Well, The wife and I have been married for about 6 months now and we figured we'd take the plunge and buy our first home. We want to build some equity, get a decent home, and get that phat 8k check from the government. Besides, we are paying about 300.00 dollars less in rent than it would cost to own decent house. We are pre-approved for double what we are willing to spend so we should be good in that dept.
I am taking advice on the "do's and donts" of home buying.
So far, here is what i have come up with.
1. in this market (nationwide) how much (percentage) can i expect to get off of a house. Lets say theres a house for 200,000 dollars, what should i offer, and what factors should i take into consideration?
2. how do i find the deals (ie - REO's & homes that have been on the market for a while). Our goal is to buy a nice starter home and make some money on it in 7-10 years. What should i look for? how old should i buy? how old shouldnt i buy? etc?
We are open to quite a few regions (Gahanna, New Albany, Westerville, Worthington, Lewis center, Powell, Grandview, and German Village) Anywhere else is either out of our pricerange or not conducive to our work locations.
Also, If you know anyone selling something in these areas let me know. I'm considering anyhting within my favored regions.
Thanks for all the advice in advance guys, Im getting kind of excited to buy a home. I have to be in contract by mid April to get the 8K.