[763]

My wife and I are contemplating buying our first house. We are just now starting the process of education ourselves in these matters. At this point we know very little about it. So any help or insight you could give on any aspect would be appreciated. Thinking of making purchases of this size makes me feel a little uneasy (

) to say the least. I know some of you out there have done this before, help me out here if you can.
Thanks in advance,

 

[ka4yqi]

First thing is find you a dern good agent. It a lots easier if you get pre-quafide for a loan, then start looking. Look for the type house you want and afford. Me and my wife have look at about 55 houses right now. Either the land aint what I want or the house aint. Of course The one that I want will be at lease 500 foot from any other house. I like to be left alone. Good lucky with the hunt and look at more than one or 2. You also might want to look into a foreclosed home. May have to do a little work on it, but in the long run you might just come out ahead.
Steve
We are in the hunt also.
My neighbor is getting to crowed.

 

[13337]

I have bought and sold 5 now . The first one terrified me . Now it seems like no big deal . All of them were beat up when I bought them ,but nice when I sold them . The least equity I assumed so far on the 1st day of ownership was 20,000 . I like working on houses though so this suits me .

Buy a home warranty or ask the seller to buy one for your first house . They are inexpensive and really do work . I got a new water heater and ac unit out of my 1st one .If you dont know what you are looking at get a home inspector to look the house over before you buy .

Ask the seller for closing assistance . Dont be shy , you will be suprised at how much you can get .

And get a good real estate agent , ask for references and use one that friends and family like . You should try to get a ABR agent to represent only you .

Make sure you get a garage of some sort , dont fool yourself into thinking that you will build one later . Be prepared to come up with a lot of money to start . But being as this is your 1st house there are a lot of programs out there to assist you .

Get prequalified so you know what you are able to buy and it will show you are a serious buyer . Most of all be prepared to make a good investment . Everything I have done and accumulated has been through buying and selling houses ! If you have any questions feel free to email me or pm me and I will give you my phone # . I am by no means an expert , but these are things I have learned along the way . Hope this helps .

 

[1339]

First, don't get thinking you can't afford it. heard (and said) this many times. The tax advantage
is enormous. When I bought the first house, I went from $400 a month rent to $1700 a month.
the actual out of pocket expense after the tax advantage was like $25 a week I spent that
much on tools every week back then.

Make sure you and your wife agree on whats important, whats negotiable, and whats a nice to have.

Shop around. Learn the areas and what you want to live next to, and what you don't. I don't know
Ohio, but surely you have less than pleasant nieghborhoods. Speaking of that, be careful to ask
about homeowners associations. Most will frown on your hobby.

Look for backyard access if your in a suburb. Some lots have "zero lot lines" meaning the house
sits on the prop line on one side leaving an access on the other.

Big garage. Need I say more?

Check the power panel, does it have 220V available and at least 100 amp service?
If you decide to get a welder you will need it.

Is the laundry in the garage? you will lose that battle, as well as valuable garage space.

Get it bigger than you think you need, families have a habit of growing.

Negotiate, Don't be afraid to offer less. And remember, the RE agent works for YOU, don't
let them crowd you, Your the one with the money.

Don't be afraid to inspect the house closely, and don't be afraid to hire an inspector. You can
even make the sale contingent on that, and other stipulations. Have it checked for termites,
and have the roof inspected. These are 2 big problem areas, other than that a fixer-upper
can save you money if your handy that way. Hmmm, you probably have basements in your
area, uncommon in CA. I would suppose you need to check that out too.

 

[361]

I just bought my first house last week. It was not to bad. Check the % rates on loads. I got mine at 5%. When you go get pre-approved for a load and the intrest rate is good you can lock that rate for i think a month. I heard the rates are going to go up, so call and ask what there at. You cant believe what a .5% will do. Look around, I found mine on the internet then went and looked at it. Try and make the seller pay the closing fees, Also find out how long its been on the market, If its been on it for awhile you might be able to bargin alittle more. And get it inspected. I got a VA loan so they made me. And walk around with the inspector. He can tell you alot about the house. Ask the inspector how old the roof is, how much and what type of insulation is in the atic and how old the furnace is. Im sure somebody else has acouple of other need to know questions to ask. Good luck.

