When building a new home, home buyers may quickly find themselves over-budget and over-stressed. U.S. News & World Report recently highlighted some of the most common financial mistakes when building a new home:

1. Don’t overbuild. “I meet potential clients in my office almost weekly who tell me, ‘We built a 6,000 square-foot home, but now we’re dying to downsize to something smaller,'” says Andy Stauffer, owner of Stauffer and Sons Construction, a homebuilder in Colorado Springs. “Most families don’t even need 5,000 square feet, and a home as small as 2,500 or 3,000 square feet won’t feel small if it’s designed properly. A larger house is just more expensive and harder to maintain and clean. According to the National Association of Home Builders, a custom home in the U.S. costs an average of $105 per square foot to build. That means by eliminating even 500 square feet in a home that you don’t need, you’ll save over $50,000.”

2. Consider the resale value at the beginning. “It’s simply a fact of life. Most of us don’t know for sure where we’ll be in 10 or 15 years, as much as we’d like to think we do,” Stauffer says. “I recently spoke to a real estate agent who had some clients that built a five-story custom home. They loved it, but when it was time to sell, they had to drop the price by tens of thousands of dollars and sell at a significant loss because nobody wanted to buy a five-story home and walk up and down the stairs all day long. So build your dream home, but don’t make it a nightmare for someone else.”

3. Weigh the upgrades. Buyers may have to teeter on too conservative or not conservative enough when choosing their extras. “You will be surprised at how quickly a $200,000 home becomes $400,000 in upgrades,” Joan Fradella, a family mediator in West Palm Beach, Fla., who built a new home in 1998 told U.S. News & World Report.

Read more: New-Home Due Diligence and Vigilance

 

Brian Brunhofter, president of Meritus Custom Builders in Chicago, says buyers need to carefully consider what upgrades are must haves. “For example, carpet can always be switched out to hardwood floors later, but a full basement is something you should decide on now,” he says. That said, some buyers may want to do some of those upgrades now while lending is relatively inexpensive at the moment. As long as you don’t go overboard, it may “be much more economic to stretch and plan for those features in your budget now,” he says.

4. Monitor the progress. “Visit the site during construction,” advises Nicole Cannon, a resident architect in Los Angeles. “Make sure things are matching your expectations and ask questions if they don’t. The worst option is to remain quiet and end up with something that you are unhappy with or have to pay to fix after the fact.”

View more new-home financial mistakes at U.S. News & World Report.

Source: “8 Financial Mistakes to Avoid When Building a New Home,” U.S. News & World Report (Sept. 25, 2015)

New mortgage disclosure rules will take effect Oct. 3, and lenders and real estate brokerages are quickly preparing for what has been predicted to be big changes to home closings.

Mortgage lenders will be required to begin using new consumer disclosure forms on Oct. 3. The changes will merge the HUD-1 Settlement Statement, the Good Faith Estimate, and the Truth-in-Lending disclosure form into two new closing forms: a Loan Estimate and a Closing Disclosure.

Consumers will have more time to review the total costs of their mortgage prior to closing. The Loan Estimate form is due to consumers three days after they apply for a loan, while the Closing Disclosure form is due three days prior to closing. The Loan Estimate form shows the loan amount and interest rate, what the borrower’s monthly payment will be, estimated taxes and insurance, and how much cash is required to close.

Borrowers will face delays to closing if there are any last-minute changes with the financing of their loan. For example, if borrowers decide to change loan products at the last minute – such as switching from a fixed-rate mortgage to an adjustable-rate loan – borrowers will face a three-day delay in the closing to allow for reviews of the new Closing Disclosure form. Borrowers will not have a choice to waive the three-day review period.

Some mortgage experts are recommending that borrowers lock in their mortgage rates 45 or 60 days, rather than the more common 30-day lock, in case there is any delay in closing.

At realtor.org, access a free webcast outlining the changes and new “Know Before You Owe” resources from the CFPB.

“There’s going to be a little bit of a learning curve in the beginning,” says Tammy Felenstein, the executive director of sales for Halstead Property in Stamford, Conn. Consumers should “go with a lending institution that has prepared for these changes and knows what they’re doing.”

Consumers may face slightly longer closing times as the industry adjusts to the new process. The new rules will require lenders, title companies, real estate professionals and insurance representatives to all come together sooner in the process to ensure the disclosures do get out in time.

As such, some real estate professionals say they’re planning to write contracts with 45-day closings instead of 30. About 56 percent of REALTORS® say they plan to change their purchase agreements to allow for a longer timeline for the closing process due to the upcoming changes from new mortgage disclosures rules, according to a new survey by the National Association of REALTORS®. Thirty-one percent of real estate professionals surveyed said they would also add contingencies to the contract.

Eighty-two percent of real estate professionals also say they’ve taken some training to prepare for the “Know Before You Owe” initiative.

To try to avoid a closing delay from the new rules, 30 percent of real estate professionals surveyed by NAR say they plan to share contracts and amendments sooner with lenders, title insurers, and closing agents. Thirty-three percent plan to perform final or pre-closing walk-through home inspections earlier, and 37 percent say they plan to develop a plan with lenders and title agents to ensure a smooth transition.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has published a new guide for real estate agents detailing all the changes with the upcoming “Know Before You Owe” mortgage initiative. CFPB’s toolkit for agents includes sections on how to have on-time closings, an overview of what has changed and the new loan documents, and the ability to share resources with your clients about the new rules.

Source: “Tour the Loan Estimate Form for Mortgages,” Bankrate.com (September 2015); “New Disclosure Rules for Mortgage,” The New York Times (Sept. 25, 2015); and “Agents Plan to Extend Sales Contract for TRID,” REALTOR® Magazine Daily News (Sept. 3, 2015)