We all want to make wise decisions, especially when it comes to buying a house. I mean, this is going to be one of the biggest purchases you’ll ever make and you certainly don’t want any regrets. While there are a lot of things you’ll want to follow when it comes to buying a house, there is some bad advice out there as well. Listen up for some of the worst advice we’ve ever heard given to homebuyers.
Skip the home inspection.
Even if you think you will buy the house regardless of the results, a home inspection is a crucial point to the process. We’ve had people tell our buyers, “oh don’t worry about the home inspection, especially if you love the house, it doesn’t matter what’s wrong with it.” And that’s simply not true. You could be in a world of hurt and a mountain of debt if the home inspection reveals something that could’ve saved you all of that money. Always spend the extra few hundred dollars and get a professional home inspection. You never know what is going to turn up, and even if you’re satisfied with the results, at least you understand more about your investment.
You should always make a lowball offer.
We’ve heard buyers say that no one should ever make a full price offer, regardless of the market. And that’s fine if you want to lose the house. It really comes down to the type of housing market we’re in. If it’s a seller’s market, a lowball offer or even an offer under asking price is likely to get thrown out right away. Unless it’s a buyer’s market where sellers are motivated to sell as quickly as possible, a lowball offer will probably get rejected. It’s important to trust your real estate agent when it comes to the right offer price.
You can get into the house before closing.
Let me make this extremely clear, I cannot give you the keys until the deal closes. Sellers may allow you to get back into the house before closing for measurements, final walk-throughs, and home inspections, but other than that, they really don’t need to let you in for any legal reason and you absolutely cannot get into the house until the deed records in the county. It is not your house and you would technically be breaking and entering if you’ve got into the house prior to closing without your agent or permission.
On the opposite side, letting a seller stay in the house past the closing date could open yourself up to a world of problems. The closing date needs to be the end-all, be-all when it comes to ownership.
The listing agent can also help you buy the house.
Now, while this is legal, it’s not ethical. This is why we have buyers agents and selling agents both in the same office. We feel that there needs to be two different agents working on the same transaction so that each party is represented properly and with fiduciary duty. A buyers agent should represent the buyer in a transaction and the listing agent should only represent the seller. Having the same agent do both sides of the transaction, also called dual agency, is really a conflict of interest and it comes down to who the agent is really working for.
We want you to buy a house without any regrets so these are some of the top issues we see, especially with first-time homebuyers. We want you to be happy with your purchase, have no regrets, and fill confident and satisfied long after the deal closes.
