August 5, 2009

Get ready to learn a lot!  For the next 10 weeks I will be blogging on some detrimental home buying mistakes that can really cost you.  Some of them may seem obvious, but there is more to them than the superficial title so read on.  I have found most of this information from one of my favorite user-friendly sources for real estate information for the public, www.frontdoor.com. 

Over the next 10 weeks I will take one home buying mistake a week and cover it in detail.  Even if you are not looking to buy a house right now, this is good information for any future home-buyer to have.  Also, if you are already a home buyer there are still things you can learn! 

Starting it off with #10, here they are:

#10:Not getting pre-approved before house hunting

Do you know how much of a home you can afford?  Well, most people think they have a good idea of what they can afford...until reality hits when they go through a pre-approval process.  You might be thinking, "oh, of course I could buy a half a million dollar home, no problem", when in reality lenders may not be willing to loan you that much and you may find with a pre-approval that you should really be looking at homes in the mid-300,000's range. 

Before you being you house-hunt it is crucial to get pre-approved for a loan amount.  This simply means you need to find a lender (i.e. you bank you bank at or possibly another bank or mortgage lending company) that you can trust and feel comfortable dealing with.  The mortgage professional you choose will then review your credit, income, assets and debts, and recommend a mortgage with monthly payments that fit your budget.  They will thenk come up with a pre-approved loan amount, or a "magic number" as I like to call it. This "magic number", will give you some clear boundaries for what you are really in the market to afford.  It is considered a "good faith estimate", a document that spells out the likely terms or you loan, including the prospected interest rate and closing costs associated with a certain loan amount. Besides knowing that magic number, being pre-approved for a certain loan amount will also let seller know that you are serious about buying a property and aren't merely a "looky-loo". 

Another great part of being pre-approved is you're not wasting time- your time, sellers time, or your realtors time by looking at homes that are out of your price range. 

Another side-note to consider is just because you are pre-approved for a certian amount doesn't mean you have to spend that much.  That pre-approval amount it ususally the highest loan amount a lender is willing to lend you. 

Check back later this week to learn about pre-qualification vs. pre-approval and more.

This information was obtained from:http://www.frontdoor.com/Buy/Top-10-Home-Buying-Mistakes-That-Can-Cost-You/55152/p10

Take a look at my market report for today!
http://www.ryanvaught.com/chicomarketreport

Currently Ryan has about 30+ listings in inventory, and has sold 23 homes in 2009. Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions about Chico area real estate.

Interested in learning more about the Chico area or Ryan?
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