5 Tips For Avoiding Problems When Buying A Home
You have, I’m sure, heard of people who ran into all sorts of trouble after they bought their home, troubles that could have been avoided. Read this article and you won’t make 5 common yet costly mistakes people make when they buy a house.
#1 Have A Buyer’s Agent
Not having a real estate agent represent you doesn’t save you money. The sellers real estate agent gets the same percentage. If you don’t have an agent represent you, the seller’s agent just doesn’t split the commission. Make sure you at least try to negotiate it down. Besides, an agent can help you pay less.
Contracts written buy sellers or their representatives favor sellers. A buyer’s agent will make sure there isn’t too much of that going on.
2 Use A Home Inspector
Unless you’re a general contractor, an architect, or in a similar profession, always hire a home inspector to look at the the condo you’re going to invest your money in. That goes for gut-rehab condos too. You’re buying a condo unit and rights to some of the building, like hallways, elevators, basement. If those areas or the outside walls, the roof, are in bad shape, you’re buying yourelf headaches.
Don’t use a home inspector that your agent recommends if the agent gets paid only if there’s a closing. Agents have influence over the home inspectors they work with often. Some home inspectors will overlook problems. That goes doubly for using a home inspector recommended by the seller or the seller’s agent|.
3 Hire Your Own Appraiser
The appraiser who’ll come out for the mortgage represents the lender’s interests not yours. Yes, they’re supposed to give an impartial estimate of value. And most do. They still represent the bank. They can’t tell you anything they find. And the value is of a given date. That means that if the price you’re paying is too high or that the city’s rezoning the other side of the street and that’s going to reduce the value of your condo, they can’t tell you. If you hired your own appraiser, you would know all kind of useful things way ahead of closing. Long before you invest money and emotion.
Not to mention that appraisers can do a lot more than just appraise. They can do all kind of research for you. They already do a lot of research (neighborhoods, property histories, zoning, market trends, etc.).
By the way, even if you pay for the appraisal, if the lender sent the appraiser, the appraiser works for the lender, can only talk to the lender (unless the lender specifically says they can talk to someone else).
4 Always Use An Attorney
This sounds so commonsensical that a lot of people would think I’m just wasting space when I say don’t hire an attorney that has any interest in the other side or is recommended by the other side. Except I’ve heard of buyers’ using the seller’s attorney. With bad results.
5 Start Looking For A Mortgage Broker Before You Find The Perfect Condo
It takes time to get a good mortgage broker, so don’t leave to the last minute. And get pre-approved (not pre-qualified) as your offers would be taken more seriously. Having a good mortgage broker means you don’t lose a good deal because the funds were not available on time. It also means you don’t get the wrong loan.
Buying a home involves a lot of money. It’s best you get all the help you can. So have all the right people on your team.
Property insurance is crucial to your enjoyment of your home. I haven’t mentionedI did not bring up house insurance in my article getting the wrong coverage or not enough can be changed easily, usually before you pay too high of a price. That said, though the mistake can be fixed before you run into trouble. So, the next time you type in a search engine’s box ‘home owners insurance Chicago or something similar, do your research well. The main mistake people make with property insurance is not that they pay too much but that they don’t buy enough coverage.
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