What's your best advice for a first time home buyer?

Question

My husband and I are beginning to look for our first house! We are very excited, and are nervous too. We know that we need to look past decor and more at the condition of the house, but what is your best advice based on your experiences?

We already know what neighborhood we want to live in, and we are moving in February.

Answer 1

my best advice... since I made this mistake....

LOOK AT A LOT OF HOUSES!!!!

don't just look at three or four and pick the best one go to about 30-40 houses at least... then you can get your feel of what you like, don't like, and could live with, or can't live without...

this will make your buying expirience much more enjoyable because you will know what to look for in a house... and when you find the right one... or the one that you can make your own.. you will know....

Good luck and congrats on joining the rest of us slaves to the home-ownership grind

Answer 2

Since your moving in February, it seems you have already made a First Time Home Owner Purchase, or put up a Good Faith Deposit, sometimes called Earnest Money. If this is true, its too late to be asking for advice. However, if you haven't made any commitment, or put up the earnest money, then some advice would be;
A) Consider using a "Buyers Agent", instead of a regular Realtor. The buyers agent interest is in protecting you, the buyer.
B) When you have decided to put up earnest money, have typed into the Contract that you will be refunded your earnest money if; The Home Inspection and your Home Loan is found - (Here comes the magic word) "Unsatisfactory" To You. Another way to put this is - The Home Inspection, and The Home Loan must be found "Satisfactory" to you. Either of the two words is your way out of the contract, if you so choose to be.
C) Get a Home Inspection with a written copy for you record. You can even add into the contract, that if the home inspection fails, the homeowner must pay the cost of that inspection.
D) Know "All" the yearly taxes, in some areas taxes are paid twice a year.
E) Are you considering a "Historical" area? If so you should have a full understand of what that means, for whenever you decide to do improvements.
F) Ask for a Home Warranty from the seller, it never hurts to ask.
G) Contact your car insurance company, and tell them where you want to live, and ask if that area is considered as "Red Lined". If the answer is yes, you will be paying heightened home and auto insurance premiums, or they may even choose to cancel your vehicle insurance. Also, if you can get your House and Auto Insured by the same company, you will be entitled to a discount, in most cases.

Answer 3

Put 20% down so you don't have to pay mortgage insurance.

Interview your realitor before hiring to make sure he/she will be an advocate on your behalf and has a lot of experience negotiating contracts. It could make $1000's worth of difference. They also need to be a teacher so you understand each step of the process.

Get a home inspection.

Ask for a home warrenty for a year at the seller's expense. That way if any of the items that convey (come with the house) break, you have a way to get them repaired.

If you are thinking about making an offer on a house, knock on a few doors in the neighborhood an interview the people who live there. Ask what do they think about the area, do they know people on the street, how's the crime, noise, etc.

Drive potential neighborhoods at night, on the weekend, etc. to get an idea of what it is like at different times.

Prequalify for your loan so when you find what you want, you can go right into escrow.

If you don't understand something, ask. Keep asking until you understand. This includeds fees too.

Buy low--it is amazing what we "qualified" for when we bought our first house. We bought at a price we knew was reasonable for us to afford and still live too--think that the payment (including taxes, interest, insurance and principle) should be 25-35% of your take home pay. If it is more than that, you end up "house poor"--a lot of value in your house but no money in the bank.

Get a fixed rate mortgage, the smaller number of years the better. Mortgage rates are going up and, while adjustable rate mortgages may seem cheaper in the beginning, they will cost a ton later. The less years you take out, the less you pay in interest over time.

Look for the desperate seller--someone whose house has been on the market for months, whose house is in forclosure, who is being transferred, etc. and give them a low bid. Wait for a great deal!

Answer 4

1. If you know the area ideal time to buy is Winter since sales are low and sellers are more motivated to sell at a lower price.
2. Get a good real estate agent and interview several. Choose the person who best knows the tract you like.
3. Be patient. Prices are falling and you need to balance the price of a lower house with rising mortgage rates.
4. Go for a 15 or 30 year loan. Avoid any ARM or interest only type loans.
5. As others say - definitely get your own home inspector. Don't hesitate inspecting the house carefully yourself and video tape it when you do. After buying a home things you thought were there sometimes disappear (e.g., wasn't there an over-the-range microwave before?? :) )
6. Look at the area carefully - railroads, freeways, schoos, etc. One place I bought was near a chicken farm and twice a year when they slaughtered the chickens - wow - what a stench.
7. Talk to the neighbors. Sounds dorky but it works.
8. Don't overstretch your budget. Too many people assume their growing incomes will cover the costs but that doesn't always work out.

