What Can You Do To Hurt Your Chances Of Buying A Home In The Winter?

The housing market tends to slow down in the winter months. However, this does not mean you should stop pursuing the single-family home of your dreams. During the winter, it is easy to let down your guard, but you need to be just as vigilant as you normally would when shopping for homes. To help you remain on the road to buying a home, here are some wintertime mistakes of which you should be wary.  

Overspending During the Holidays

During your holiday shopping, it can be easy to spend more than you originally intended for gifts. Unfortunately, shopping that involves credit accounts could have a serious impact on your ability to buy a home.  

When you purchase holiday gifts on credit, your debt-to-income ratio can be adversely affected. When this happens, you could potentially put your chances of being approved for a home loan at risk. Even if you are approved, the amount you are approved for could be reduced, or your interest rate could be higher than expected.  

Lowballing the Seller

Since the housing market is slower, it only stands to reason that some sellers should be more willing to take lower offers on their homes, right? Wrong. A slow market does not translate to a chance for you to score the single-family home of your dreams for less than the listing price. What a lowball offer could mean is that the seller will be insulted and unmotivated to sell his or her home to you.  

When it comes to framing an offer, there are many factors that you should consider. The winter slowdown might not necessarily be one. At some point, the cold weather will pas,s and other buyers will be more motivated to shop for homes. When that happens, your chances of striking a deal with the seller for a lower price drops.  

Overlooking the Weather's Impact on the Seller

Just as buyers are less motivated to brave the cold weather to look for a home, sellers are more likely to burrow down in their homes. Even though they want to sell their homes, the cold weather is forcing them to stay indoors more. As a result, your chances of viewing the home are greatly diminished.  

To avoid missing out on the home you and your family deserves, you need to be flexible. If a seller is only able to accommodate your desire to tour his or her home during certain hours, you have to find a way to make it during those times, even if they are slightly inconvenient for you.  

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