Posted: 8/6/2010 6:46:40 AM EDT
| I have been looking. I have excellent credit. What should I look for? I dont wanna get hosed. All advice appreciated. |
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1) 30 Year Fixed Rate, you can always pay it off early if you want.
2) Get a pessimistic inspector who thinks everything is shit, don't let a realtor recommend one to you. You don't want an optimistic inspector who brushes minor issues under the rug. That's YOUR job to decide if an issue is minor or major. 3) Don't fall in love with a deal and always be willing to walk. Plenty of houses on the market. 4) Establish criteria for what you want and then look at lots of different houses. 5) Take what you think you can afford and then buy something worth 75% or less of that number. 6) Count on spending some money for unexpected fixes once you move in. SOMETHING is going to break. My AC died the day after I moved in. |
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Bring any friends / relatives that know houses on your showing. I just recently put an offer on a 1900's farm house, the hour showing didn't really look like there was too many problems, and I loved the location, but then when I got a home inspection (lasted 6 hours), huge red flags came up, half the roof was fire damaged that the owner never disclosed, problems with the foundation, with the basement supports, the plumbing, the electrical, bathroom subfloors had water damage.... I had to bail, thankfully it only cost me the price of a home inspection. The next houses I'm looking at, I will be getting into the basement and attic before even thinking of throwing down an offer... might pick up an electrical tester to make sure all the outlets work and are grounded, flush toilets, run sinks, look for low flow, etc. |
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Make sure you are spending the money on inspectors, title search, etc - so you do not end up with unpleasant surprises.
Make sure you understand ALL the costs involved - mortgage, possible PMI, insurance, escrow, house and yard maintenance, etc. It can be very frustrating to underestimate your total monthly cost, and then be stuck with a house that ends up costing you more than you thought it would. Pay attention to school districts. Even if you do not have kids, the people you later sell the house to very likely will, and that's a BIG factor for a lot of potential purchasers. When you are ready to buy, try to find TWO houses that you would be happy to own. It makes the negotiating and buying process much easier. If you fall in love with ONE house, it is much harder to get a good deal, and more painful if you do not get it. When you see the house you like the second time, pay attention to some of the little things that will affect you on an everyday level - like how the windows open, how long it takes for hot water to reach the master bathroom, what angle the sunlight into your bedroom is in the morning, etc. |
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Decide what you want and then do a little homework. Two sites I'd highly recommend:
Mortgage Professor UpFront Mortgage Brokers Association |
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I have been looking. I have excellent credit. What should I look for? I dont wanna get hosed. All advice appreciated. 1. Start with a budget that identifies how much home you can afford first. Include in your budget prep expected energy cost, insurance, utilites, taxes etc. The true cost of home ownership must be known first BEFORE you start looking. 2. Now that you know the budget and what you can afford, start lookiing into areas that will address key factors: These factors include the commute to work for your spouse, to school for the kids. 3. How much land and yard work are you willing to take on. 4. Are the schools good? You can check schools ratings onlline. 5. Do you want an older home and do some fix up, or a newer home you walk right into. 6. If you are lookiing into a home in a subdivision or populated area, do a drive buy on saturday and sunday afternoons on a good weather day. By doing this you will see who you have for neighbors. Make your own judgements from there. 7. Sketch out a floor plan as the ideal floor plan you would like. Take note of what you lilke and do not like. Buy a floor plan that most closely meets your needs. 8. When you get close to picking a house, go to the local economic and public works department and ask for planned projects near your house. You want to know if a landfill or rock quarry is on the development books or things like that that that could hurt your property value. 9. Don't buy too small of a house to scrimp on cost. You and other living there will hate it later and you will be adding on or moving on. 10. A home inpection and terminte letter is required by most lenders. If not get one it is worth the money. 11. Shop the interest rates and closing costs, they vary greatly at times. 13. Go to any real estate website, they have a list of buying tips. |
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As most of the others have said GET AN INSPECTION!!!!! Get the most pessimistic anal-retentive inspector you can find/afford. Don't go with the real estate persons recommendation either. Decide right off the bat (and be honest with yourself) do you have what it takes to do minor/major house repairs? If you answer no you might want to look at a newer house. Don't be afraid to dicker with the real estate person either. And feel free to walk away. There are plenty of real estate offices in the phone book. Try to get pre-approved on your home loan so you have a firm price in you mind. Remember money talks, etc. Good luck and enjoy your new home!  |
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Good advice in the thread.