Most importantly think practically and don't let emotions for a particular house affect you judgement.

Answer 5

First of all, your 1st house is never your dream house, ESP if you are in your 20's...you just cant afford as much and there are always things you want to do that you cant. First of all, get pre-approved and see what you can afford- dont go beyond that b/c all the extra stuff that you want to do in your house will def. add up. Esp. when you make your 1st few mortgage payments- you always think it sounds easy like "oh, $2000 a month for mortgage, thats a piece of cake"- but after paying it a few times....it can be a hassle. That said, buying a house is a HUGE investment, even though you are in debt- look @ it as good debt. Depending on what area you are from- Id say look around for something you can afford and watch interest rates- they are very high right now and that means ur mortgage is going to be high- which will suck if you get a 30 or 40 year mortgage- its not a great time to buy right now....I doubt you will pay off your home in 10 years- but if you do, awesome! You can rent it out and buy something else- or sell it, and with some other money you have saved up- buy your dream home, something your kids can grow up in. Think about the area you want to live in- do research on it- see what house prices are in that area- dont ask real estate agents b/c their primary job is to SELL to you- they want ur money- (which isnt a bad thing, but you may rush into a purchase)- Hope this helps!!

Answer 6

Do some legwork in researching the planned development of your town. Even if an area is not where you plan on living , look into a purchase in that area. Repair as many things as your budget will allow and preferably do the repairs yourselves. Things like an in ground sprinkler which you can learn at Home Depot for free, a porch or red wood fence to name a few. If possible , use some savings and double up on payments. This sounds like punishment but what will happen before your very eyes is that an unkempt piece of real estate suddenly shows some character and if your research is correct , the neighborhood will be showing signs of improvement thanks to the city planners. When the time is right , you can offer the home FOR SALE BY OWNER and pocket an real nice profit which will make your next purchase , a dream home that will bind your new family with an unbreakable strength.Good Luck.

Answer 7

1. Use a realtor, and make sure they don't try to 'sell' you a house... make sure they represent your best interests. The word 'Agent' means representation... many realtors would rather sell (like a car salesman... they don't represent anyone but themselves). Beware if they are only showing you their own listings... they are just trying to get a bigger commission.

2. Get a 3rd party inspection... hire them yourself!

3. Make sure you can afford the payments... if your new house payment will be $1000/month, practice for 3-4 months using that amount (put it in a savings account). This way you won't surprise yourselves on how expensive it is.

4. Don't let the title company put too little in escrow for your taxes... they estimate your monthly payments, and if they are off by $100/month, you'll get a bill for $1200 at the end of the year... that really, really is depressing. Trust me... don't let this happen

5. Don't ever let the realtors know your true feelings (even your own realtor)... if you say things like, "This house is just PERFECT", you will lose all leverage when negotiating. Instead, be calm and cool, and when you make a low-ball offer, be 100% prepared to walk away if they don't take it. Seriously, if you leave, they'll call you back in a day or two (or an hour or two).

6. Don't offer too little... Sellers are easily insulted and can take offense. For example, if the house is prices at $200,000, dont make an offer at $150,000... that'll just hack them off.

7. If you look for houses online, beware of the phone numbers on the listings... 99% of the time it is a number to an agent that has never seen the property. The residential real estate marketing system is the largest interconnected system in the world. Every listing is available online by 100,000 agents. It is actually very difficult to figure out who the real listing agent is (unless you are a realtor).

Good luck.

Answer 8

Make sure you use a professional Realtor. Don't worry about how the property looks -- that is just cosmetic. Have a property inspection performed so you know the property is structurally sound. You want a property in a good location. If the property has the square footage you need, then you can decorate it any way you like. Remember you can take your time fixing the house up the way you like. And most importantly, JUST DO IT!!!. It's the best decision you will make.

Good Luck and Happy House hunting....

Answer 9

1. Don't be afraid to say no to, you will always find a better house.

2. Put as much down as you can to get a lower rate.

3. Pay a little extra every month on the mortgage. This can save over $50,000 over the years, depending on the price and rate. This is especially important in the first few years.

Answer 10

I have recently bought my first home, a tidy 3bdrm, garage (etc) and geeeee it was hard. I have a partner full time job, so do I and still I wished that we cleared all our debt 1st and had at least $20,000 deposit. So mate have a firm stable job, a great relationship and communication with your partner and a deposit, cause in the end you'll be paying your interest 1st then you can do with your house what you want. Till then it'll be the Banks. Good Luck guys. Hey, its hard but worth it.Home is where the heart is.