Avoid these four biggest first-time home buyer mistakes. And whether you’re buying a home, an investment property, or a vacation property, I’m here to get your attention focused on not making those mistakes, especially in the fierce market we are in today to survive and thrive as a first-time buyer.     


    
1.Don’t forget about the closing costs. 

It’s not just the down payment you need to be prepared to pay, but also the closing cost. Closing costs include loan apps, loan fees, title policies, escrow fees, prorated property taxes, and many other things.

You need to be prepared with additional cash on hand for approximately 2% to 3% of the purchase price for closing costs in addition to the down payment.



2. First-time buyers don’t know their credit score or haven’t even looked at their credit reports.

Here’s the thing. The loan you’re going to completely depends on your credit score and all the information entangled there.

Everybody’s got a credit report and everybody’s got a mistake on their credit. You have to work on your credit score and fix the report before you apply for the loan.

3. Don’t fall in love with the house. Instead, fall in love with the neighborhood.

You’ve heard the term location, location, location. I work with many first-time home buyers who fall in love with the home and overlook the neighborhood.

But I want to point out that the home’s value is over 85% reliant on the values of other homes in the neighborhood. So buyers need to focus on falling in love with the block and the lifestyle it has to offer and consider a worse home rather than falling in love with a cute house on the wrong block.

You’ll think to be later in the future for this advice when equity rises faster and more on the right block than the wrong one.



4. Use the power of mimicking an all

A cash offer to win your bid is something that most buyers don’t even know what is. Why? Because if you go through the process, the bank has already allocated that money for you.

The only way to do this is to get not just preapproved, but fully underwritten, so you can get a commitment from the bank to mimic an all-cash offer.

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