 

[RRich]

Don't let the agents lie or trick you. They'll tell you lots of things that are not true. Talk to the owner whenever possible - agents will try to stop you - just tell them to let you or get lost!

I've bought and sold many many houses, EVERY SINGLE TIME AN AGENT WAS INVOLVED THEY TRIED FUNNY BUSINESS.
I will no longer deal with them.
Same way with loan officers.

Remember, make an offer, nothing is ridiculous - agent's will tell you otherwise. Anything the owner and you decide on is legal - just write it down.

They'll tell you that you need 20% up front - bull! I bought this place with nothing down at all. Never put a nickel in it for 6 months! Seller even paid all escrow costs.

Bought 2 apartment houses - 5 and 6 units, next door to each other for 10,000 down, no payments for a year! Sold them at a nice profit before I ever needed to make a payment.

You decide what you can pay, find what you want, then negotiate! You'll be surprised at what you can do - if you deal with the owner.

 

[1278]

all of the above posts have good advice. one other little thing to do is keep a list of the likes and dislikes of each place you see. after a dozen places you'll forget what you saw at which place. i know coz i'm looking for a place too.

just wondering what house prices are like in other places. here in the ' burbs of vancouver an average place about 1500 sq ft, 3 bedrooms and 1 1/2 bathrooms is about $300,000.

 

[2041]

In reply to:

And remember, the RE agent works for YOU,

[/ QUOTE ]

Don't know how things work out there on the left coast but here in Pa. the Real Estate Agent WORKS FOR THE SELLER, is in fact hired by him and is supposed to inform buyers of that fact. The agent is not trying to get you (the buyer) the house for the lowest price, that would mean lower commission for him! Keep that in mind. You have to do your homework, don't just believe what you're told.

Make a list of the most important things to you and her. You may or may not be able to afford everything right off, probably not.

The 3 rules of real estate are LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION, the better the location the higher the price. If a house seems like a really good deal there's probably a reason, find it.

Owning a house is "putting down roots" but it also ties you down and the "just up and move" idea is way harder.

Good luck.

 

[13337]

Thats why above I said get an ABR agent which is an accredited buyers represenative . Mine has done a great job for me . My ex is one in Philly and all she does is help buyers , she does not list at all . Hope all this helps you out Full Tilt and doesnt make your head spin .

 

[Guest]

$300K?! Holy cow! I paid $88K for my 1,200 sq. ft. house (3 bedroom/2 bath, on 0.5 acre). It was pretty trashed when I bought it, but after a lot of hard work it's been re-assessed at about $130K, which is on par with the rest of the neighborhood now.

Back to the topic - my advice is to buy a house with lots of potential. For example, and UGLY house that can be painted, slap a new roof on, and clean up the landscaping. Then you've got a nice house for little investment, and your equity just shot up like crazy. Get it reassessed, and then you can drop your mortgage insurance for an even lower monthly payment. Kind of like buying a fixer-upper sammy!

 

[Guest]

Buy a book called “HOUSE BUYING FOR DUMMIES”.

Very informative, easy to read, only about $5-7, and you can read it in one to two evenings. This will explain things a lot better than what you’ll get from an 4x4 BBS.

Also, check out Bankrate.com, good info there too.

 

[RRich]

Prices sure do vary.
Recently I sold my mother's small house in Arcadia, CA, near LA, for $450,000 ---- and it was a fixer upper! It needed lots of major work.

I bought this place in Landers, CA, 50 mi north of Palm Springs in the desert for $55,000 - 5 acres, 2 nice garages totalling 1800 sq feet, but house is small, about 650 sq ft.

The "buyers agent" thing sounds great - must be an East coast thing, never heard of it here.

 

[763]

First of all I would just like to say thanks to all of you. I LOVE this board. Some off-road boards you would go on and ask a question like this would be a horrific flaming. Here there is always useful info. You all are like a great family. Thank you! All right enough of that.

