house buying advice

I just closed back in October on my Condo. I never thought I would want a Condo, but after looking over things here in San Diego and the deal I got for my NEW, built from the ground up as I watched over the months condo, I would say go look at that route. I paid $215,000 in San Diego for a 1850 Sq. Ft. condo. My HOA is only another $175 a month over my mortgage.

 

Bingo. Take your time man, do it when YOU want to do it. The tax credit is nice, but I've heard if people having to wait a long time to get it, although some get it pretty quick. I honestly wouldn't take my chances on this. The tax credit should be a bonus for the buying process, I wouldn't rely on it for anything. The economy, although looks as it is slowly starting to recover, is still not in the best shape. Proceed with caution, I say. The last thing you want is to have something bad happen and not be able to take care of it. IMO being mentally, physically and financially ready is much more important than a little tax credit and a few tenths of interest rate.

P.S. Do not put all your new home goodies on a credit card unless you know damn well you have money to pay for it in full when the first bill arrives.

 

Go slow! This you don't want to rush. Check out FHA programs as well. They have programs for as low as 3 1/2% down, with PMI.
Again, go slow, and if any doubts, check it over again and again.
Best of luck!

 

You have until april 30 to buy and get the credit, so if you've got a good credit score now would be a good time to use it. At least here in MA, the general cutoff seems to be 650 give or take for a decent loan, if your score's above 700 you'll get the best rates and options.

There's many different fixed-rate loans you can use that only require 3% or 5% down, but also check your state. My wife and I just bought a house in August, and we got a great mortgage through MA Housing, a state mortgage deal basically. Like everybody else said, take your time, and when you find a house you like get the best inspector possible. Using a GOOD real estate agent makes the process a million times better, our agent was great and gave us really good recommendations on inspectors and whatnot.

Just keep in mind, the amount of house you qualify for might still be out of your budget. And the house price and quoted mortgage per month you see online are going to be way lower than the final monthly mortgage after insurance and all are added in. Our house mortgage by itself was quoted online as only 1100 or so, but after all was added in it is close to 1700.

Chances are you will never find the absolute PERFECT house, but you definitely want to find something you like, not settle for something just OK. My wife and I did compromise on a few things, but we didn't settle for something we didn't think we could stay in for a long time. Don't buy with the assumption you'll sell in a little while, that's a big gamble and you never know what will happen in the future.

 

Oh yeah, if/when you decide on a house and start looking for a mortgage place, it might be better to go with a bank rather than a mortgage broker. At least in our experience, it worked out better using a local bank than a big name one. And different mortgages have different requirements, we tried to get one home through FHA, but found out they have a "peeling paint" clause that made our deal fall through.

 

^ Agreed. From what it seems, maybe you can afford the mortgage, taxes, insurance, etc. But don't forget to add in groceries, utilities, gas money, etc. It's not the big things that are the problem, you plan for them. It's the little things that you tend to over look that come back to bite you in the ass....

 

To the OP, be careful, you really need to sort through the bad advice or advice from the uninformed.

A structural engineer is more often a waste of money unless the home has an issue, which many do not. Otherwise, its money out the window. I know darn well what normal settling looks like and what $12,000 of damage looks like, i saw it again 3 days ago in a 40's built cape with bowed block walls and a severe bulge to the point the wall looked like it was ready to give out. I can more often than not see this stuff before i even enter the home.

In the case above, the roof in need of replacement, (after having moved snow off of the usual higher wear areas to see it) - approx. $7000.00
the 32 year old furnace - approximately $1800.00
and the old fused panel with tapping off of the main lugs as well as multiple double tapped fuses (increased fire potential as a result of trying 'compensate' for an outdated and undersized service) - approximately $1200.00 plus smoke detectors and various 'updates'.
were all things the client needed to know to make an informed decision.

Structural engineers often come in, state the obvious (or what was to a good inspector) take a big check for 1/2 hour or less 'work' and direct you to the guys who you needed all along, the foundation contractor who has to address the issues. It is more often a case of paying a middle man who does little but cash your check and pass you on to the guy who actually has to do the 'repairs'.

Also, a structural engineer won't tell you about potential electrical fire hazards or venting issues whether appliance or chimney / vent related. You miss some of the most important items a good home inspector / inspection will uncover.

