1. I s su e 11 , Vo lu me 3 5 / Se p te m be r 10, 20 10
Five Classic Home Buying Mistakes
The Week Ahead -> The “Keys”
Tim McLaughlin
- What the Fed is thinking more key than data releases
The marketplace is filled with overconfident buyers these
days. However, even in this market, buyers can get tripped
Date Economic Release Prediction Last
up. Here are five common missteps that home buyers make.
Snubbing the real estate agent - Who needs an agent? 9/14 Advance Retail Sales 0.3% 0.4%
Everyone, actually. Finding a house and figuring out comps
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(the price of comparable homes on the market), managing
the nuances of offers, inspections, financing and all the other 9/14 ex Autos and Gas 0.3% -0.1%
pivotal steps to buying a home is where many buyers tend to
get tripped up. Since the seller is the one paying the Realtor 9/14 IBD/TIPP Eco Optimism 44.0 43.6
commission, this is the most valuable “free” service you will
ever get from a knowledgeable source. Ask your Weichert 9/14 Business Inventories 0.5% 0.3%
Realtor to help you set up a game plan.
9/14 ABC Consumer Confidence - -43
“Guesstimating” how much you can afford - Many 9/15 MBA Mortgage Applications - -1.5%
buyers mistakenly take a “do it yourself approach” to
financing. They use online calculators to estimate how much 9/15 Import Price Index (MoM) 0.2% 0.2%
house they can afford, dive into the house hunt and then get
a dose of cold water when lenders refuse to qualify them for 9/15 Import Price Index (YoY) 3.8% 4.9%
that amount. Make a date with your Weichert Financial
Services Gold Services Manager to run the numbers and get 9/15 Empire Manufacturing 8.00 7.10
pre-approved before you get serious about your search.
9/15 Industrial Production 0.3% 1.0%
Focusing on the house and not the neighborhood - In 9/15 Capacity Utilization 75.0% 74.8%
hindsight, many buyers polled a year or so after the
9/16 PPI (MoM) 0.3% 0.2%
purchase say they wish they'd taken their due diligence a
few steps further to really get to know all the perks, quirks 9/16 ex Food/Energy 0.1% 0.3%
and hassles of living in a particular place. You can always fix
up the house, but there's no easy remedy for annoying 9/16 PPI (YoY) 3.0% 4.2%
neighbors, oppressive homeowner association rules and
marathon commutes 9/16 ex Food/Energy 1.3% 1.5%
“Uneducated” lowball offers - With ample housing 9/16 Initial Jobless Claims 460K 451K
inventory, there are plenty of houses for sale. When you find
the right house at the right price, don't assume you can just 9/16 Continuing Claims - 4478K
lob in a lowball offer or make unreasonable demands. Even
9/16 Philly Fed Survey 1.0 -7.7
in this marketplace, nice houses in desirable neighborhoods
are fetching multiple bids. You need to be educated in what 9/17 CPI (MoM) 0.2% 0.3%
the right bid is, and there are a lot of various attributes that
go into that equation. Again, use the knowledge base at your 9/17 ex Food/Energy 0.1% 0.1%
disposal and let your Weichert Realtor help you navigate the
waters and determine how to proceed. 9/17 CPI (YoY) 1.1% 1.2%
Not focusing on interest rates – Many individuals are 9/17 ex Food/Energy 1.0% 0.9%
waiting to purchase a home, thinking that time is on their
9/17 U of Michigan Confidence 70.0 68.9
side. Rates are at, truly, all time historic lows. These low
rates will NOT be here forever, so capitalize today!
Mortgage Access Corp. d/b/a Weichert Financial Services, Executive Offices, 225 Littleton Road, Morris Plains, NJ 07950. 1-800-829-CASH. NMLS Company ID:
2731. Licensed by the NJ Dept of Banking and Insurance. Licensed Mortgage Banker with the State Dept of Banking in NY and CT. Licensed by the Pennsylvania
Department of Banking, Mortgage Lender 21042. Licensed Lender in AK, AR, DE, MD, D.C., GA, ME, MI, MN, WI, IA, IL, IN, LA, VT, FL, WV, RI, KY, NC, ID, MS,
NE, WY, OK,TN, WA. Licensed by the Virginia State Corporation Commission, License #ML105. Licensed Mortgage Lender in the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts. License #ML1713, Certificate #43155. Certificate of Authority to transact business in CO, SC. Registered Mortgage Lender in TX. Licensed with
the Financial Institutions Division in New Mexico, License # 01297. Licensed by the Department of Corporations under the California Residential Mortgage Lending
Act. Licensed Mortgage Broker and Lender Ohio. Licensed Loan Broker and Lender Rhode Island. Kansas Licensed Mortgage Company, License #MC.0001229.
Licensed by the New Hampshire Banking Department, License # 8714-MB. Licensed Oregon Mortgage Lender License #ML2528. Weichert Financial Services
arranges loans with third-party providers.