| Mistake #1: Not employing the services of a Realtor. | | | | few more. You may miss out on something even |
| One of the most common mistakes I see is avoiding | | | | better by biting too soon on one of the first ones you |
| hiring a Realtor. Many first time home buyers think that | | | | see (my wife and I made this mistake on our first |
| a Realtor is costly and won't help them much. Nothing | | | | home). |
| could be further from the truth. The seller in your | | | | Mistake #3: Taking the "lowest" mortgage offer. |
| transaction pays the Realtor, so it won't cost you a | | | | It's not difficult for shady mortgage brokers to show |
| dime, and a Realtor can save you valuable time and | | | | you a mortgage offer that seems a lot lower than |
| money by finding properties you may not have been | | | | everyone else's. The new good faith estimate will help |
| aware of and negotiating your contract. | | | | alleviate some of this problem, but the point still |
| Mistake #2: Not looking at enough homes. | | | | persists- keep in mind what you're getting if you |
| Many first time home buyers will look at a couple of | | | | automatically choose your mortgage company based |
| homes, get really excited, and then decide to make an | | | | solely on the lower price. The adage "you get what |
| offer, only to regret it. Even if you are extremely | | | | you pay for" holds true with mortgage shopping as |
| excited about a particular home, it's a good idea to | | | | much as with any other product or service. Pay for a |
| take a deep breath, and keep looking, at least at a | | | | Kia, get Kia- you know what I mean. |