We are hearing and reading everywhere that it is buyer’s market, you have options, and choices.
The word of wisdom from friends and relatives, go for a foreclosure, wait for the prices to go down, don’t rush into buying, and more similar advice. While this is true and may be applicable to certain states, locations & individual buyers, there are other factors of great importance that is affecting your ability to purchase a home.
I would like to emphasize important factors affecting the home buying process now, under the current reality, with the turmoil and devastating losses of financial institutions. We need to understand that there is a drastic and fundamental change to the rules we operated under in real estate. Remember the word change, many, almost daily changes that you as a Buyer have to understand and digest thoroughly and carefully, are taking place continuously.
The borrowing guidelines are getting tighter by the day. The requirements for higher credit scores are a must in order to qualify for loan. The down payment requirements are now tied up to the borrowers credit scores, & property type. The loan approval process can be prolonged due to more strict underwriting guidelines, and staffing reduction.
Important to remember if you are planning to purchase a home:
- Contact a lender to be qualified early in the process to avoid unnecessary disappointments. Need to provide the lender with a complete loan application, for the bank to validate, and to determine the amount of loan your income, assets, employment and credit score would allow.
- You may not be able to qualify for many of the loan programs that you were qualified for before.
- There is a lot of pressure on appraisers to ensure that values are not inflated. Just imagine that you have an accepted offer, agreed on price, waiting patiently for the loan process to be completed, then you get the call informing you that the property did not appraise. The appraisal is $30,000 less than the agreed upon price.
Having said that, there are some exceptions to other loan types, such as the VA, FHA and portfolio loan products.
Kay F Osman has been assisting buyers realize their home
buying dreams for over 30 years. She can help you get
the right home at the right price.
To PingMe (Call me free), click here
Kay F Osman R, CRB, CRS, GRI, SRES
Accredited Buyer’s Representative (ABR)
Del Osman Realty, Inc.
Ph: (808) 523-6421 fax: (808) 523-8729
Tags: price of homes in hawaii, hawaii real estate trends, hawaii homes, property for sale in hawaii
