As a Buyer:


This Could Happen 

1. You will not be told how much money to bring to closing until the day of your closing and/or many times only hours or minutes just before the appointment on the day of closing.

2. The dates on your contract will most likely change, perhaps multiple times. The dates are only a guesstimate and subject to many variables i.e. lender timetable.

3. You will become anxious or nervous.

4. You will become irritated or annoyed about frequent and last-minute paperwork requests with seemingly impossible deadlines.

5. You will want to tell you your friends and family about your buying experience on social media sites. Don't!

6. The mortgage company will definitely pull a credit report on you the day before or even the day of your closing.
 
 

Things You Should Absolutely Not Do 

  • Don't quit your job.
  • Don't change your job.
  • Don't buy any large ticket items.
  • Don't make large bank deposits; all funds need to be traceable. 
  • Don't speak with the sellers directly. 
  • Not getting a gift letter and the bank statement for gift funds. 
  • Not telling the person who is giving you the gift that you will probably need a gift letter and some proof - usually a bank statement that they had the money to gift you. 
  • Not being completely honest with your lender about child support, alimony, wage garnishments or any other payroll reduction. 
  • Don't make any major purchases. 
  • Don't get advice from a buying committee that has not purchased in the last year because the rules for lending change almost daily. 
  • Don't wait to see everything else that is on the market. 
  • Don't trash the property in front of the owners. 
  • Don't call the other agent on “For-Sale” signs. 
  • Don't attend “Open Houses” and new home construction without me. 
  • Tell me if you have a house for sale. 
  • Don't delay paperwork because you are irritated by the frequency and number of requests from your mortgage company. 
  • Don't find a lender on the Internet that offers a 0.001 interest rate and/or is outside of the area. 
  • Don't forget – it is possible to find what you're looking for the very first day you go out and this happens more often than you think. 
  • Don't go home to sleep on it if you're in a hot market because if you sleep on it you might not get to buy the house. 
  • Don't wait to find the absolute perfect house because you will always be limited by income, inventory at the time, and/or legislation and/or property taxes.
  • If you find a house that has 80% of what you're looking for, 10% of things you can alter or change, and 10% of things you can live with, it's a keeper.


And More Things You Should Absolutely Not Do 

  • Do not co-sign. PERIOD. END OF STORY!
  • Don't schedule a vacation before we close.
  • Don't order Direct TV, cable, telephone, internet, or any utility that will pull a credit report, unless you want to write a letter of explanation about the inquiry on your credit report to your mortgage company.
  • Don't change your name during the mortgage process. 
  • Not being upfront with your loan officer and hiding information. 
  • Not realizing the clock starts ticking from the time the loan officer receives the contract, not the date it was written. 
  • Need a letter of explanation for any changes you made to your financial picture. 
  • Don't have unreasonable expectations. 
  • Don't pass on getting a home warranty. 
  • Don't give away your negotiation power by speaking in the house (always assume you're being recorded.)
  • Don't post your real estate thoughts on social media sites; know this can easily be viewed. 
  • Don't skip a home inspection. 
  • Don't start looking for your new home before you are fully approved; nothing hurts as much as finding the house you love and losing it because someone else beat you to it because you were not completely ready. 
  • Don't believe what you see on HGTV and reality television. 
  • Don't forget to shop the good faith estimate. 
  • Not telling me what is most important to you. 
  • Don't call at the very last minute to cancel appointments. 
  • Don't use a 100% Online Lender. 
  • Don't use an attorney that does not specialize in real estate. 
  • Not using the name on your driver’s license for mortgage docs (use JR or SR if required.) 
  • Not telling your lender if you lose your job before you close. 
  • Do not go window shopping and let people pull your credit. 
  • Realize that if it can't be written on the front page of the contract because it's being done “under the table,” it is probably mortgage fraud. 
  • Do not look at a short sale if you need to move immediately. 
  • Do not consider a short sale if you need to be in control of the process. 

Top 15 Mistakes Buyers Make 

1. Continuing to look even when it's time to stop. 

2. Not hiring an attorney. 

3. Waiting for property prices to drop some more. 

4. Visiting only one home or not knowing what's available next door. 

5. Rushing the process. 

6. Waving a mortgage contingency or other contingencies. 

7. Not walking away from unexpected or unacceptable changes, discrepancies, or unkept
    promises at the closing table. 

8. Using more than one agent. 

9. Not having an inspection. 

10. Not being preapproved for a loan prior to making an offer.

11. Unreasonable offers.

12. Untraceable deposits. 

13. Changing or quitting jobs before they close, or divorcing during the contract. 

14. Not disclosing all income sources and everything to your mortgage lender.

15. Not telling your agent if your property needs or likes and desires about the homes you are
      seeing, change.