Anyone have good tips for a first time home buyer?

Question

Im kind of on my own with this one, and ive found it to be a little overwelming. Ive been prequalified and I know which house I want (its in my range and Ive figured out what I can afford, and not what the bank tells me I can afford) Ive been renting an apartment, and i cant stand wasting the money every month, when I could own a place. If anyone has any tips to offer they would be greatly appreciated!!

thanks in advance

Answer 1

Good for you! Home ownership can be a great source of pride and good investment.

Talk to your banker and ask if they have a first-time home-buyer workshop they could recommend for you. Good way to learn a lot about buying and owning real estate.

Look at where you want to be in 5 years. Does this involve travel, moving abroad? going back to school? Make sure you're settled before investing in a house.

Same thing for your work - is this a stable business, etc.? Wouldn't do to get laid off the month after you move into your house.

Don't buy too big. If you buy into Ritzy Acres, you may be able to afford the mortgage - but can you afford the lifestyle? The car, clothes, etc. etc. that living in Ritzy Acres requires.

Be willing to wait. And wait until the house you WANT comes up. Remember, leases were made to be broken - people buy and move all the time. So even if you don't find a place right away, take your time and look at a lot of houses.

Remember - even if you use a "buyer's agent" to find a house for you - his or her fiduciary (legalese for loyalty) relationship is with the seller - not you, the buyer.

Don't forget to budget for the little things - like a lawn mower and other modifications you may need to get when you do buy. These costs can add up fast.

Once you find your house - GET A HOME INSPECTION! Never ever buy a house without one. This could prevent a whole lot of problems later.

Hope some of these things help.

Answer 2

You are well on your way. I am going to assume you have shopped around and have identified the house which you want is the best value for the money.

First, put an offer in. Make sure the offer includes a contingency that states that you must approve the inspections (water, septic, whole house, pest inspection, etc. - ask your lender what they require). Don't get any inspections before you have an accepted offer. Some home inspections include a termite inspection, some don't, but make sure you get one, those little buggers can literally destroy a house. Another contigency you may want to include is that you obtain financing at a specified rate of interest, that way if once you apply for a specific property and obtain the loan, if the interest rate is significantly higher for some reason, you can still get out of the contract without penalty.

Second, getting the accepted offer is (sort of) the easy part. Inevitably, more negotiations will be needed if the home needs repairs, fails a water test, something of that nature. So be prepared to make some concessions to get the house you want, or stick to your guns if you are willing to let the house go back on the market and you find another one.

Third, don't make any changes to your financial situation. Some many homebuyers buy new appliances, get new furniture, change jobs, buy a car, thinking their loan is a done deal. It isn't. So, hold off on making any changes that will effect your credit score until you have left the closing table.

A good Realtor and lender will walk you through this entire process so you feel confident that you are prepared and there are no bad surprises.

It is really a great time to be a home buyer, there are some great FTHB programs available, there is alot of inventory and interest rates are favorable.

Answer 3

Get an agent. Then if you can, pay 100% down. If you can't afford 100% down put as big a down payment as possible. Keep the morgage to 15 years or less on a fixed rate. Make sure before you start looking to have an emergency fund of 3 to 6 months of expenses set aside. Buying a home is a nightmare if you do not have something in the hole to cover all the stuff that is going to go wrong. Be debt free before buying, no consumer debt, or student loans. The fewer payments you have the less likely you are to get behind on the house. Be able to walk away you will pay more if you "just have to have it". Look for something that is about to forclose and buy it before it goes to forclosure sale, the owner will think you are a hero and you can usually get a pretty good deal on it. Be ready to fix everything Murphy loves to live with first time home owners. If you need anything else go to www.Daveramsey.com there is a lot of good info there. Also they have a good resource for finding a real estate agent on there in the ELP listings, the guy is a consumer advocate and financial counciler and the ELP is Endorsed Local Provider, he also hosts a nationally syndicated talk show dealing with money, and is a Liscensed Real Estate Agent so his advice on property purchases is really great.

