If you're looking to buy a home, chances are a real estate
professional will be involved in the transaction. After all, 89
percent of recent buyers purchased their home through a real estate
agent or broker, according to the National Association of
Realtors.
Buyers working with an agent gain access to a greater range of
properties and get help in both the buying and mortgage
process.
The right way to shop for a mortgage
But what if you make the mistake of saying the wrong thing to
your real estate agent? Not many homebuyers realize that some of
the things they say can slow down the process, derail a sale or
even cause your agent to dump you.
Here are three things you should never say to your real estate
agent or broker:
1. 'I don't want to commit to one agent.'
If you want to house hunt with an agent's help, that person will
spend a considerable amount of time, money, effort and resources
shuttling you around from property to property, scheduling home
viewings and previewing listings to see which residences satisfy
your requirements.
The tradeoff for this hard work is that agents want you to sign
a buyer's agency agreement, allowing them to formally represent
you.
7 terms every homebuyer should know
"Most realtors hate to hear, 'I'm just looking' or 'I just want
you to take me to see one or two houses and then I'll let you know,
because I'm working with three or four agents,'" says
Cathy Turner
, an associate broker with Solid Source Realty in Atlanta. "If
we're committing ourselves to you, we want you to commit to just
one of us."
2. 'I'll get preapproved for a mortgage later.'
Some buyers want to see houses first and then see a loan officer
second. But real estate professionals say that strategy is a
colossal waste of everyone's time.
"What sense is it to look at a $300,000 house if you can only
afford a $200,000 house?" asks
John Mijac
, an associate broker with Old Adobe Realty in Tucson, Ariz.
"Besides, there's an implicit agreement between me and the listing
broker that I'm bringing qualified buyers to see the home."
For a seller, it's also "an unfair burden to bring people into
their property if they're not serious buyers who've been
pre-approved for a mortgage," he says.
Turner agrees. "No agent wants to put someone in their car and
take them around when they haven't been preapproved."
3. 'This is going to be my primary residence.'
Saying a home will be a primary residence when it will really be
a vacation home or a rental is just asking for trouble. For
starters, if you have a mortgage on another property, it's going to
show up on the credit check.
Also, many lenders now require you to sign an affidavit saying
the mortgage is being obtained for a primary residence or that you
won't be renting the property.
But that doesn't stop some people from being untruthful about
these situations--even in popular vacation and rental locales.
"The biggest problems we run into with buyers is when people lie
about their credit, their finances, or their intentions for a
home," says Rick Cordisco, owner of Pocono Mountain Lakes Realty in
Blakeslee, Pa."If they'd just tell the God's honest truth, it would
be so much easier and we can often help find a solution."