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7 big mortgage loan mistakes (and how to avoid them)
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Buying a home can be an exciting experience — but it can also be a stressful one. Not only do you need to find the perfect home, but you may need to find the right neighborhood, real estate agent, title company, and, perhaps most importantly, the best mortgage lender and home loan.
After all, most people can’t afford to pay for their home with cash and will instead need to borrow money to complete their purchase. And, securing a mortgage is a significant financial decision that can shape your future for years to come. That’s because the lender you choose — and the mortgage loan you decide on — play a significant role in the cost of your home.
As such, it’s incredibly important to find options that are a good fit for your unique circumstances. And, as you narrow down your mortgage loan choices, be sure to avoid the major mistakes that other people have made. Below, we’ll detail what to look for — and how to steer clear of them.
Start exploring the mortgage loan rates you qualify for now.
7 big mortgage loan mistakes (and how to avoid them)
Buying a home can be complicated enough — and making mistakes during the mortgage loan process will only add to the issues. So, as you navigate the mortgage loan landscape, be sure to avoid these big mistakes:
Neglecting to shop around
Many homebuyers let the excitement of buying a home cloud their judgment, and in turn, will make the mistake of accepting the first mortgage offer they receive. But different lenders offer different terms and interest rates, which can work to your advantage if you’re smart about your approach. Remember, even a slightly lower interest rate can translate to significant savings over the life of your mortgage loan.
So, rather than simply accepting the loan offer, take the time to shop around, obtain multiple quotes and compare the details instead. Online mortgage comparison tools can be valuable in helping you make informed decisions — and you can try to also negotiate with lenders to get better rates after you’ve shopped around.
Find out what your top mortgage loan options are here.
Ignoring your credit score
One of the gravest mistakes you can make when borrowing money to buy a home — or for nearly anything else — is neglecting your credit score. After all, your credit score plays a pivotal role in determining the interest rate you qualify for — and improving your credit by even a few points can have a big impact on the overall cost of your mortgage loan.
So before you start shopping for a mortgage, be sure to obtain a copy of your credit report and check your score. If your score is less than stellar, take steps to improve it by paying down debt, correcting errors on your report and making timely payments. A higher credit score can save you thousands of dollars over the life of your mortgage, so it’s typically worth it to take the time to make these, and other, improvements.
Overlooking your budget
Falling in love with a home that stretches your budget is a common pitfall of shopping for a home — and with home prices as elevated as they are, it can be even easier to find yourself in this situation. To avoid the issue, determine what your budget is before starting the home-buying process.
And, as you do this, be sure to consider not only the monthly mortgage payment but also property taxes, insurance and maintenance costs as part of the holistic borrowing picture. And, remember that lenders may approve you for a larger loan than you can comfortably afford — which is why it’s important to go into the process with an idea of what your budget is. If you stick to your budget, you can typically avoid financial strain in the long run.
Skipping the pre-approval process
You may think the best approach to take is to start shopping now to avoid missing out on an opportunity to buy a home, but you need to get pre-approved first. Skipping the pre-approval process is a misstep that can seriously hinder your journey.
After all, getting pre-approved for a mortgage not only provides you with a clear understanding of your budget but also makes you a more attractive buyer to sellers. That’s because a pre-approval shows that you are a serious and qualified buyer, which, in turn, gives you an edge in a competitive real estate market.
Ignoring loan terms and conditions
Reading the fine print is crucial when it comes to mortgage loans, but some borrowers make the mistake of overlooking important terms and conditions buried in the paperwork. That can be detrimental to your ability to buy a home.
Instead, pay attention to details such as prepayment penalties, adjustable-rate terms and potential fees when you’re shopping around for mortgage loans. Understanding these aspects can prevent surprises and ensure that you choose a mortgage that aligns with your financial goals.
Opting for the wrong loan type
There are a lot of different mortgage loan options to choose from — and choosing the wrong type of mortgage can lead to financial challenges down the road. Don’t make that mistake or it could be costly.
To avoid that issue, be sure to assess your financial situation and future plans before deciding between fixed-rate and adjustable-rate mortgages. Fixed-rate mortgages offer stability, while adjustable-rate mortgages may have lower initial rates but carry the risk of future increases. Also consider your risk tolerance and financial goals when selecting the type of mortgage that best suits your needs.
