If you are a first time home buyer, then you must know that there are some buyers who make terrible mistakes and mess up their entire home buying experience. If you have found the best home that you really like and got the pre-approval, then great. You now have to make an offer, but make sure to avoid messing up the transaction process. Below are some tips on what not to do before buying a house so that you don’t have regrets down the road.
What Not to Do Before Buying a House - Tips from the Pros
Don’t know what not to do before buying a house? You shouldn’t miss any of your payments, be careful when you merge debt together, avoid changing your job and more.
Don’t Miss the Loan Payments
You have to keep all your payments current on all the accounts you have. These include car loans and credit cards as well. The lender will definitely look at your credit again before he/she finalizes the deal. In case you have missed any payments, you run the risk of losing that loan because of your credit activity.
Be Careful Merging Debt
Debt merging or consolidation can be quite tempting. If you have finally started looking for a home, then you may want to consider this. Most of the consolidation will offer you to bring all your debts under a single payment, which is quite helpful to some. Although, there are hidden interest rates and fees in this process which can increase the total amount drastically. All these come without a prior warning. So, it is very important to merge the debts very carefully. This includes debt that you may have forgotten about such as your old remodeling costs, appliances, etc.
Avoid Changing Your Job
It is quite obvious that changing jobs is not something that you will want to do when you are purchasing a new house. Your lender will look at your employment history very closely. Of course, they have to be sure that you are financially stable as well as you are capable of paying your loan amount. When you change a job before you get the loan, this can make it look less appealing to your lender. Changing the job may look like you are unstable to your lender. That’s why it’s important to plan accordingly.
Don’t Shift Finances Around Before You Get the Loan
When you get a preapproval from your lender, it is completely based on the present state of your financial condition. You need to maintain this state as it is unless and until you get the loan -- especially if you are planning on buying a home in under one year. Sometimes buyers tend to make the mistake by shifting some of their money for positioning themselves in a better way. But that is a huge mistake. The lender will see the change in financial condition and will definitely ask for the condition. They will then decide whether or not to approve the loan. This also applies for making any other large purchases that you’ll have to finance, such as a pool, in addition to the home and more.
Conclusion
So, these are some of the things or mistakes that you should avoid if you wanted to know what not to do before buying a house. Also, you need to avoid banking at a new institution in the middle of the approval process. Changing your baking institute will also raise a lot of questions. You also must avoid buying a new car or any other large purchase until you get the loan.
