Today, what I want to talk about is the biggest mortgage mistakes that people make and how you could save thousands and thousands of dollars if you do it right. As a matter of fact, you could save tens of thousands of dollars over the next five or ten years of your mortgage doing it right, right? Now, why do I want to talk about it? Well, you know, getting your mortgage right matters. Buying a home is one of the biggest financial decisions most people will ever make. A mortgage can either be a powerful wealth-building tool or a costly mistake that drains your finances for decades.

Unfortunately, many homebuyers rush into a mortgage without fully understanding the long-term costs. A single mistake could cost tens of thousands of dollars over the life of your loan, let alone what you pay in closing costs. And you know what? I’m going to do, in addition to this video to teach you all these things, I’m going to put a bundle of both of my courses for buying your own home or refinancing your home or buying a rental property. I’m going to put both of those courses together at an insane low price down below that honestly I believe will save you thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars on just the first time you buy your next mortgage or get your next mortgage, right? So, what I want to cover is the biggest mistakes that people make when taking out a mortgage, how much money they lose when making these mistakes, and how to avoid the costly errors and save thousands.

So, number one mistake, not shopping around for the best interest rate, right? The mistake many buyers accept the first mortgage offer they get instead of comparing lenders. The cost, even a small difference in interest, can cost tens of thousands of dollars over 30 years. An example of this, a $300,000 mortgage at 7% is $1996 a month, let’s say. The same mortgage at 6% is $1799 a month. That’s already $2000 or $200 a month around less, but the savings of that $200 or $197 is $70,920 over 30 years. Now, the smart move would be to compare offers from at least three to five lenders.

Consider credit unions and online lenders for lower rates, right? Because they have a lot of these sales that happen. And then negotiate. Many lenders are willing to match or beat competitor rates. Now, the number two mistake is not checking your credit score before applying. That mistake, a low credit score, means higher interest rates, which can cost thousands in extra payments, or sorry, thousands extra in payments. And all you got to do is fix your credit score. Sometimes it takes as little as 30 days to 90 days to have an amazing credit score to save a bunch, right? The cost is a credit score from $620 to $760, could mean an interest rate of 1% to 2% costing $100,000 plus in extra payments over 30 years.

So think about that, right? An example of this would be a credit score of 620, which would bring in about a 7.5% interest rate or $2098 a month of the payment. Whereas a credit score of 760 plus would bring in an interest rate of 6% and make the payment $1799 a month. That’s almost $300 a month in savings, or $107 grand over 30 years. So what’s the smart move? Check your credit score months before applying. Pay down debts and avoid opening new credit accounts before applying. Aim for a score of $740 or higher to qualify for the best rates.

Now, what’s mistake number three? Choosing the wrong loan term. The mistake many people make is automatically choosing a 30-year mortgage without considering shorter term options, right? Now, a shorter term comes higher prices. You got to realize that, right? So what’s the smart move? A smart move would be if you can afford it, consider a 15-year mortgage to save on interest. If a 15-year term is too expensive, then pay extra each month on a 30-year loan to reduce your total interest. Because remember, mortgage interest is front-loaded, amortized interest. There’s a lot going to your interest in the beginning months, and it slowly tapers off as you pay your loan for that 30 years.

So it’s important every extra payment you make in the beginning, it saves you so much money over the life of your loan in interest, all right? Now, what’s mistake number four? Putting too little down, right? Or too much. The mistake is that some buyers put too little down, leading to higher monthly payments and costly PMI, and others put too much down, leaving them cash-poor after closing. You always have to have that emergency fund, right? The cost that this can have is PMI, right? Prepaid mortgage insurance can cost as much as $100 to $300 a month, adding up to 10 grand over time.

Now, this has changed over in recent years, where it’s getting cheaper and cheaper, but it’s still a cost. So you need to consider that. The smart move would be to aim for 20% down to avoid PMI. But if you’re going with a lender where you’re getting a competitive rate and the prepaid mortgage insurance isn’t that much, I’ve seen it on a $500,000 house as low as $37 a month, all right? That should not hold you back if you don’t have 20%. So consider all of these things when going to buy your next house and taking out a mortgage.

Now, the mistake number five is underestimating total home ownership costs. The mistake is that many buyers only focus on the mortgage payment and forget about the property taxes, the insurance and maintenance and HOA fees, right? Well, these unexpected costs can add to hundreds of dollars extra per month, making them unaffordable. So consider that. And the smart move would be to budget for all home ownership costs, not just the mortgage. Set aside 1% to 2% of the home’s value per year for maintenance. Get insurance quotes before closing to avoid surprises. Now, mistake number six is taking on too much debt before closing.

Buyers that take out new car loans, max out credit cards or open new credit lines before closing can ruin their mortgage approval. So do not do this. A last minute drop in your credit score could increase your mortgage rate costing you thousands of dollars over time. So the smart move would be to avoid making these big purchases or taking out these new credit cards, keeping your credit utilization score low until the mortgage is finalized. So to wrap this up and some final thoughts is how much can you save by avoiding these mistakes, right? The bottom line is a mortgage is one of the biggest financial commitments you’ll ever make.

By avoiding these common mistakes, you could save hundreds of thousands of dollars and set yourself up for financial success. You need to plan ahead, compare lenders, improve your credit and choose the right mortgage structure to maximize your savings. The fact is, if you want to get ready for this, I’ve built those courses. I’m going to put the link down below. And my goal or promise to you is that if you’ll listen to all of those lessons in the next mortgage you take out, or even if it’s your first, you will save 10 times the cost of going through this course.

And that’s just the first time you’re going to use those lessons for the rest of your life, because I have been in all the properties I’ve ever bought. I hope you got something out of this. I think that this is a great day to start learning about the mortgage industry and all the tips and tricks that are going to save you time, save you heartache, and especially save you money. All right, with that being said, let’s go crush it in real estate. [tr:trw].

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