Let me fill you all in a little more about our situation. (I would have went into greater detail earlier but I wasn't sure how you all would react to the question).
We have been looking for several months now, not consistently but on and off. We found the neighborhood we liked first and then have been watching houses in that area, waiting... It is a very safe place with good school districts, low crime rate, and potential resale posibility is great. A few things have went up for sale but we could not afford them because they were a little too big. But just 2 days ago the PREFECT place for my wife and I went on the market. It has everything:
GARAGE
2.5 car attached

BASEMENT
No so no floods to worry about. We wanted one of these to begin with but we found out not the ones we could afford!

ROOF
New in 98

TERMITES
they did have them 13 years ago and they fixed it before they did any structural damage, and have an ongoing transferable contract with sentricon (or something like that) to keep comming back once a month to maintain their system.

COMON INTESTS ( of my wife and I)
We have looked long enough to know what we each want, this place ether has it all or could with slight modifications/additions.

AGENTS
This is a "for sale by owner" deal. From talking to them though they have agents in their family and so do we. We have realistate agents as well as mortgage brokers in our family, they are just hard to get to sometimes, busy people. Anyway this will be a NO AGENT kind of deal here if possible. I don't have anything agents accept that they increase the price of my house, so there out!

BACK YARD
This is on a half acer lot so it has a nice back yard. Flat too.

NEIGHBORS
Seem they have hobies too. The guy at the corner down the street has a hudge enclosed trailer that sits in his drive way all the time. I think people here must be mostly tolerant, of "poeple like us." With your bangin' and clangin' and storin' eye sores!

INSPECTIONS
I do plan to have the hous inspected top to bottom in the most thorough manner possible. How I go about doing this I am not to clear on so far but I plan on figuring it out. Any help on this topic would be appreciated.

DID I MISS ANYTHING?

 

[CTBrent]

In reply to:

AGENTS
This is a "for sale by owner" deal. From talking to them though they have agents in their family and so do we. We have realistate agents as well as mortgage brokers in our family, they are just hard to get to sometimes, busy people. Anyway this will be a NO AGENT kind of deal here if possible. I don't have anything agents accept that they increase the price of my house, so there out!

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, you can take 6% off the price without a problem then. If you really like the house... pay the $200-$300 to get it inspected. Plus many first time mortgage's require them but I mainly say this for your benefit being a carpenter and all I have seen my share of "good deals". The last one I saw will be paying for my garage that will be built in 05.

 

[RRich]

Best way is sit down with the owner, get to know him a little. You can work out the details as long as you can communicate without someone standing over and interfereing, like an agent or --. If someone's saying "you can't do that" or "you have to do it like this" or whatever, it's very difficult.
Most any arrangement is legal, as long as both parties agree to it. Licensed agents have rules they have to stick to, you don't.

Remember --- paper does not reject ink!

He may not need the full amount right away, may even want to delay it for tax reasons. He may need it all now though.
He may need enough to get into whatever he's buying. He's essentially in the same boat you are when he buys another.

Be honest with him, get creative.
He wants out, but has to get something else too.

As far as the down goes, he may be interested in your car, or whatever. I recently sold a house to a lady that wanted to fix it up more than it was - I took a late model pick-up truck in trade as the down, carried her at no interest for 6 monhs.
When the 6 month point arrived, she had it sold and was opening escrow - I waited a few days past the 6 months, but no problem.

Be flexible, be honest, and they most likely will be too.

Remember the perfect sale - where both parties get what they want - strive to achieve it. But you can't know what they want until you get good communications goimg.

In most cases when you grind on the price hard, the terms become cash - for him. But when you agree to give him what he wants price-wise, he becomes flexible as to how he gets it.
Good luck, let us know how it goes.

