Don't Trip Yourself up While Buying a Home

Some new homebuyers make the mistake of rushing out to buy things to fill their home as soon as the seller accepts their offer and the lender approves their loan. Until closing, there are still some hurdles to jump. Here are some actions to stay clear of during the home buying process to be sure your transaction goes well.

Don't throw your money around. Although you will be planning ways to turn your new house into a showplace, avoid big ticket purchases like appliances, electronics, or expensive furnishings. You will also want to keep away from vacations and car purchases until the closing of your loan. Using credit cards to buy new living room furniture could jeopardize your loan process by distorting your numbers. Since lenders are looking closely at your bank accounts, a large cash purchase is also not advised.

Don't get a new career. Your recent job history should show consistency. Changing jobs may not affect your ability to qualify for a loan - especially if you are getting a better salary. However, switching jobs in the middle of the approval process may influence your approval.

Don't take your accounts to a new bank or move around your money. Your lender will instruct the submission of recent bank statements on accounts in your name: savings, checking, money market, and other liquid assets. Your lending institution will need to see a steady rise and fall of your funds over the month, in order to avoid fraud. Switching banks or transferring finances elsewhere - even if its just to consolidate funds - might make it harder for the lender to verify your funds.

Don't give your FSBO (for sale by owner) seller a "good faith" deposit, made out directly to him. Your good faith deposit does not belong to the seller: it remains yours until the transaction is final. Although your FSBO seller might not understand this, any good faith money must be applied to the buyer's closing expenses. We recommend that you put the funds into a trust account, or get a neutral person, like an attorney to hold them until the deal closes. Your contract should document where the funds go if the home purchase falls through.

Wize Mortgage LLC can answer questions about these "Don'ts" and many others. Call us: .