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The Home Buying Process
Problems Buyers Encounter
In many cases, home buyers lack a clear understanding of the home buying process or the roles of the people involved. Often, they just don’t understand the best way to get the process rolling and how to keep it going. Because so much is at stake, this can create a high anxiety level throughout the many steps in the process. These misunderstandings can cause buyers to waste a lot of time in a series of false starts before they move forward with a home purchase.
Avoiding the False Start
Examples of those false starts include driving through neighborhoods, dropping by “open houses,” or looking at model homes in new subdivisions. While this can be a useful way to get a feel for the market, it can also lead to serious problems. First of all, you never want to fall in love with a home you can’t afford. Doing that will likely result in the gut wrenching loss of a purchase that was never yours in the first place. Even worse, you could lose several thousand dollars by committing to a purchase contract you can’t complete. Finally, because many new home builders require you to bring your agent on your first visit, you could be denied representation should you decide to purchase there.
The DIY Home Buyer
These days, MLS listings are available directly to consumers over the internet. It seems that searching for and purchasing a home on your own would be more feasible than it was a few years ago. If the search was the most complicated part of the process, that might be true. As seasoned home buyers can attest, finding the perfect home is easy compared to contract and inspection negotiations. This is where having a good agent working to protect your interests and to provide a clear understanding of the home buying process is so important. There is no good reason, logistically or monetarily, for any buyer to try to buy a home without the assistance of a buyer’s agent.