Don't Trip Yourself up While Buying a New Home

In the rush of excitement that comes with an accepted offer and a "yes" from the lender, many homebuyers make the mistake of carrying their enthusiasm straight to the mall or appliance store. Until closing, there still remain some hurdles to jump. Here are some things to avoid during the home buying process to assure your transaction goes well.

Don't throw your money around. You may be itching to buy that new couch for the soon-to-be-yours living room, but it's best to avoid making large purchases like furniture, appliances, electronic equipment, or vacations until your home loan closes. Using plastic to buy furniture could compromise your loan process by distorting your numbers. Using cash to buy big items can even create a bad idea: many banks take into consideration your cash reserve when approving your loan.

Don't get a new career. Consistency in your job history is a good thing to lending institutions. Finding a new career (especially one with a bump in salary) may not affect your ability to qualify for your mortgage loan. But in some cases, changing jobs during the mortgage loan approval process could bring concern and hinder your approval.

Don't move money around or change banks. Bank statements from the last few months for all of your accounts (checking, savings, money market, and other assets) will be reviewed as the lending institution makes decisions regarding your loan application. Your lender looks for a consistent flow of your funds over the pay period, in the interest of avoiding fraud. No matter the purpose, changing banks or moving funds from one account to another may raise a red flag with the lender and impede your approval process.

Don't give your FSBO (for sale by owner) seller earnest money, made out directly to him. Your good faith deposit does not belong to the seller: it remains yours until the sale closes. Your earnest money is to go toward your expenses upon closing; a individual seller might not understand this. A neutral party, like an attorney can hold your deposit, or you may put it temporarily into a trust account until you close. The disposition of earnest funds, in the case of a failed transaction, should be specified in the contract with the seller.

Nationwide Home Loans can walk you through the pitfalls of getting a mortgage. Give us a call at 5626935048.