I started with a class on homebuying. It explained the process, what to do, etc. That seems to be covered well here. I got a home inspector who was very thorough. Mentioned the roof had 5 years left, did a radon test (a little above average) and noted some other things I was able to get the homeowner to fix instead of on my dime. Got the 30 year fixed mortgage. Glad I played the cautious card back then since the rate I got was awesome with a decent downpayment- and with the bigger downpayment, no need for the loan insurance to boot. (Saving up while living in apartments for years finally paid off!) |
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(Saving up while living in apartments for years finally paid off!) Tell me about it. My GF and I should be able to comfortably put down 30% when we finally make our move. That's awesome. I saved and waited for the right time too. When my mortgage company found out about my down payment, they acted like they were going to throw me a parade. It also made my monthly payment much less, which is handy- once you have a house, there is no lack of stuff that needs doing around it! Just dropped a bundle on the roof that the inspector pointed out. He was right- 5 years! 
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Get pre approved for a mortgage from two or more mortgage brokers/lenders. That way you can play them against each other.
Get an inspector who used to be a tradesman/general contractor. Do not get one of those guys who only knows about building codes. Look around the properties for tell tale signs of neighborhood deterioration. Also check for rims, basketball hoops, etc. in neighbors yards, listen for bumping subwoofers, working age people milling about during business hours. Note the location of neighbors driveways compared to the house. If the driveway is outside your bedroom, you can be assured the neighbor will be warming up his diesel truck every morning at 3 a.m. or his son revving his Ninja every midnight. Buy in the best school district in town. There will be less crime, the houses sell faster and for more money. The neighborhoods are nicer. |
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Short sell
down here a home a 2000 sq ft home with $200,000 mortgage on it is going for $75,000. Wife's Division Manager for one of the largest Home builders and they are giving away the homes just to make their numbers. a lot of options out there Remember one thing ITS A BUYERS MARKET AND WILL BE FOR MANY YEARS |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: (Saving up while living in apartments for years finally paid off!) Tell me about it. My GF and I should be able to comfortably put down 30% when we finally make our move. When my mortgage company found out about my down payment, they acted like they were going to throw me a parade. One thing I would say to the OP... everyone and their uncle is going to try and get you to spend more than you want. Watch out for that. |
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Quoted: Short sell down here a home a 2000 sq ft home with $200,000 mortgage on it is going for $75,000. That is crazy!  Then again, I was just talking to a friend who saw a house in his neighborhood, identical to his, sell for 135K less than what he paid 8 years or so ago. Seems to be a pretty good time to be in the market to buy.
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| Great advice above. On a personal level, don't buy a house because it's "what your supposed to do" at a certain point in your life. Home ownership will suck up a lot of your free time and $ that you might want to spend elsewhere. Is your lifestyle right for it, is your employment stable, are you willing to make a long term commitment and invest time + money into the property to hold/increase it's value? |
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Quoted: I have been looking. I have excellent credit. What should I look for? I dont wanna get hosed. All advice appreciated. Lots of foreclosures on the market at great prices...it's a buyers market right now. You pre-qualify for a certain price with your mortgage lender, then bid on these houses. There are some really great deals out there!! Good luck....just do your homework. Get an independent appraisal....and no HOA. |
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Have your realtor find out who the neighbors on all sides are and what they do for a living. If your realtor balks at that, get another realtor.
Avoid single family homes with multi-family housing nearby. Make sure that there is no Homeowners' Associations and that any restrictive covenants on the property are things you can live with. Check the sex offender registry, searching by the address of the home you are looking to buy. If you are looking at a house with a shared driveway or a private road leading to the main road, have a real estate lawyer review the land records to make sure that you aren't buying a lawsuit with the house. If there is vacant property next to the house, check the zoning laws to see what could possibly be built on it. Look at the property on Google Earth to see what it is close to. You don't want your dreamhouse to be downwind of the hog farm one mile away. |
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What does GD know about VA home loans and other benefits for Veterans, besides the warranty thing someone mentioned in a prior post A new house warranty is not a Veteran"s benefit. There is a lot of good info on VA home loans here Militairy.com. |
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Check the sex offender registry, searching by the address of the home you are looking to buy. . I did not even think of that THANK YOU very much. Scary part is every person I know who's done that had sex offenders living within a mile of their house. Never realized there were so many. |
| In terms of public services and taxes, all sorts of studies show the following to be crucial: low property taxes, low crime rates, and high school test scores. If you can get all three you are doing great. Better to live in a small house in a great neighborhood than the best house in the ghetto. |