5 Ways You Can Lose the House You Want to Buy

The hard part of buying a house is finding the right house to want to buy, right? Wrong.

While it might take you months, or longer, to find a house that you find worthy of making an offer on, that’s actually the easy part of buying a house. The hard part comes in after that.

There are a lot of reasons why you can lose out on being able to purchase the house. Here are 5 of the most common:

1. You can’t afford it

If you didn’t talk to a mortgage lender before house shopping you might not have a realistic idea of what type of budget you should be using. If you have been looking outside of your budget, you will lose the house because you won’t be able to obtain a mortgage for a high enough amount. Always get pre-approved before you start looking.

2. You’re on the wrong side of a bidding war

Strong sellers’ markets continue in many parts of the country. That means when you make an offer on a house you might be not be the only one. If you don’t come in with a strong enough offer you may lose out to a competing buyer.

3. You don’t have enough saved

Buying a house is expensive – and not just because of the price of the house. Most mortgage loans require some type of a down payment.

But, there are other closing costs that you are responsible for paying. You want to make sure that you have saved up enough and that you will still have enough money left over to afford the expenses of home ownership.

4. You aren’t moving fast enough

When someone puts their house on the market they usually want the process to move along quickly. If you drag your feet throughout the process, you could lose out to another buyers.

When you are in the buying process make sure you stay in close communication with your real estate agent and mortgage lender to keep the process moving.

5. The appraisal doesn’t come through

Sometimes a deal falls through due to no fault of the buyer or seller. If you are obtaining a mortgage, your lender is going to want a home appraisal to make sure that the value of the house is right for the amount of the loan you are asking for. If the house appraises too low, your lender won’t approve the deal.

The best way to not lose out on the house you want to buy is to be prepared from the start. Interview several real estate agents and lenders to find the right ones to work with. Get pre-approved so you know your finances are in line from the start. Then, make sure you stay on top of the process.

Keep in mind that you cannot control what happens on the other side of the deal. But when it comes to your part, make sure that you have it covered.