The Cost Of Getting Distracted When Shopping For A Mortgage
Have you ever walked into a store intending to buy a gift for your friend’s birthday and then notice an item that you have been looking for yourself? Have you ever gone to the grocery store to pick two items up on your list and ended up walking out with ten additional items that you picked up along the way. The result is that you went into the store with one goal in mind and you actually came out with more than you bargained for.
The same concept applies when you are shopping for a mortgage. Many times, mortgage lenders with try to attract, or more likely distract, your attention with gimmicks, introductory offers, or features of a mortgage. It may look something like this: 1.9 percent Mortgage Rates! If you actually take the time to investigate this 1.9 percent mortgage rate, you will quickly find that it is probably an introductory offer, meaning that your mortgage rate is only 1.9 percent for the first few months of the mortgage and then it is going to adjust, and probably way up.
The point is that you need to stay focused on the picture big instead of being distracted by what seems like a benefit. The cost of the distraction can be much greater than you may realize at the time. A perfect example of the cost of distraction is a mortgage borrower who is trying to refinance his or her home in order to lower his monthly mortgage payments. When the borrower starts shopping for a mortgage, he is only looking at the bottom line, which is how much his monthly payment is going to be.
What about the costs that he is paying up front? What about the fact that now instead of paying his mortgage off in 15 years, he now has a 30-year mortgage? Even though he may think he has achieved his goal, in reality it has cost him a lot more money in the end than it would to simply keep the mortgage he already had. In fact, he may have landed himself in a worse situation, which is the direct opposite of what he set out to do in the first place.
So, try not to get distracted. Stay focused on the big picture and you are sure to come out ahead!
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