When people start the journey to buying their own New Orleans home, lots of them make some pretty common mistakes. The do’s and don’t when home buying are easy when you know them. Team Be New Orleans wants to help make sure you don’t self-sabotage your home buying efforts!
Here’s a list of our home buying do’s and don’ts!
Don’ts!
- Don’t make any large withdrawals or large deposits! Your lender is going to need to know where that money went or where it came from.
- Don’t apply for new credit. After we close on your house, you can open up every credit card you want to – until then… don’t even think about it!
- Don’t close old accounts. If you’ve had this Master Card since college, just cut it up and throw it away if you’re tempted. But closing the account can often hurt your credit score.
- Don’t co-sign on any loans. This will also negatively hurt your score and ruin your chances of qualifying for a loan.
- Don’t make any late payments!
- Don’t let anyone pressure you into spending more than you feel comfortable with! Only spend what you’re comfortable with.
Do’s!
- Do pick out a local New Orleans lender and start your pre-approval.
- Do find a New Orleans real estate agent that you like and feel good about! This is a huge investment, you should really feel comfortable with who is navigating this journey.
- Do figure out what your deal breakers are. Some stuff is just nice to have, while others are actual needs.
- Do explore neighborhoods. If you’re unsure where to land, take our neighborhood quiz.
- Do some research and learn about the home buying process! We have a library of blogs to answer your questions!
- Do get your financial paperwork in order! Your local lender is going to need it.
- Do investigate down payment assistance programs. (When you work with a great local lender, they should be offering up this info!)
Whether you want to come to our next home buying class or grab a coffee and chat – we are here to help your New Orleans home buying dreams become a reality.
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