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Buyers Should Not Be Afraid to Follow Their Instincts

By
Real Estate Agent with Keller Williams Realty

Many times buyers have difficult time determining how much money they should spend towards their new home. This is even true after they have been pre-approved for a loan.  Here they are trying to determine whether they should commit towards the high-end of their approval range or commit to some lesser amount.  Realtors sometimes suggest you will be happier with a larger home.  This may eliminate the need to move-up in a shorter period of time.  This may be the right decision if you are confident that you have job security, and your salary will rise sufficiently to protect yourself from financial surprises.  Sometimes people decide to go with the larger home mentally, and then get the feeling that something is not quite right.   This usually is an indication, as a buyer, you do not have sufficient reserves if something goes wrong.  There is nothing wrong with you, but these are instincts speaking to you, and you should listen.  Prior to this, your desires have been doing the talking, but instincts are telling you to scale back.  This is the time to talk to your realtor about scaling back.  Remember if you scale back, it is less likely to go wrong.  Many times financial advisors advice clients not to invest more that 25% of their income towards housing.  This way helps you to build savings, investments, make home improvements and handle emergencies.  Some couples want to have a large home with extra space and have children at the same time.  This may create too many financial burdens.  It is unlikely you can have it all, such as: peace of mind, large mortgage, and large amount of expenses at the same time.  This is the time you must prioritize your goals, and determine what is important and the order things should happen.  Another problem with over extending, it causes problems within a marriage.  This is a prime area where you should be listening to your instincts and feelings about your marriage.  This not an issue where you can get help from your realtor, and normally buying a home does not repair a bad relationship.  Probably the only way you resolve this issue is by putting forth extra effort and sharing part of the blame.  Finally, another area where instinct may play an important role is fear.  Some people are fearful whether they can make their mortgage payment and/or concern about what happens if the value of the home goes down in value.  If fear becomes real, then the joy of home ownership will probably be lessened.

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