Whoo... I am about to join the ranks of a home owner. Do any of you home owners have any tips for a first time buyer? Anyone have advice on this major purchase that they can give me?

Re: Buying a home

don't accidentally leave a candle burning when going out of town on christmas day

Re: Buying a home

[quote=hobbes2oo;511777]Whoo... I am about to join the ranks of a home owner. Do any of you home owners have any tips for a first time buyer? Anyone have advice on this major purchase that they can give me?[/quote]

I am closing on my house next week. it is a brand new house and a long process watching it get built but will be cool to be the 1st ones in it. congrats on the new house!!!! my advice, throw a kick ass party when you move in ;)

Re: Buying a home

Congratulations! Buying your first house is one of the most exciting milestones in a person's life, IMO. A few tips:

1. Consider resale when you're home shopping, and in the improvements you make to house after you buy it.
2. Cosmetic issues are easy to fix -- structural issues should seriously concern you.
3. Very few homes are truly unique such that you'll never find anything else like it -- don't find youself overbidding for a home because you think you'll never see anything else like it.
4. Get pre-approved before you do any serious home shopping, and be aware that you will get approved for way more home than you can probably comortably afford.
5. In this market, you should avoid using an interest only loan to stretch your budget, especially with unreasonably low teaser rates. You should have a pretty good idea of what sort of interest rate you can expect -- if something is much lower, you should ask yourself why.
6. With that said, if there is a signficant difference in the interest rate and you plan to be in this house for a certain period of time, consider an 3/1, 5/1, or 7/1 ARM -- just be aware that once the initial period runs, you'll need to have already sold the house or be prepared to refi if necessary.
7. Enjoy the process. What you're doing right now -- buying your first house -- is 1000X more fun than selling your house, which you'll inevitably be doing with every home purchase from this point forth.
8. Be aware that it's an extremely expensive process to set up a new home. You'll find yourself spending an enormous amount of money apart from the purchase itself in the first few months. Plan for it.
9. Location matters.

You're in the enviable position of buying your first home in the midst of a buyer's market, even though rates have ticked up a bit of late. Have fun!!!!

Re: Buying a home

Having just closed on my first house about a month ago, toasty's advice is all sound, escpecailly point 3. We found the "one" three times, but others thought it was the "one" too and the prices just got too high. Don't despair though, there is always another "one".

Be prepared to spend at least another 5K getting the house to look and feel the way you want it to. Also, cosmetic stuff, like painting, takes a lot longer than you may expect it to. I am foruntate that I am able to take a month off to do all that stuff, but I will be lucky if I can get it all done by the time school starts.

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Rremember there will be always something to do/fix... so dont rush and take on alot

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don't pay for PMI. if they tell you it's required, find a new lender.

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I am planning on buying new, hopefully.

Option 1 is to live in the town I work in, but the property tax is high (1.5 - 2k per year) and the population is around 10-15k.

Option 2 is live in another town 20 miles from work, property tax is low (900 - 1.5k per year) and the population is 2.5k.

Re: Buying a home

be pacient when buying a house. its a buyers market right now. make sure the home has plenty of upgrades or forget it. u dont want an out dated house. it doesnt hurt to low ball on the price because again its a buyers market, but make the offer strong though when u low ball. finally when u do the financing dont do anything lower the a 5/1 arm. oh yea and like the other guy said before, make sure its in a good area where u know the houses equity will grow.

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we're waiting for the market to dwindle down a little bit more. even though the prices have gone down, they are still too high here in southern california.

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[quote=cyrus32;511851]make sure the home has plenty of upgrades or forget it. u dont want an out dated house. [/quote]

100% untrue. do the upgrades yourself and take that to the bank when you sell it. cha ching!

Re: Buying a home

[quote=Jenks;511902]100% untrue. do the upgrades yourself and take that to the bank when you sell it. cha ching![/quote]100% true. Especially when you do it all yourself it creates added value.

Imo location is one of the most important points. For instance, my house is in a dead end street (hardly any traffic) in the middle of the fields. However, it's near a train station, bus stop and the highway. 5min walk to the super market and 10min walk to the city center. Everything is in reach, but I live a green and quiet environment. Effin fantastic!

Your future neighbours is something you want to pay attn to as well.

Re: Buying a home

[quote=the sun the sea;511899]we're waiting for the market to dwindle down a little bit more. even though the prices have gone down, they are still too high here in southern california.[/quote]

Same here. I got engaged in early June. We've booked the date for March 8th. Initially it was for July 26th, but nothing was availble. Sooo, I think I'll be in the market to purchase a home come January or February.

