Things to Avoid when Purchasing a Home

While there are many dos when getting ready to purchase a home there are many don’ts that are just as important.  There are things you want to make sure you avoid doing that could affect your ability to purchase a home or the deal you get on your purchase.

Period of Time Leading up to Purchase

• You will want to avoid anything that affects your income, credit scores and reports, or debt to credit ratio.
  • It is important not to make any job changes as lenders want to see long-term employment history when deciding whether or not to award a loan for a mortgage. 
  • Make sure you pull your credit reports and scores before applying for your mortgage so that you are aware of any errors and can get them corrected.  This will also tell you if your score is too low and give you a chance to raise it so that you can possibly obtain a better interest rate.
  • It is best to not make any major purchases during this time.  There are two reasons for this.  First, part of how a lender decides whether or not to give you a loan for a mortgage is by looking at your debt to credit ratio.  A major purchase could negatively affect this which could put your loan in jeopardy.  The other reason is that it is a good idea to save up as much money as possible to cover closing costs, a down payment, and any other unforeseen expenses and/or repairs.

During the Purchase

• You will want to make sure that you purchase home owners insurance before the purchase of the property and not after.  Your lender will take the insurance into account for your loan terms.  It will also give you more time to shop for the best deal. 
• Make sure your home inspection is done by a professional home inspector and not a relative or friend.  There are times that relatives and friends may offer their “expertise” in construction and offer to do the home inspection for free.  While they may have the best of intentions it is best to use a professional.  A professional is trained to look for a myriad of things beyond just construction including termite infestation, foundation cracks, mold, and much more.  Chances are your relative or friend doesn’t know to look for these other things or how to properly do so. 

The most important thing to take away from this is to put thought into all major decisions when trying to purchase a home.  Before making the decision question whether or not it could affect the purchase.  If it is something that could affect the purchase consider if it is possible to put it off or consider other alternatives.