Don't Trip Yourself up While Buying your New Home

Some new homebuyers make the mistake of rushing out to buy new things for their home soon after the seller says "yes" and the lender approves their loan. Until the house is really yours, there still remain some hoops to jump through. Here are some actions to refrain from during the home buying process to be sure the transaction goes smoothly.

Don't buy big-ticket items. You may be itching to turn your new living room into a home magazine cover, or celebrate your new dream home, but stay away from major purchases like furniture, cars, appliances, or vacations until closing. Using plastic to buy new living room furniture could jeopardize your lending process by altering your numbers dramatically. It's also a red flag to make those big-ticket purchases using cash. Lending Institutions are looking at your cash reserve when considering your loan.

Don't get a new career. Your recent career history should show stability. Changing jobs may not affect your ability to qualify for a loan - particularly if you are going to be making more money. However, switching careers in the middle of the approval process may influence your approval.

Don't take your accounts to a new bank or move around your cash. Your lender will ask for recent bank statements of accounts in your name: checking, savings, money market, and other liquid assets. To detect potential fraud, most lending institutions require detailed paperwork to document the source of all cash. Even for innocent purposes, moving around cash or switching banks might make it more difficult for the lender to document your bank history.

Don't give your FSBO (for sale by owner) seller a "good faith" deposit, made out directly to him. Until the sale is complete, the earnest money remains yours. A FSBO seller might not realize that these good faith funds should go toward your expenses at closing. It's best to put the funds into a trust account, or get a neutral person, like an attorney to hold them until the deal closes. Your contract should dictate who gets the deposit if the home purchase does not go through.