Looking right now just makes my head spin, it's still so very expensive here in So. Cal. Hopefully by early next year I'll be seeing a huge difference.. hopefully. :what

Re: Buying a home

buy a duplex. put a neg am loan on it, rent the other side. free mortgage + cash flow. or get into a 5/1 arm interest only

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[quote=hobbes2oo;511821]I am planning on buying new, hopefully.

Option 1 is to live in the town I work in, but the property tax is high (1.5 - 2k per year) and the population is around 10-15k.

Option 2 is live in another town 20 miles from work, property tax is low (900 - 1.5k per year) and the population is 2.5k.[/quote]

thats peanuts compared to property tax in Chicagoland!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: Buying a home

[quote=toasty;511802] 2. Cosmetic issues are easy to fix -- structural issues should seriously concern you. [/quote]

Whole heartedly agree with that

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[QUOTE=Huggie Smiles;511966]thats peanuts compared to property tax in Chicagoland!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![/QUOTE]

why didn't you try to contact me while i was out there. didn't know you were in chicago

Re: Buying a home

Take the hint pickle. jeez. :p

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Take your check book to the closing. There always seems to be aonter fee to pay.

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[quote=picklemonkey;512005]why didn't you try to contact me while i was out there. didn't know you were in chicago[/quote]

I've seen the pics of what you tried to do to MJ whilst you were mullered.:D

Re: Buying a home

At first I was sweating having to pay a 500-600 per month mortgage but you folks in california and chicago are making me breathe easier now :)

Re: Buying a home

[QUOTE=hobbes2oo;511821]I am planning on buying new, hopefully.

Option 1 is to live in the town I work in, but the property tax is high (1.5 - 2k per year) and the population is around 10-15k.

Option 2 is live in another town 20 miles from work, property tax is low (900 - 1.5k per year) and the population is 2.5k.[/QUOTE]

I'd go option 1. Living 20 miles from work adds at least an hour to your work day every day. Plus, your property tax is tax deductible, so it's less of a difference in the big picture.

That's really a matter of what's important to you, though. If you tend to change jobs a lot, moving somewhere primarily to be close to work isn't a great call. If not, though, that drive adds up in terms of time, gas, mileage, etc.

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Live in the house for a bit prior to doing major upgrades. You will get a much better feel for what you want to do.

Congradulations! I have a 90 year old house that I have been upgrading for some time.

Re: Buying a home

[quote=CND;512043]Live in the house for a bit prior to doing major upgrades. You will get a much better feel for what you want to do.

Congradulations! I have a 90 year old house that I have been upgrading for some time.[/quote]

Agreed here, but also, do not take on a house with a bunch of stuff that needs to be done to make it liveable. it may seem easy at the time of buying because you are on that rush of owning a house. My gf and I almost did the same thing a few times, and are really glad we waited. Though there are a few things we want to do, it is nothing that cant wait until we can afford it or do it our selves. We just had our one year anniversary as home owners, and it feels great! yeah the mortgage is way higher than our rent was, but it is the best investment you can make, and we can refi next year and get the rate and pmt lower... enjoy the process, it should be a fun exciting time, if something, any thing doesnt feel right, DONT DO IT..

There are always other houses out there as some one else already mentioned. A house is not the time to have buyers remorse, lol

good luck keep us posted!

Re: Buying a home

[quote=toasty;512040]I'd go option 1. Living 20 miles from work adds at least an hour to your work day every day. Plus, your property tax is tax deductible, so it's less of a difference in the big picture.

That's really a matter of what's important to you, though. If you tend to change jobs a lot, moving somewhere primarily to be close to work isn't a great call. If not, though, that drive adds up in terms of time, gas, mileage, etc.[/quote]

toasty beat me to it. any savings you get in the lower taxes of the further house are negated by the true costs of having to drive that far every day. if you can, consider a small house in a walkable neighborhood over a bigger house that's 5-10 miles from anything. it amazes me how much people are willing to spend on driving as a result of seeking a cheaper house.

Re: Buying a home

[quote=hobbes2oo;511777]Whoo... I am about to join the ranks of a home owner. Do any of you home owners have any tips for a first time buyer? Anyone have advice on this major purchase that they can give me?[/quote]

a)Make sure the MRS likes it or she'll never let it down and you'll have to put up with it forever.

b) Don't be stingy and cut corners. Make sure you get a building/pest report of the prospective house. You don't want to move in and find you're cohabiting the premises with 4 million termites.

c) Do not get a loan where you can redraw funds from your repayments. Get a loan where whatever you repay, stays repaid.

All the above I say from bitter personal experience.:(:(

Re: Buying a home

jeez ur worried about 1.5k to 2k property tax? here in california u see 5k to 8k property tax just for a mediocre home. i wish i had that kind of property tax. and if ur worried about it impound ur property tax in to ur mortgage payments. so it will be like 130 to 170 bucks extra on ur mortgage payments.