Ask the REALTOR®: Is it true I shouldn’t make any other big purchases when buying a home?

Ask the REALTOR® is a new series in which I’ll answer your most commonly-asked real estate questions, with a new Q&A posting every week or so. If YOU have a real estate question for me, drop me a note here.

This week’s question: Is it true I shouldn’t make any other big purchases when buying a home? Here’s the answer in this brief video, and don’t miss the transcript below.

Hello, I am Cari McGee and this is Ask the Realtor!

Over my almost 15 years in the business of selling real estate, I have come across a lot of questions from buyers and sellers and the general public asking things about the best way to sell homes … they’ve heard this and is that true? Things like that.

So today the question is, “Is it true that I shouldn’t make any big purchases when I’m buying a house?”

And that’s absolutely true, because, this is why: When you go to purchase a house, in almost all cases, you need to secure a loan for the house. So you go to the bank and you say to the banker, “This is what I have. I make this much money, and I spend it on these things regularly. And how much house can I afford?” And then you learn how much, and then you go out searching for your new home.

If that financial picture changes, then that throws everything into a tailspin because the bank has made its decision to loan you money based on the information you’ve given them — based on that snapshot of your financial circumstances. When you change those circumstances significantly by purchasing something large and major, like furniture, or a new refrigerator, or God forbid a new car, that changes everything as far as the bank is concerned and maybe you’re not as good of a borrower as they thought you were.

That’s why you really need to just hang on tight during that 30- to 45-day period when you’re under contract on your new home. Don’t make any major purchases, even though people get super excited and they’re like, “Oh, I saw this sofa and it was on sale and it’ll look perfect in the front room of the new house.” No. No, no, no. Don’t do that. Wait until the day after closing and I promise you, then you can go ahead and spend to your heart’s content and you’ll be fine. But just don’t do it beforehand.

So, hope that helps you if you’ve had that question in your head, now you have an answer. Have a really good day. Bye.