When looking to purchase a home or condo in Costa Mesa real estate, it is always beneficial to have some good Costa Mesa home buyer advice.
In a hot market, like the one we are experiencing now in 2017, the graphic to the left provides great advice. The big four in Costa Mesa home buyer advice:
1. Costa Mesa Home Buyer Advice#1: Shopping Outside of Your Price Range – Practically anyone can go and look at a home. We Realtors get lots and lots of visitors across all price ranges when we do open houses. And it should be encouraged for those who are interested in buying a home. You have to start somewhere. A good Realtor can give you guidance on where to start, and perhaps recommend a good lender who can qualify you for a purchase. That’s always the best place to start – I always liken it to going into shop at Nordstrom; Everything looks great, but you really need to know how much spending power you have in your wallet first. The danger of shopping beyond your price range is twofold. In a hot market, sales will be close to 95%+ of list price. There won’t be much wiggle room, and you will be outbid by qualified buyers. The second problem is that you might get used to looking at higher priced homes which may be in better neighborhoods, locations, or have better upgrades. It will make you disappointed at what you will find at a lower price point.
2. Costa Mesa Home Buyer Advice #2: Submitting Lowball Offers in a Hot Market – As I mentioned in my last example, homes will sell close to list price in a hot market when they are priced close to market price. Submitting a really low offer will either upset the seller, or not get you a counter offer. It’s always best to submit a competitive or reasonable offer. Have your Realtor find out what is important to the seller – maybe the seller needs more time? Maybe a quick close? Maybe they don’t want you to cut the prize winning roses? You would be surprised! Being flexible goes a long way.
3. Costa Mesa Home Buyer Advice #3: Making a Big Purchase While in Escrow – I have talked about this in
past blogs – you never, never want to make big purchases (other homes, cars, large credit transactions) while in escrow. Lenders live and die by a Income to Debt Ratio for each loan, and must qualify typically below 45%. Adding new quick debt (especially cars) can really through things out of whack quickly. You never really get a full lender approval until the loan has funded, which is usually deep, deep into the process.
4. Costa Mesa Home Buyer Advice#4: Forgetting to Budget Closing Costs – It is really easy to figure out how much you need when you are putting 3%, 10%, or 20% down on a mortgage. But it is very important to budget for closing costs such as escrow fees, title insurance, and home inspections. Buyers do not pay for Relator fees when purchasing (typically handled by the seller) which is a great benefit of you using a local Costa Mesa realtor, but it is very important to not forget the other costs when purchasing. A good rule of thumb is to budget for about 1 ½% of your purchase price for lender costs and the other mentioned closing costs.
Hope that helps with Costa Mesa Home Buyer Advice for the month!
If you need help with any Costa Mesa real estate purchase, sale, or just questions, Broker Colin Delaney would love to help you! Call/text
(714) 743-9882 or
email him.
