Tractor Posted November 3, 2011 Report Share Posted November 3, 2011 At least your thinking of buying a house at the best time to buy a house in a long time if your in the situation to do it. I would build, I bet the builders would almost give you a house right now, but thats just me. I guess there are probably plenty of houses to pick from though. +1 grange, best insurance around. I've been with them +10yrs in car, home, business. Oh and don't just call grange, actually get an agent to work for you. My family has been with the same agent for probably 40yrs. They get stuff done if the 800 number is being annoying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cordell Posted November 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2011 At least your thinking of buying a house at the best time to buy a house in a long time if your in the situation to do it. I would build, I bet the builders would almost give you a house right now, but thats just me. I guess there are probably plenty of houses to pick from though. +1 grange, best insurance around. I've been with them +10yrs in car, home, business. Oh and don't just call grange, actually get an agent to work for you. My family has been with the same agent for probably 40yrs. They get stuff done if the 800 number is being annoying. I've thought about builders, because I bet they would bend over backwards to get me into something. I bet it wouldn't be the best deal out there though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KillJoy Posted November 3, 2011 Report Share Posted November 3, 2011 Look into a Lease to Buy Option? KillJoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downingracing Posted November 3, 2011 Report Share Posted November 3, 2011 ...Make sure you have at least 4-5 thousand bucks in your account. If you parents/friends gift it to you, you'll need to fill out some gifting letter saying something along the lines of "this money is a gift and not to be paid back, it isn't just for the house" along with two previous month statements from that account. MAKE SURE the 4-5 grand is your money. If you can't save at least that much cash, you shouldn't be looking to purchase a house. Pay down/off the debt you have. If you can purchase a house - make sure to purchase something you can afford. It is very easy to get into something expensive when you should be in something easy to pay for. Many folks purchase more house than they can actually afford. Being house poor is a situation many people find themselves in due to many factors. If you can buy a house and the payment doesn't phase your bank account - you are doing it right. That 4-5 grand saved is a good safety net (start). Doing it right will allow you to sleep well at night knowing that you've got reserve in the bank to cover any "what if" that comes along. All this is my .02 cents... Many folks will tell you the opposite and you can do whatever you want. My method allows me to have a nice house and whatever else I want without putting stress on the family. Money is not an issue at my house due to making good decisions - everyone should live like this. Good luck to you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crossle Posted November 4, 2011 Report Share Posted November 4, 2011 Get pre-approved. I would avoid PMI at all cost which is basically mortgage "insurance" in case you miss a payment. It doesn't really do shit for you except make your payments higher. I went with Equitable Mortgage, because other people could not get me a 30 yr. fixed with no PMI even though I have outstanding credit, I only had 1 line of credit and most places wanted 3 so I was screwed. Once you get pre-approved, typically good for up to about 6 months, it varies between lenders. Find a Realtor because now a days buying a house is sorta like Craigslist if you are ready you need to move if the house is at a nice price. Realtor's get the inside scoop on a newly listed homes before they hit the market. Having a pre-approval is critical here, we put an offer in on our house 2 days after it was on the market, it didn't even have a sign in the yard yet when we went into contract. We walked through probably 15+ homes without a realtor looking at "open" houses to get a feel for realtor companies and by far on average Keller Williams had the most down to earth realtors that weren't down your throat trying to get you as a customer. Sit down with your wife and both of you write down your deal breakers, I think yours will be similar to mine and having "2 car garage with relatively flat and paved driveway" was a great criteria to weed out a lot of houses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DKilbourne Posted November 4, 2011 Report Share Posted November 4, 2011 Remember this, just because the bank approves you for a certain amount that doesn't mean that you can actually afford to do that and live comfortably. We got approved for more than we spent on our current home with no issues and still have a loan on our condo as well. They had no issues giving us that much knowing that we would have two mortgages. Let's just say that the first few months with two mortgages cost more than we could realistically spend. Thankfully we had plenty in the savings to cover that. Sit down and plan out before you spend and don't look at houses above your price range. Oh, and have a decent down payment as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erica Posted November 4, 2011 Report Share Posted November 4, 2011 Go through as many houses as you can, get ideas as to what you really like and what you dont. FIxer-uppers are great but be sure that you have that all worked into your budget. At one point Sean had his eyes on a home that literally had standing water in the living room, and a hole in the kitchen, but it had a three car garage and was pretty cheap in a great area. We decided that the money and time we would have to put into it was way over what we would need to make it even worth it. Try to get into somthing that needs paint and little things to avoid being 'house poor'. Last but not least, make sure you and your wife agree and understand what each other want in a house. This way I have no doubt that you guys will walk into the house and just know! We did! Good Luck! P.s. We used a great realtor if you want her name let us know, she was great and very quick on paper work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowflake Posted November 4, 2011 Report Share Posted November 4, 2011 buy my house Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KillJoy Posted November 4, 2011 Report Share Posted November 4, 2011 buy my house LOLS! I was thinking the same thing. However, I have