As far as the electrical compoments, I check every accessible outlet and document defects, outlets recommended for correction and/or upgrade per room, per wall,

With the service equipment, i take the service equipment panel cover off list every defect inside and outside of the panel. Troublesome panels like the Federal Pacific are noted, as well as the reluctance of many insurance companies to provide insurance policies to homes with that type equipment, issues within the panel such as double tapped breakers not rated for such, undersized branch wires and to which breaker, evidence of over-heating, etc., all with photographs documenting the defects with arrows and an explanation beneath the photo.

Also - I get on almost every roof and in virtually every crawlspace with photos documenting findings.

I've found some huge defects that would have not been found without accessing the roof top or the farthest reaches of the crawlspace and in the process saved my clients thousands.

It is imperative that you find the right guy. A lot of new inspectors or old guys who do it like they did it 20 years ago before the bar was raised dramatically.

Again, like many of the threads, you have to be careful and sort through the advice. Anyone can throw pretty much anything out there.

 

USDA is the way to go if you have no down payment but you interest rates a little higher maybe a point at 5 percent your looking at $536.83 per 100k for 30 year fixed then you have to add in your PMI and home owners Insurance about I guessing 150-200 a month so your total monthly would be around 7- 750. as far as the house goes ask the seller to pay for a home warrenty it's good for a year and covers a lot of the small stuff appliances and such. ( American Home Shield) I think they start at $450.

Ask your Realtor that's what were here for...

 

I just purchased my first home this past July. It seems like your question is, "Should I rush things just to get the $8k tax credit?" My answer would be, no.

The $8k tax credit is a one time deal. It may help pay off initial cost of furniture and appliances, but it's not a consistant boost of income that will help in the long run. When I got my $8k credit back, it was a nice boost for my savings, but really had no bearing on my initial purchase.

I was lucky enough to find a home that included all appliances (although the crappy fridge died after 6 months, but it worked for a while.) See if you can find a house where they throw in appliances, even if it's only washer and dryer. Keep in mind that these can be part of your offer. You offer $X amount and ask that they throw in X appliance.

I did an FHA mortgage which meant I only had to put down 3.5%. This helped me out since I am young and just got out of college a couple years ago. Remember that the less you put down, the higher your monthly payment will be.

I learned alot of things when buying my first home. Look at as many as you can. Don't settle. Bottom line is, buy something that you can easily afford. Just because a mortgage broker or bank says you can afford up to X amount, don't think you should shoot for that number. Going for something lower will make the rest of your life more enjoyable.

I'm sure there's plenty more common sense topics I could ramble on about, but if you have any other questions, feel free to shoot me a PM.

 

Im kinda in the same position you are. I have been looking at houses and im supposed to meet with my Realtor again today. He mentioned to me that another possibility for closing cost is to make it part of your offer just offer them $XXXXXX and to cover the closing cost. Just my $.02

 

Seller's are hungry right now so there's not much I wouldn't ask for as a buyers agent, ask for the home warantee as well.

By the way in my market place the home's that are selling!! The seller's are getting 75% of their asking price. Just a little FYI.

 

Thanks for the advice Bart

 

HOLY SHIT- ONLY 175 bones a MONTH for them to tell you what shit you can hang on your door and what not....eff that.

 

wow thanks for all the advice. the range of payment im looking at is realy not too bad in my area. i can have a pretty nice home for that much. yeahh it will be small but i do not need a big house. actually i looked at one today that is very nice, newly remodled with a one car garage for 109k but it appraised a few months ago for 98k. its not part of an HOA which i refuse to be a part of anyway. its not so much the monthly payments i cant handle, its just the initial start up costs that i need to look out for. once i get everything taken care of, ill be good to go.

this will only be on my income, i am not married yet and my girlfriend is not living with me though she will be this summer. i am going to be very specific about my home inspection of course. i want to know what is wrong with it and if it can be fixed. i qualify for a USDA guaranteed loan with no downpayment. like i said before its just the start up costs that are going to get me. closing costs are my biggest deal now.id like to see them included in the loan or have the seller pay it. i can also get a loan from the state housing development fund for the closing costs.

i do plan to stay in this house for a while. not saying 30 years but i know it will be for quite a few years. i know the tax credit is a one time thing but if it can help pay for my up front expenses i should be good. i want a home warranty as well if i can get one.

all my friends and family are telling me i can do this that its not that bad, i could be just being really picky and worrisome but it is a big deal. if i can really keep my truck and house payment including all fees, PMI, and insurance under one paycheck ($1300) ill feel good about it which i should be able to do