval process where the buyer gets so excited and they feel like they've done everything that they can, and this deal has worked out great, I got this deal negotiated, I got the price that I wanted on the home, and they go out and buy a new car and they're so excited. Well, guess what? The lender is going to actually have to pull your credit file, and they're going to run your credit report, and run your debt to income ratios again prior to closing on that transaction. So if you've added debt payments to your credit file, then it's going to completely potentially blow up the loan, and it could prevent you from being able get that house. That is probably one of the most costly mistakes that gets made during the home buyer process.

There are lots of other things that can happen, and we're not talking really about negotiating deals and all the things that can happen in the process of negotiating your contract, but today I just wanted to give you those four tips. And my name is John Polson, And again, I have been there and I want to share my knowledge and experience with you to help you through this process if you're looking to buy a home. Please don't hesitate to contact me, my number is 757-707-4664, or you can message me through the button, which is somewhere on this page, probably down below. Feel free to let me know any questions that you have potentially about buying a home, or if you're in the market to sell a home, we help a lot of people sell homes as well. So in the meantime, stay happy, stay healthy, take care of yourself, and we'll see you next time.