The spring and summer buying season has been incredibly busy. With so much competition from buyers for the limited inventory on the market, it’s more important than ever that buyers have a good team in place to help them secure the winning bid on the house of their dreams!
Unfortunately, time after time, realtors see prospective buyers shoot themselves in their foot with their words, actions, behaviors, and attitudes, all which disqualify them from homeownership.
After speaking with real estate agents and completing further research online, I’ve accumulated a list of buyer behaviors gone horribly wrong. Here are the top five complaints Realtors hate about buyers:
- #5 – The Lack of Respect You Show Towards This Homeowner & Their Home.
As a buyer, you must remember you are touring someone’s house and are a guest in their home! Therefore, do not pick up and handle the collectible plates or china dolls in the curio cabinet. Do not pick up the guitar or other instrument in the corner to show how musically talented you are. Do not pull up the corner of the carpeting to see if there are hardwood floors beneath. If you must bring your small children, please ensure they don’t run amok through the house. And for God’s sake, please make sure you’ve emptied your bladder and bowels before you go house hunting.
- #4 – You Brought Your Dog With You.
In what world is this a good idea?? Home sellers have reported finding piles of crap in their yard, on their deck, and once in the garage. Dogs have marked their territory under the dining room table and on the seller’s leather couch. After leaving these “gifts,” do you really think the seller will want to sell their house to you??
- #3 – You Were Late For Your Appointment AGAIN…or You Didn’t Even Show Up.
When you schedule an appointment to view houses and you’re consistently late, this shows a lack of respect for both the homeowner and the real estate agent. When you simply fail to show up, you’re demonstrating a blatant disrespect for the real estate agent, their time, and frankly, you’re showing a tremendous lack of character. Your Realtor has a job, a schedule and a life outside of you. All it takes is one or two “no-shows” on your part and you’ll develop a reputation in the community. Then no agent will want to work with you!
- #2 – You Procrastinate on Making A Decision.
After searching for months – or sometimes right out of the gate – you find a home that’s ideal and meets all of your needs! Yet, you decide to wait on the chance that something better might come along. That’s a surefire way to lose your dream home. If the house meets all of your requirements and it feels right, then move quickly! Otherwise someone else might pounce on it before you do. Ask yourself, “Will I be upset if somebody else nabs this property because I wasn’t fast enough?” If the answer is “NO,” then this might not be your dream home after all.
- #1 – “Don’t Worry About My Qualifications. Just Find Me A Home.”
In your lifetime, how many times have you applied for a mortgage? What makes you believe lenders will climb over one another to give you a mortgage, even though your credit is marginal, you have lots of debt, you just started a business, or that your down payment money is in a shoe box at the top of your closet?A good Realtor experiences the mortgage process with their clients dozens of times every year. It’s likely they know a thing or two about the mortgage process that you don’t. Believe me, they’ve been burned more times than they care to admit.
So when your realtor urges you to obtain a mortgage preapproval, from a competent mortgage advisor (not some knucklehead on the phone at “your Big Box Bank”), before he or she takes you out looking at houses, it’s because they don’t want to waste their time, your time, or a seller’s time, only to find out later you’re not as qualified as you thought you would be.
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