 

[1413]

I could sit here and go all night with stuff to watch out for. But being a Super intendent I can only stress one thing, just because it looks pretty doesnt mean it was built pretty

I would check the houses history, that goes from the as builds ( original blue prints), to the problems list that was created in the final walk through with the original owner. I've seen many things in the field, and one thing people love to do is fill it full of nails and say " cant see it from my house". I know you might not be bob the builder, but its easy to make a carpenter being a close relative or friend, do a walk through with ya. I understand this wasnt the niddy griddy as far as the financial issue of the house, but I cant stress enough how many people think they find a solid deal then 10 years later they run into the same kinda problems that I have to go and bid on, in some circumstances, practically build a brand new house...Hope this helps

 

[4279]

Get any and all promises in writing and it does not hurt to carry a tape recorder -- even if it is only for you and your wife to use for rewiew. You know how all that info runs together when you try to remember--or is that just me?

EO

 

[763]

All great advice thank you everyone. I think now I am getting all tripped up in the loan stuff. I'm thinking FHA because I need something that will let me do 0-3% down (can't really afford 5% that lots of places want) and still geet me out of PMI. I thought I had it all figured out till I found out what an ARM really ment. We want something that lets us be fixed from the beginning. Got to get it locked in while the rates are good. They really can't go anywhere much from here but up. Want to stay away from points too I think, but I don't totaly understand how they work yet? They could be a good thing depending on how you look at it?

Well thanks again.

 

[1264]

One thing I liked about my realtor is that she actually told me "no, this isn't a good house" on several visits to places, and pointed out rotten windows, or bad this or that.. She had her best interests out for me (as well as her comission.) A few of the guys have seen my place and I think she done good.

Murph

 

[2420]

1) There is a difference in an REALTOR and a real estate agent.

2) REALTORS do not "increase" the cost of a home. They charge a fee for a service. There fee has no reflection of the home's value only on how much the seller will profit when selling it. In most cases they keep prices stable in a given area by comparing factual sales information of previous sales in that area. Not by basing their opinion on hearsay, scuttlebut, and rumor of what the neighbor said or thinks a property is worth..

3) The vast majority of FSBO sellers are not motivated to sell their property at a competitive price. If they can find the right sucker to come along and pay what they want then great they will if they don't no big deal.

4) Licensed REALTORS do have "rules" they must follow for a good reason, many of them are based on ethics but most of them are called LAWS. You cant just do anything you want like some on this board would lead you to believe. There are very specific laws that vary from state to state regarding loans, title, possession and transfer, leins, taxes, and even where the down payment can come from.

5) "Lease to own" and "owner finance" are the biggest scams in real estate. They will F*&k you out of your substantial deposit in the end or overcharge you when U want to buy it.

6) According to The National Association of REALTORS in 2002 the average person in the United States who was not represented by a REALTOR paid an average of 27% more for the exact same property. Even if this statistic is 50% exaggerated 10-15% is a LOT of $$$.

7) Napkins are for wiping your hands, not writing a contract. Most states have official state approved (lawyer written) contracts that hold up much better in court than a cocktail napkin.

If you haven't figured it out yet, I am a REALTOR by profession. Most of the advice you have received in this post is very good. Some of the "fender trading" and or unique financing programs are for "advanced" real estate buyers or very unique situations but not your average subdivision house.

Since this is your first purchase there are two things you need to do.

1) get pre-approved not pre-qualified. This means a loan officer has all the stipulations they need to approve you for a loan of xxx. When you go to make your offer it will be a much stronger offer and you will know the pmt and closing costs up front.

2) Interview several REALTORS and pick one to represent you exclusively. You WILL wind up saving money not costing you more especially if you are negotiating with a FSBO. There are many places to hide money in a real estate transaction. Without having a professional to assist you with your first home it will cost you more than it should.

REALTORS are just like Doctors and Lawyers … there are good ones and bad ones unfortunately you don't really know which one you've got until it is too late. Find one that you feel comfortable with and go with it. Muprh is right, a good REALOR will tell you if it's not a good deal. There are crooks is every business, hell I feel ripped off every time I go to the dry cleaners but the bottom line is if at any time you don't feel like they are representing your best interest fire them.

Good Luck