Can you offer any advice for buying a house?

Question

My husband and I are looking for a starter home and I just wanted to see if anyone might be able to offer some hints or guidelines. Also, share your first house buying experiences! :o)

Answer 1

I bought my first house when I was 20. It was small, 1200 sq feet, 2 bedrooms. I was thrilled to get the tax break for the same amount as rent. I think I was very lucky, my agent was very kind, I learned about the sharks later!

My best advice is to use a BROKER, not an agent. Also, use an independant one, not a big corporate one. They don't have to share their commission, and can actually use it to help you out and tend to be more one-on-one. Since they don't report to anyone other then YOU they will only have your goals in mind, not the financial goals of someone else.

Other advice....buy as much as you can afford!

Answer 2

Hello,

Congratulations on deciding on a long-term decision when married.

By deciding to buy your home, you will do the following:

1. Stop paying someone else's mortgage.
2. Build your own equity.
3. Since both of you put together have a high income, you will book the tax benefits.
4. Fix your monthly payment on living in a home for your lifetime (based on your mortgage).

The Process:
1. Check your credit by yourself. Try to work on any cleanup that you might need to do (like some irregularities in payments or any other incorrect reporting regarding your credit history. A good Mortgage agent should be a great help and be able to do everything for you. But some mortgage agents might use this for a rip-off.
2. See if you can identify your objectives, needs and wants. Like, if you want to live close to downtown, a new home, a nice neighborhood, commute, lifestyle etc.
3. Find a good Realtor who will help you understand your objectives, needs and wants and put them in perspective so that he will help you identify the home you will want to live in.
4. A good Realtor should be able to take care of the entire process. You have to zone into your dream home out of the Millions of properties available out there. You will also have to identify your constraints in terms of finances, having a Realtor will give you all these ideas.
5. It is very important that you pin your requirements, it will make the process of selection very easy.
6. The process itself.
a. Find a Realtor.
b. Find a Mortgage Agent.
c. Find a house.
d. Once selected, make an offer.
e. If the offer is accepted
Order inspections, title reports, HOA docs if it is a PUD / Townhome.
Finalize Mortgage.
Remove Contingencies based on investigations.
Get ready for sign-off.
Sign-off
Do a walkthrough inspection
Fund your mortgage
Get your Keys

You may want to browse on the internet for some more preliminary understanding.

Disclosure: I am a Licensed Realtor with Century 21 in San Jose, CA.

Answer 3

Location, location, location! That is the single most important factor in choosing your home. School district performance is also a strong indicator of property values (and tax rates). You can check your state's website for school district performance. Most people only think about schools if they have children attending, but the district has a big impact on the whole community.

As for the structure, 3 bedroom homes re-sell the best, so even if you don't need the space, it might be worth buying a 3BR if you plan to sell in a few years. Closet space/organization also helps move a house quickly, although it doesn't add much in actual dollars. If the kitchen or bath is outdated, or carpet is worn, use that as a point of negotiation for a better price.

How handy are you? You can get get really good deals on fixer-uppers in good locations if you are handy enough to do the fixing up yourself.

Read inspection reports VERY carefully. The seller has a responsibility to make repairs BEFORE the deal is closed, although you can negotiate on some points if you are willing to accept "as is" condition and you think you can make the repair cheaper yourself. Just be sure to put everything in writing.

Real estate agents charge 7%, but if you buy directly from an owner you can lower your closing costs dramatically.

Hope this helps. Good luck and have fun in your search.

Answer 4

First hirer an appraiser to go through a house you're serious about so they can tell you the price. If a realtor offers you one, DONT TAKE IT. Most aprraisers and realtors work together to benefit eachother, so find your own with no ties to the house you are looking to buy. When a realtor says,"Great family neighborhood", it means that it's noisy. If they say, "New to the market", the house is overpriced. If they say, "Its been on the market for a while", the seller is ready to leave and will take virtually any offer. Remember, the commision of the realtor is negotiable if you're selling a house. Take it from someone who has been seeking for 3 years for the perfect house and someone who has lived in 9 places...Good Luck!
p.s. if you're Christian, it's a tradition to burry a St. Joseph statue upside down in your yard. It helps you sell the house. : )

Answer 5

Hire a inspector to go look at any potential house before making an offer. He can find things that no one else will see. This will greatly improve the chances that you won't have major problems after you move in. This is a must, unless it's a brand new house and even then still a good idea. I've bought and sold houses for many years and that's the best advice I know.

Answer 6

Experience is that it's better to go for a smaller house in nice area rather then a big house in not-so-nice area. Your property is likely to go up in value more if it's in a good location.

Haggle with the seller! I said I'd need to sell my car and couldn't make my offer any higher.

If you haven't already got a lawyer to handle the purchase ask friends/family for recommendations. Also, try asking a few estate agents if they can recommend someone. Get the names of actual lawyers not just firms and if the same names keep coming up from different agencies you'll know they might be worth talking to. A friend of mine had a simple house purchase (no chains) that took 5 months because of an incompetent lawyer.

Negotiate with the lawyer who'll be dealing with the purchase. No price is set in stone!

Don't go for the basic valuation - it won't bring up any potential problems with the property.

Try www.humraz.com for reverse price property auctions. You could buy a good property for pennies and sell it at full market value. Then, with that cash you could buy the house that you really want.

Good luck.

Answer 7

we bought a starter house and i would say to make sure you have a firm idea of what you want going in. such has how many baths and etc. i say this because when looking and looking you may begin to think you can do without and end up regretting later. on the other hand, you may want to relax some of your ideas. i still am upset we didn't offer for a house (and this was 1 house and years ago) that was almost perfect, because the owners had put in this horrible hot pink and black carpeting in the main living areas (kid you not). i just thought before we began looking that i wanted the houses i consider to be totally move in ready, concerned i would get myself into a never ending fixer upper situation if i didn't set myself some rules. but looking back, as we went on to look at other homes and that one sold, i should have overlooked the carpet, we could have ripped it out ourselves and left it that way and it would have looked better without having to spend any money right away. so make some rules for yourself, but then again, if something strikes you as right, then go for it.

Answer 8

Use several brokers and Realtors so you can see as much of the market as possible. Right now there is not one place to see what all is for sale and there are more and more homes coming on the market each day. There is not just one MLS or a complete list so buyer are left in the dark as to what is relay for sale

This is how they shorted the market and drove up price by creating a false shortage there by bring in even more investors and shorted the market even more. So now we have a bubble the is crashing.

http://www.breakingbubble.com/index.htm

Answer 9

Hire a good Realtor. One who's an Accredited Buyer Representative. www.rebac.net Don't take anoyones word on anything. If your Realtor says it's a great deal, make sure they show you comparables to prove it, get an inspection, make sure it's something that will be an easy sale down the raod. It's your first house so you'll want to sell it and move again someday. Most importantly listen to your Realtors advice. Realtors know more then you, your dad, your friend who's sold 5 houses himself, your uncle who knows how to renovate. Hire professionals and use them.

Answer 10

congratulations, when you say starter think of lots of time,
money and work but also access the valve in the area your buying if its worth the time and effort.i bought a starter home,it
was 2 years in the making ,renovations inside and out,but it turned out beautiful... real estate is a good investment but are the values of homes going up in your are area,you don't want to
spend lots of money and not get a good return...never give anyone the full asking price always bargain....lots of luck