Forgetting about the closing costs
Many homebuyers focus on the down payment they’re making on the home and, in turn, neglect to budget for closing costs. That can cause issues late into the mortgage loan process if you aren’t careful. When budgeting for your home purchase, ensure that you set aside funds for closing costs to avoid any financial surprises.
Closing costs typically include a wide range of fees for appraisal, title insurance, attorney services and other miscellaneous expenses. Be sure you understand and get a full accounting of what your closing costs entail, as failing to account for these costs can strain your finances at the last minute.
The bottom line
Avoiding these big mortgage loan mistakes requires careful consideration, thorough research and good financial planning — but it’s important to do so. After all, your mortgage is a long-term commitment that significantly impacts your financial stability. And, by being proactive, understanding the terms and staying within your means, you can navigate the mortgage process with confidence and secure a loan that aligns with your financial goals. After all, a well-informed decision today can pave the way for a more secure and prosperous future.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, is coming into the nomination process in an unusual position: a long list of his own policy priorites separate from the president-elect’s, and a public promise by Trump to let him “go wild” on his ideas.
CBS News medical contributor Dr. Céline Gounder, the editor-at-large for public health at KFF Health News, answers questions below about the role Kennedy has been tapped to take on and some of the ideas in the sweeping “Make America Healthy Again” platform he may try to push through.
Q: What is the role of the Department of Health and Human Services, and how much power does the HHS secretary have over its work?
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services comprises several agencies and offices including the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Office of the Surgeon General and much more.
There is a big difference between political appointees and career civil servants. Political appointees set strategic priorities and align their department or agency’s policies with the current administration’s objectives. Civil servants have the institutional knowledge to know how to get things done and have specialized scientific or technical expertise. Scientific questions require specialized expertise. This is why there are career scientists who advise the HHS secretary, NIH director, CDC director and FDA commissioner.
The HHS secretary has the authority to establish regulations that govern health, including food and drug safety, public health and health care quality. The HHS secretary can declare public health emergencies and coordinate federal responses to health crises, such as disease outbreaks or natural disasters. The secretary wields significant influence over the department’s policies and its constituent agencies, which include the CDC, FDA, NIH and others.
The HHS secretary is also in a position to shape public opinion if given a platform to do so by the media. Absent media attention, their influence on public opinion is more limited. We in the media have a responsibility to fact-check their statements and hold those in power accountable — regardless of who is in power.
Q: One of Kennedy’s most controversial stances is his his criticism of vaccines, promoting the idea that they cause autism, among other conditions, and claiming “there’s no vaccine that is safe and effective.” What is the reality?
Extensive research has conclusively shown that vaccines do not cause autism. The “research” behind these claims was retracted due to ethical violations and sloppy work. The doctor who originally made those claims lost his medical license as a result of his professional misconduct.
For parents whose kids have autism or people who have autism, this matters. For too long, claims about the safety of vaccines have not only put people at unnecessary risk of getting illnesses that vaccines can prevent, but have also been a red herring, distracting people from the real causes of autism and how to diagnose them and treat them. That distraction is unproductive and harmful.
Secondly, nothing in this world is 100% safe and effective. It’s all about weighing risks, the pros and cons. Is one choice more beneficial or more risky? Do the pros of wearing a seatbelt in the car outweigh the risks? Do the pros of exercising regularly outweigh the risks of not exercising? Do the pros of vaccinating instead of allowing infectious diseases to spread in the community outweigh the cons? Yes, yes and yes.
Q: Kennedy has said he wants to leave it up to individuals to decide whether to vaccinate themselves or their children. What impact could that have?
Increasingly, people are formulating opinions about vaccines based not on science, but on Google searches, social media, what family and friends think and personal observation. That is not research. Research is formulating a hypothesis and trying to disprove that hypothesis. It means you understand how to differentiate correlation from causation. And it means doing repeated experiments to show consistency, not just a chance or random result.
This isn’t a question of whether people are smart or not. But most people don’t have the training, experience and context to objectively assess the pros and cons of vaccination. You wouldn’t want me repairing your car’s transmission or brake system. I’m not stupid, but I have no training or experience in this.
The risk of leaving these decisions to untrained individuals is that these decisions won’t be made on science. They will be made based on emotion and confirmation bias, which is to say, Google searches looking for opinions that line up with your preexisting beliefs or inclinations. This will put kids at risk, and because vaccines protect against transmissible infectious diseases this will put others in the community at risk, especially other kids and people who are immunocompromised.
