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Whoo... I am about to join the ranks of a home owner. Do any of you home owners have any tips for a first time buyer? Anyone have advice on this major purchase that they can give me?
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Re: Buying a home
don't accidentally leave a candle burning when going out of town on christmas day -
No Soup for YouOriginally posted by MiroslavComment
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Re: Buying a home
Congratulations! Buying your first house is one of the most exciting milestones in a person's life, IMO. A few tips:
1. Consider resale when you're home shopping, and in the improvements you make to house after you buy it.
2. Cosmetic issues are easy to fix -- structural issues should seriously concern you.
3. Very few homes are truly unique such that you'll never find anything else like it -- don't find youself overbidding for a home because you think you'll never see anything else like it.
4. Get pre-approved before you do any serious home shopping, and be aware that you will get approved for way more home than you can probably comortably afford.
5. In this market, you should avoid using an interest only loan to stretch your budget, especially with unreasonably low teaser rates. You should have a pretty good idea of what sort of interest rate you can expect -- if something is much lower, you should ask yourself why.
6. With that said, if there is a signficant difference in the interest rate and you plan to be in this house for a certain period of time, consider an 3/1, 5/1, or 7/1 ARM -- just be aware that once the initial period runs, you'll need to have already sold the house or be prepared to refi if necessary.
7. Enjoy the process. What you're doing right now -- buying your first house -- is 1000X more fun than selling your house, which you'll inevitably be doing with every home purchase from this point forth.
8. Be aware that it's an extremely expensive process to set up a new home. You'll find yourself spending an enormous amount of money apart from the purchase itself in the first few months. Plan for it.
9. Location matters.
You're in the enviable position of buying your first home in the midst of a buyer's market, even though rates have ticked up a bit of late. Have fun!!!!Comment
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Re: Buying a home
Having just closed on my first house about a month ago, toasty's advice is all sound, escpecailly point 3. We found the "one" three times, but others thought it was the "one" too and the prices just got too high. Don't despair though, there is always another "one".
Be prepared to spend at least another 5K getting the house to look and feel the way you want it to. Also, cosmetic stuff, like painting, takes a lot longer than you may expect it to. I am foruntate that I am able to take a month off to do all that stuff, but I will be lucky if I can get it all done by the time school starts.It's never too late to become the person you always thought you would be.Comment
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Re: Buying a home
don't pay for PMI. if they tell you it's required, find a new lender.Comment
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Re: Buying a home
I am planning on buying new, hopefully.
Option 1 is to live in the town I work in, but the property tax is high (1.5 - 2k per year) and the population is around 10-15k.
Option 2 is live in another town 20 miles from work, property tax is low (900 - 1.5k per year) and the population is 2.5k.Comment
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Re: Buying a home
be pacient when buying a house. its a buyers market right now. make sure the home has plenty of upgrades or forget it. u dont want an out dated house. it doesnt hurt to low ball on the price because again its a buyers market, but make the offer strong though when u low ball. finally when u do the financing dont do anything lower the a 5/1 arm. oh yea and like the other guy said before, make sure its in a good area where u know the houses equity will grow.Edited - Bossy to racey for workComment
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Re: Buying a home
we're waiting for the market to dwindle down a little bit more.
even though the prices have gone down, they are still too high here in southern california.download dj sets at: www.mixwalla.comComment
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Re: Buying a home
100% true. Especially when you do it all yourself it creates added value.
Imo location is one of the most important points. For instance, my house is in a dead end street (hardly any traffic) in the middle of the fields. However, it's near a train station, bus stop and the highway. 5min walk to the super market and 10min walk to the city center. Everything is in reach, but I live a green and quiet environment. Effin fantastic!
Your future neighbours is something you want to pay attn to as well.Comment
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Re: Buying a home
Same here. I got engaged in early June. We've booked the date for March 8th. Initially it was for July 26th, but nothing was availble. Sooo, I think I'll be in the market to purchase a home come January or February.
Looking right now just makes my head spin, it's still so very expensive here in So. Cal. Hopefully by early next year I'll be seeing a huge difference.. hopefully.
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Re: Buying a home
buy a duplex. put a neg am loan on it, rent the other side. free mortgage + cash flow.
or get into a 5/1 arm interest onlyComment
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