but the house still isn’t quite affordable — then consider going to your bank to see if they are willing to increase your mortgage slightly, but only if you can manage. Financial trouble down the road just isn’t worth it, especially when you’ve just had to handle a foreclosure or pre-foreclosure. You don’t need even more financial problems. • Regarding the property’s condition, consider lowering your expectations on minor issues (obviously, major issues like water damage, mold, and structural problems are big red flags). You can do some minor repairs and improvements yourself or use these as bargaining tools to get a better deal on the home’s sale price. Make sure you get your agent to handle this, so it’s done properly and smartly. • Be prepared to walk away. That’s right; do not get emotionally involved with the home until you’ve actually gone through with the purchase and moved in. If something just doesn’t seem right, reject any pressure you might feel and simply walk away. While it’s important to stick to your list of needs in the home- search process, and to keep your list of wants handy, you need to keep an open mind if a property that you’ve fallen in love with doesn’t check off everything on the list. This means more than just concessions. It could be that, during the home-search process but after completion of your initial lists, you’ve changed your mind about something. You might end up preferring a certain style or home feature that you wouldn’t have considered before. But remember, while it’s okay to change your mind, you shouldn’t compromise on the big-ticket items — whatever’s most important to you.
175
Powered by FlippingBook