Answer 4

first thing don't let anyone talk you into something you can't really afford. don't let a real estate agent or a broker tell you oh you can afford this, when you know you can't. i work in the forclosure area, i'm constantly repo'ing houses because somebody let a loan agent tell them what they can afford. remember if you can't afford it now, you won't afford it later.

plus remember a house is not an investment. no matter what people tell you. an investment will make you money. your house is a liability unless you are renting it out for a profit. so when you hear that your house is your biggest asset run from that person. at best you could think of you house as a piggy bank. where you make the payments and will be able to borrow that at a later date if needed.

other than that iwould say let a qualified electrician, and plumber go through your house first. and make sure you call the gas company to check the pipes.

then go into the attic to visually look for leaks. water is the biggest enemy of a house. once moisture starts decaying a house it's very hard to stop it.

check the basement on a rainy day to see if it leaks. make sure the sump pump works.

and last but not least. buy house you really want. don't buy a house where you say oh i can change this or change that. because if you don't do the alterations before you move in chances are you will never make them. and if you do decide to buy a place you want to make changes to, make the changes before you move in.

Answer 5

1. Mortgage.

If you need it, arrange it before you pick the house.
Haggle for even 0.1% interest rates. It will be 1000's of dollars of savings over 10-20 years.

Don't fall into zero down mortgage! A lot of first time buyers are pre-approved for it so they make the mistake of taking this options. but that's not good.

"If you can't make the payment, bank is going to take the house no matter how much you put as a downpayment."

Downpayment goes both ways for bank. They worry about loan default with smaller downpayment. But they don't like big downpayment as they won't make as much. That's why there is rarely a mortage with over 50% downpayment.

Put as much as you are comfortable with as a downpayment.

Rule of thumb is that your monthly mortage payment should be no bigger than 150% of your current rent. I would set up a savings account purely for the mortage that way you could save for rainy day and also since it's for the mortgage, you probably won't make withdrawals more than once a month so there won't be any penalty.



2. Home inspections.
It's worth few hundred dollars to make sure you won't need thousand dollars of repairs. If they find some problems, that doesn't mean you should walk away from this house. Get the findings in writing and bargain with the owner for at least that amount + 20% for contingency.

3. Additional costs for being a homeowner.
Don't forget to take the additional cost into your calculations.

Common additional cost
- Property taxes.
- Electricity. (Figure 2-3 times for the house versus apartment)
- Natural gas (Most apartment gets heat for free)
- Insurance
- Maintainance cost

Enjoy your home sweet home ^^

Answer 6

Pay a good, reputable home inspector to check the house out. There are so many extremely costly things that can be wrong with a home that the average person just wouldn't pick up on until after they bought and settled into a home. And if the home inspector does find a number of things wrong, negotiate the price to account for them, or don't buy the house. I know it's a hard thing to do, spending the money on the inspector and not buyng the house, but it will save you money in the long run.

Answer 7

Be sure to call The Better Business Bureau and ask for a good Inspector. Walk through the house with your inspector, after he has made his assessment..A good one will point out everything and let you know what needs to be addressed right away. Ask has the house ever been used as a Meth house( i know that sounds bad but you would be amazed to know how many have) If it has skip it..Be sure you can afford the payment..Remember when your taxes go up every year so will your payments..So be sure u have plenty to work with. Congrats and good luck.

Answer 8

get an inspection done and make sure they have had a termite inspection also. and last but not least, Don't buy a house in a hole. By this i mean don't buy a home that the land slopes downward to. Water will be your enemy. go to the home when it is raining so you can check for leaks is always a good idea(we found a window and a fireplace leak before we decided on one house). Water pressure is another thing to check for in your home. check walls for cracks, the inspection will help you with this.

Answer 9

Yes. Buy a home that costs about 70% of what you're actually pre-approved for. i found out by the time I bought furniture for 4 bedrooms, living room, den, family room, kitchen, washer dryer, lawnmower, lawn/garden equip, insurance, PMI, higher utilities, taxes (have gone up every year), blinds/drapes, pictures, etc. (you get the picture) I didn't have money left to have fun.
I think the term is "House poor".
Also, especially if you buy from a FSBO (for sale by owner) get the BEST home inspector you can find.
Good luck and congratulations, Mahalo!

Answer 10

Get a good realtor, one you've gotten through word of mouth. They can talk you through everything.

And as far as what you can afford, you need to know that there are many costs in home ownership aside from the mortgage payment--insurance, repairs, etc.--and they continue. Something is always going wrong!