Q: Kennedy has also said chemicals in food are tied to autism as well as psychotic episodes and depression. What do we know about the connection between food and mental health?
He’s not wrong that there is a relationship between diet and autism as well as diet and mental health. These are areas of ongoing research. No diet has been proven to cure or universally improve autism or mental health symptoms, but certain dietary interventions improve symptoms in some people. These dietary changes may include elimination of ultra-processed foods, eliminating gluten and avoiding certain food additives or preservatives.
Q: Kennedy has said one of the Trump administration’s first acts will be to work to remove fluoride from drinking water, arguing it’s connected to cancer, IQ loss, thyroid disease and other health problems. Why is fluoride in drinking water, and is it safe?
Fluoride is put in the water to reduce the risk of cavities, especially in kids.
As with many things, fluoride safety is all about dose. Drinking a few glasses of water a day is healthy. Drinking a barrel of water would land you in the hospital. The level of fluoride in U.S. water is safe and protects against tooth decay.
When municipalities stopped putting fluoride in the water, cavity rates went up. This was observed, for example, in Calgary and in Juneau, Alaska.
There are parts of the world, including India, China and East Africa, where fluoride levels 30 to 40 times higher than levels in the U.S. have been found to be harmful. But we don’t have anywhere near those levels of fluoride in our water.
But Kennedy’s statement demonstrates a common misunderstanding about public health authorities in the U.S. We are the United States of America — public health powers reside at the state level. The federal government has the authority to tax and spend and to regulate commerce across state lines, but the federal government’s authority does not extend beyond that.
The CDC provides scientific guidance to help state and local authorities to make informed decisions. The CDC does not mandate fluoridation. The EPA sets the maximum allowable fluoride concentration in public water systems. But states have the authority to mandate fluoridation or can leave it up to local jurisdictions.
Q: Kennedy has criticized multiple public health agencies he could now lead. He’s said the FDA’s “war on public health is about to end,” claiming the agency suppresses anything that “advances human health and can’t be patented” by pharmaceutical companies. What do you make of these criticisms?
This again demonstrates a misunderstanding of federal agency authority. Congress has passed laws that give the FDA specific authority to regulate drugs, supplements and food, and those laws grant the FDA different powers over drugs, supplements and food.
Drugs require FDA approval before they can be marketed. Under the law, drugs are defined as substances used to diagnose, treat or prevent disease.
Supplements don’t need FDA approval before they are sold. The FDA monitors dietary supplements once they are on the market and can take action if they are unsafe or if they make claims about diagnosis, treatment or prevention of disease.
Dietary supplement manufacturers often choose not to seek FDA approval to market their products as drugs because:
- There are less stringent requirements on dietary supplements than on drugs
- The FDA approval process is expensive and lengthy. Clinical trials take years to conduct and cost millions of dollars. Manufacturers foot the bill for clinical trials.
- Dietary supplements can be sold directly to consumers without a prescription.
It’s the manufacturer that decides whether it wants to seek FDA approval for a drug or if it wants to market a product as a dietary supplement — and that decision typically comes down to time and money. Pharmaceutical companies are less inclined to invest millions of dollars in clinical trials of unpatented treatments due to the lack of exclusive marketing rights, which can affect profitability.
The FDA often goes after supplement brands that test this line when it sees companies marketing products with claims that amount to what should be regulated as a drug. This is why supplements often carry a disclaimer that they aren’t being sold to “diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.” Kennedy has praised the supplement industry for “fighting back,” following a court win over an anti-aging supplement that the FDA argued should be regulated as a drug.
Finally, the FDA doesn’t grant patents. That’s the job of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Q: Trump has said Kennedy will “end the chronic health epidemic.” What are some of the positive actions he could take if he becomes HHS secretary to reduce chronic disease in the U.S.?
Kennedy has called for greater regulation of food additives and ultraprocessed foods. Ultraprocessed foods in American diets have led to an explosion in obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and other chronic disease.
However, it’s unclear which factions within Trump’s orbit will prevail. Congress would have to give the FDA the authority to be more aggressive in regulating and the funding to enforce regulations. Historically, the Republican Party has been opposed to regulation. Trump’s chief of staff pick, Susie Wiles, is a longtime lobbyist who has worked on behalf of the food, insurance and tobacco industries.