quality renters that pay the Mortgage for me. They are helping getting the Mortgage to a point of being able to sell the house.... KillJoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dakotart Posted November 4, 2011 Report Share Posted November 4, 2011 I was preapproved for 160k through my credit union. After I put in an offer (which was accepted) on a foreclosure house for 90k, they declined to finance. A preapproval is not a guarantee to lend. So if you are looking at sheriff sale/foreclosure you might bring that up when getting preapproved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nurkvinny Posted November 4, 2011 Report Share Posted November 4, 2011 On the finding a home side of things... On both homes, I used a Realtor to set up apts for a few weeks. In both cases, I was searching on-line on my own time every day, and I found each of the houses I ended up buying by myself. There are pros and cons to using your own Realtor (every Realtor will insist you have to use one), but if I ever do it again, I will find the home myself and if the seller is using a Realtor, work a deal where we drop the price x% lower to deduct what "my" Realtor commission would be. Neither Realtor makes a dime if the home doesn't sell, so I have found them all to be on the pushy side - "Soooo, ready to sign an offer today?" or "If you want this, we have to make an offer TONIGHT!" Bullshit. On the loan side of things... talk to SEVERAL places. Don't just take whatever the first lender has to say as gospel. And, just like in a car buyer-vs-car lot transaction, everything is negotiable. EDIT - oh yeah, and if needed, get a 2nd line of credit / mortgage / equity line to avoid PMI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KennyFKINPowerz Posted November 4, 2011 Report Share Posted November 4, 2011 We got pre approved and then had our realator start showing us homes. I wanted to stay in New Albany and we ended up in Blacklick. Since your daughter is in Licking Heights schools already you may wanna check out my neighborhood. Woods at Jefferson on Waggoner. There are a lot of houses for sale and they are selling cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gillbot Posted November 4, 2011 Report Share Posted November 4, 2011 Good advice in here, also keep in mind if the realtor isn't a friend don't tell them the pre-approval amount. They'll only want to show you places at that or above since they work on commission. We were pre-approved for ~175k but our house was only 80k and she didn't even want to show it to us. We looked a lot online, found places we wanted to see and told them to take us to these places. No matter what, they just kept trying to push up the price but we knew what we were comfortable with and what we wanted to spend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LS_Sonoma Posted November 4, 2011 Report Share Posted November 4, 2011 I agree with not using a realtor. A For Sale Buy Owner is a real deal and the paperwork can be handled through a Title Company for pennies on the dollar. Ive bought three homes now in the last 11 yrs all brand new. Ive made money on all of them. So I cant complain about new homes. My theory is that if it looks cheap, its built cheap. I.E. white conter tops, brass fittings/faucets and cheap lighting are dead give aways. However, if you can find a cheaper house with a great location and plan to change those things yourself fo nicer then you will make money also. Also pay an inspector with many years of experience. They may miss a couple of things but they generally find the important stuff. Stay away from Tri-Level homes, I believe they are the hardest to sell. Oh and get a pre approval amount, cut that amount in half and look for houses in that range. You will be happier in the end with more money in your pocket. And dont give on the things you want such as room to build a garage, etc. Just keep looking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not Brian Posted November 4, 2011 Report Share Posted November 4, 2011 Good advice in here, also keep in mind if the realtor isn't a friend don't tell them the pre-approval amount. They'll only want to show you places at that or above since they work on commission. We were pre-approved for ~175k but our house was only 80k and she didn't even want to show it to us. We looked a lot online, found places we wanted to see and told them to take us to these places. No matter what, they just kept trying to push up the price but we knew what we were comfortable with and what we wanted to spend. This. I was good for about the same amount and Marc wrote a letter saying I was just plain preapproved. I ended up buying a nice short-sale. Being just a single dude with a dog, I do kinda miss the simplicity of my little one-bedroom apartment though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjrsplat Posted November 4, 2011 Report Share Posted November 4, 2011 This. I was good for about the same amount and Marc wrote a letter saying I was just plain preapproved. I ended up buying a nice short-sale. Being just a single dude with a dog, I do kinda miss the simplicity of my little one-bedroom apartment though I miss having a stalker taking spy shots of my car. :fa: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gillbot Posted November 4, 2011 Report Share Posted November 4, 2011 This. I was good for about the same amount and Marc wrote a letter saying I was just plain preapproved. I ended up buying a nice short-sale. Being just a single dude with a dog, I do kinda miss the simplicity of my little one-bedroom apartment though If you can get them to give you a generic pre-approval with no dollar amount, that's better. Our first wouldn't but we dropped that realtor and tried another lender and it worked out better for us. We went through a few realtors because we were pretty stubborn and as soon as they crossed a line trying to push up a price or anything, BAM, we dropped them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryBMW Posted November 4, 2011 Report Share Posted November 4, 2011 I give out pre-approval letters like the Brians give out herpes. Jk. Feel free to call me at your convenience and I will be more than happy to run through some scenarios with you. I refuse to make people "house poor" and I always make sure my clients understand what the total cost is before they go out and make offers. This is a serious purchase and the more informed you are the better off you will be in the long run. You can reach me at the office at 614-339-1206. -Marc ps- thanks for all of the kind words guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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