Common Mistakes People Make When Putting in an Offer
When you decide to put an offer in on a house, regardless of you reason for moving, you are taking one of the first steps in what is too many, the largest financial investment of their lives. Whether it is your first or your sixth home, putting an offer in on a house is a stressful task that often comes with a wide range of emotions attached to it. Here are three of the common mistakes that both novice and experienced home buyers tend to make, in hopes that their offer stands out among the others, that actually end up hurting themselves in the long run.
Go in Without Conditions
Going into an offer without any conditions is not always a bad thing – if it is a new, or nearly new home, and your financing is already completely in place, you may not necessarily need the conditions of home inspection and financing. That said, when if you decide to go in with an offer without these conditions, but you do not already have things like your financing in place, then you are taking a major risk. Whether you realize it or not, if that offer ends up being accepted, without any conditions then you are on the hook for the money – even if your financing does not come through.
Paying too High Above Market Value
For a lot of people, finding their dream home can be an extremely emotional experience that can often cause some misjudgment in terms of what the home is actually worth. Figuring out what the actual market value of the home in question is, is one of the primary reasons that working with a realtor still, is a good idea, even with the increasingly high number of “self-serve” options out there today such as “Comm Free”. By working with a real estate agent, you will be able to find out what the property in question is really worth in both its current state and the current local market. It can be really tempting to let your emotions take over, look at your budget and say, “well the house is listed at $10,000 below what I can spend, why not put in a little extra to ensure that we get the house?” This can work, and if the house is priced low in order to bring in offers putting in extra might be necessary. However, when you start putting in more money than the investment is really worth, you are then hurting yourself financially and your overall investment in the long run.
Not Being Realistic About the Terms
In a number of cases, an offer will be chosen because they are able to meet the terms that the seller needs, a popular example of one of these terms is a quick closing date. If you are able to accommodate a term of this nature, this is a great way to improve your chances of getting the house, however, if you do not actually have the resources, or the ability to follow through with them, you are risking costing yourself more money trying to figure out things like, accommodations, quick moving arrangements, and child care.