Mortgage Mistakes Cost Home Buyers Time and Money

Many home buyers make a series of simple to prevent mortgage mistakes that cost them $1,000's each time they purchase a house. We will discuss the costliest home buying mortgage blunders in this article.

Home Buyer Mortgage Mistake Number 1: Shopping for a mortgage after finding the home

Thinking about the mortgage financing should be the first priority once you've decided to buy a home. The average US home buyer puts finding the mortgage last on the list. This is a very costly mistake.

Don't jump in looking at a bunch of houses just yet. Don't contact a real estate agent. Don't discuss what neighborhoods to live in. Don't do any of those "emotionally charged" steps in home buying. Getting the cart before the horse is one of the biggest mistakes first time as well as veteran home buyers make.

The biggest problem with mortgage shopping last rather than first is "falling in love" with a house you simply cannot afford. Buying and then trying to fudge the numbers makes a bad decision worse. Do not expect the real estate agent or builder to be the voice of reason when it comes to home buying. More often than not, they are guilty of pushing you to make this devastating decision in the first place.

I have seen otherwise smart folks do the most unintelligent things when it comes to home buying simply because they didn't have an experienced voice of reason to temper their emotionally charged set of decisions.

Home Buyer Mortgage Mistake Number 2: No Research

I recommend at least 3 months before even looking at homes, you start your education on your mortgage options and researching companies. Get a free credit report to know your credit scores and start interviewing mortgage providers. Do research on the companies you are considering. Check the BBB and your state's licensing websites. Search online for reviews and complaints of the loan officer and his company.

These rather simple steps can keep you from applying with a crooked mortgage provider which can save you untold $1,000s.

Do NOT skip this step!

Getting the wrong financing with the wrong company can do more to damage your home buying and home owning experience than any other single factor.

Home Buyer Mortgage Mistake Number 3: Taking loan officer referrals from the real estate agent

Never take real estate agent referrals when it comes to finding a mortgage company.

Real estate agents may have some sort of "relationship" with the loan officers they refer. Either they have an actual relationship…wife, husband, girlfriend, boyfriend, mom, dad, or they have a "financial" relationship. Neither of these relationships will be disclosed to you so you can't really evaluate the merit of the referral.

Being an insider for 15 years, I can't tell you how many agents only refer their wife (who mysteriously has a different last name than they do). Or, the number of agents who asked me what I'd pay them if they referred buyers to me…this is illegal, but that doesn't stop them.

Yikes!

This mistake can cost you a ton of money and is easily avoided if you follow the researching tips mentioned earlier.

Now you know the costliest missteps home buyers make and how to duck them. So you can go into the marketplace certain you won't throw away time or money the next time you buy a house.