2.         Not being honest with your Realtor or lender up front about your credit.  Credit– whether good, bad, or limited–affects everything from your down payment to interest rates.  Your Realtor or a professional mortgage consultant can often advise how to get credit problems cleared up or completely eliminated.  Higher scores translate into more house for the money! 

3.         Not negotiating with the owner to provide a home warranty.   Sellers will provide such when asked.  A typical warranty covers the electrical, plumbing, heating and air conditioning systems as well as major home appliances.  Buyers, ask for this!

4.         Not requesting a market analysis of the home.  Compare to similar homes in Portland neighborhoods or throughout the city from your Realtor before you make an offer.  A home is not just a place to live—it’s an investment in your future.  View several homes before making an offer and know what’s on the market.  Be certain this is a wise investment not overshadowed by emotion.

5.         Not inspecting a home before you buy it.  Hire a professional to inspect every aspect of the home thoroughly.  This can save you thousands of dollars in costly repairs and hundreds of headaches in the future.  A thorough inspection report can open the door to negotiation of repairs prior to close.

6.         Not being aware of who the Realtor works for.  The agent you are working with does not necessarily work for you.   Unless your agent is working as your buyer representative, they are working for the seller.   Usually, home buyer agent services are free since commission is paid by sellers or homebuilders. 

7.         Not taking into account your present homeowner or renter status.    If you already own a home and must sell before buying a new one, it’s best to get a Realtor to do a complete market analysis.  Often sellers have pie-in-the-sky ideas of what their home will sell for.  Today your home better be in top shape, staged well, and most importantly priced below the competition.  If you are leasing or renting, the lease’s expiration date will give you a timetable for your new purchase.

So you’re shopping homes for sale in the Portland Oregon area.  Good for you.  It’s a fantastic buyer’s market at the moment and mortgage rates are awesome!  Now all that’s needed is some expert advice from a relative or co-worker.  Make sure that the last house this person bought was in Detroit and about 20 years ago.  I’m  being sarcastic.

Hey, most people mean well but unless advice comes from someone who’s emmersed in the current local market it might be good to take it all with a grain of salt.  Keep in mind that real estate markets are not national and are dynamic.  What was common practice 6 months ago may not even apply today.

The purpose of a Realtor is to negotiate the best deal possible, protect your interests and watch out for pitfalls that’ll potentially cost you money.  Get advice from people and run it by your trusted real estate broker to see how applicable such can be at this point in time.  I can’t tell you how many buyers have missed out on properties because they insisted on listening to non-professional advice.  A good Realtor will keep you on track!

Not Shopping the Mortgage Market

Shopping the mortgage market can be a frustrating experience.  Mortgage brokers are required by law to give quotes in writing along with a Truth in Lending statement.  What’s known as a Good Faith Estimate (gfe) shows closing cost numbers.  Without getting into too much detail essentially this allows home buyers to compare mortgage brokers in the same format.  Like any other industry there are honest, ethical lenders and those who you may not want to do business with.

A good real estate broker should be familiar with how to read a gfe.  He’ll can potentially identify numbers that are blatently high by comparison to the norm or those which could even be missing from the equation.  By no means should your real estate broker be considered the mortgage professional.  Double check numbers by running line item costs past several lenders.  If the numbers are accurate they should fall within a small margin of eachother on all gfe’s.

Does the real estate broker have to know your personal information?  Heck no.  Looking at a good faith estimate does not disclose buyer’s income, cash reserves, or any confidential information.  It gives a general overall picture of home purchase costs that will be related to a purchase price.  The buyer’s agent gets all this as part of the transaction’s closing documents regardless.  It’s called a closing statement and all parties involved see such.  Sharing a gfe during infancy stages of home buying with your Realtor could really help save money!

Not Interviewing Real Estate Brokers

Unless you make a point to sit down with several agents it’s tough to find a good agent.  Some are actually rated by outside companies based upon client feedback.  After puchase of a home is completed buyers will receive surveys from monitoring companies asking for ratings of agent performance.  These companies are not related to the broker in any way, keeping feedback objective.  Third party companies like QSC (Quality Service Certified) allow clients to submit feedback that actually ranks agent performance on a scale.  Agent ratings are available to anyone who wants to review such before getting involved.  Very few Realtors are monitored!

Ask for a list of referrals from buyers/sellers who’ve done more than one transaction with subject agent.  No agent with good community standings is going to object to contact of past clients.  Might want to think twice if there are no referrals immediately given.

For more tips on buying Portland real estate visit our website.  www.MaxwellSinclair.com