The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 — which involved a number of former Trump advisers, but which Trump has tried to distance himself from — would roll back dietary guidelines would make it harder to fight ultraprocessed foods.
contributed to this report.
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Dealing with credit card debt in collections can feel overwhelming. Whether it’s due to financial hardship, unexpected expenses or a moment of oversight, unpaid debts can lead to aggressive collection calls, damage to your credit score and a cloud of financial uncertainty. That’s why the conventional wisdom often suggests paying off all debts as quickly as possible to try and limit the repercussions.
However, the reality is often more nuanced. There are circumstances where paying off debt in collections is the smartest move, helping you rebuild your financial standing and avoid further complications. But there are also situations where it may be unnecessary or even counterproductive to do so and making the wrong choice about this type of debt can have serious consequences.
After all, if you pay off the wrong debt at the wrong time, you might drain your emergency fund or miss out on debt settlement opportunities. But if you ignore the right debt at the wrong time, you could face lawsuits or further damage to your credit score. As a result, it’s important to understand when to pay — or not to pay — to help you make the best decisions about your financial future.
Start tackling your credit card debt that’s in collections today.
3 times you should pay off credit card debt collections
Here’s when it makes sense to pay off what you owe to a debt collector:
When you plan to apply for a major loan
If you’re gearing up to apply for a mortgage, car loan or other significant financing, paying off debt in collections can improve your chances of approval. Lenders scrutinize your credit report and collections accounts can be red flags indicating financial instability. While paying off the debt won’t erase it from your credit report, it can reflect positively by showing that you’ve taken responsibility. Plus, some lenders might require all collections to be resolved before approving your application.
Find out how the right debt relief strategy could provide relief now.
When you want to stop legal action
Creditors or collection agencies can escalate unpaid debts by suing you for the balance (and any fees and interest charges tied to it). If this happens and they win, they can garnish your wages or place liens on your assets. Paying off the debt, either in full or through a negotiated settlement, can prevent or halt such legal proceedings. This is particularly critical if the debt is within the statute of limitations, meaning the creditor can still legally pursue you in court.
When the debt is valid and you have the means to pay
If the debt is legitimate, within the statute of limitations, and you have the financial resources to pay it, it’s typically wise to settle it. Ignoring valid debt can lead to further financial strain through accruing interest and fees, not to mention ongoing damage to your credit score. Paying it off, though, demonstrates financial responsibility and offers peace of mind, allowing you to move forward with a clean slate.
3 times you shouldn’t pay off credit card debt collections
And here are a few times when it may not make sense to pay off the debt:
When the debt is beyond the statute of limitations
Every state has a statute of limitations that limits how long a creditor can sue you for unpaid debts. If the debt is beyond this period, known as a time-barred debt, you can no longer be legally forced to pay it. Making a payment or acknowledging the debt can restart the clock on the statute of limitations, making you vulnerable to legal action. In this case, it’s better to let the debt remain dormant unless you’re ready to settle it entirely.
When the debt isn’t yours or contains errors
Mistakes happen and not all debts reported to collections are legitimate. If you believe the debt isn’t yours or contains inaccuracies, don’t rush to pay it. Instead, dispute the debt with the collection agency or credit bureaus. Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), you have the right to request validation of the debt, and collection agencies are required to provide proof. Paying a debt you don’t owe can waste money and reinforce errors in your credit report.
When paying would cause financial hardship
If paying off the debt would drain your savings or compromise your ability to meet basic needs, it may be better to prioritize essential expenses and explore other solutions. For instance, you might negotiate a payment plan or settle the debt for less than the full amount. Alternatively, working with a credit counselor or pursuing bankruptcy (in extreme cases) could be more sustainable options. Ultimately, sacrificing your financial well-being to pay off collections isn’t worth it if it jeopardizes your future stability.
The bottom line
Deciding whether to pay off credit card debt in collections requires a careful evaluation of your circumstances. Paying off the debt can be a strategic move if it’s necessary for financial goals, legal protection or peace of mind. However, rushing to pay under the wrong conditions — such as dealing with time-barred debt or financial hardship — can lead to unnecessary stress and expense.
The key is to understand your rights and options. If you’re unsure about how to proceed, consider seeking advice from an expert or a debt relief specialist. By approaching debt collection with a clear strategy, you can take control of your finances and make decisions that benefit your long-term financial health.
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