Thinking About Buying? NerdWallet has released their Home Buyer Reality Report and it has some interesting findings. If you read the entire report, 
there are insights as to who is most likely to find the process stressful. Frankly the findings were a bit surprising to me.
I would have expected the Millennials to have been the most stressed by the process because as a group they are most likely to be going through the home buying process for the first time. I was wrong. It was actually the Gen Xers that were most stressed. Baby Boomers were least stressed overall.
So what causes the most stress? Across the board, the biggest stressor seems to be the mortgage process. Apparently many folks found it difficult to understand and navigate. Millennials prefer to do an online application which is cool, but they also found the loan process complicated and confusing.
Generally, all generations were happier with their Real Estate Advisors than with their Loan Consultants. That is both good and bad from my perspective as a Real Estate Advisor. Although I’m thrilled to get higher approval ratings than lenders, the problem is that for most buyers a good loan is a necessity.
I think part of the comparative dissatisfaction with lenders may be that buyers are often unprepared to have the conversation with the lender. Typically buyers are excited about the prospect of the new house and so they want to go look at houses (go sight-seeing) without having addressed the availability of the right loan to complete the purchase.
The entire purchase process is made up of lots of moving pieces and experience shows that putting together a strategy to help buyers get the education and understanding that they need reduces the stress and increases the chances of success.
So, the first step is to choose a Real Estate Advisor that you trust to hold your best interests paramount, someone that can ask you insightful questions to get clarity around what’s important to you so that you have a clear roadmap. The next step is to work with your Real Estate Advisor to obtain a loan pre-approval that will let you shop confidently.
And, no, you haven’t even begun to look at potential new houses yet. First things first! A strategy that works will target the properties that are within your budget. We don’t go out sight-seeing, rather we pick the best possible houses and look at them with a critical eye to determine which one will be the next best home for you.