May 2012 Weddings

AW: Just got Pre-approved for a house!!

FI and I just got the call from our banker telling us we got pre-approved! I am so excited, and never thought we would be looking for a house so close to the wedding! 
Does anyone have any tips for us during our search.. they can be money related! haha

While I am very excited, it is nerve wracking to think of how much money everything costs, so any tips there would be great! FI is a financial planner, so I know he wouldn't get us into anything we can't handle, but it is definitely a life change that is scary/exciting!
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Re: AW: Just got Pre-approved for a house!!

  • Since your FI is a financial planner I am sure you're in good hands. 

    My biggest thing would be, if it's out of your budget by a lot of money, don't look. As soon as you look, you fall in love. Happened to me far too many times :/

    Our biggest things when looking for house were definitely the school district, crime, had to love the area and some dang privacy! Our favorite neighborhood has gorgeous houses but just a little too close. I don't like to see my neighbors cooking dinner when I'm in the kitchen lol
  • That is so exciting! I have no advice (we are renters), but wish you nothing but good luck!
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  • edited April 2012
    Don't expect to find something right off the bat and DON'T SETTLE! Make a list of the most important attributes to a house and stick to it, but be realistic. Don't NOT go for a house if it has most of the things on your list except (for instance) a giant backyard. Lol. But don't settle for a house that only has a few of the things you really want. The wait is worth is when you put an offer on something you absolutely love. A rule of thumb is, if you have to go home and think it over, then it's probably not something you're in love with.

    Find a realtor you love. We HATED our realtor but by the time we realized it was probably time to switch realtors we found a house we LOVED, put in an offer and bought it! So get recommendations from friends. The most important aspect in a realtor is LISTENING to you. If you want a house in a certain price range it's not a good thing if they are showing you houses $50,000 over what your budget is.

    Be aware of closing costs, inspections, and appraisals. These all cost extra money. Luckily the seller paid our closing costs.

    We bought a HUD home. It had pros and cons. The pros were that it was very affordable because of the HUD program. And it wasn't a wreck. The conss were that it was government owned so there were a lot of government hoops to jump through before we actually closed and that was frustrating (but worked out in the end).

    Also, keep in mind Home Owners Associations. How strict are they? Too strict can be apain, and too lax can mean an ugly neighborhood. How much do they cost? Our is $120 per year and from what I understand that's pretty cheap.
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  • What great news! I have no advice since we're renters, but good luck!! Hope you find something you both love!
  • I would say make sure any compromises you make that you wont regret them. We had a long list of things we wanted, and there were some where if the house didn't have it, it was an automatic no (for me this was mainly to have a bathroom on the same floor as our bedroom, and to have a good sized backyard for our dogs, fenced in).
    But also be willing to make compromises. We really wanted a detached home. But the costs were high and they needed work. Instead we got a townhouse way under our budget. It is still fairly quiet and we have a good backyard. We also only plan to stay here for about 5 years.

    Check the age of things (roof, windows, furnace). Test the taps, toilets.

    Some people bring a camera, not a bad idea if you are seeing a ton of houses.

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  • spalkospalko member
    First Comment
    That is so exciting, congrats!!!!

    Looking for a home is very exciting but once that settles, it can become very stressful! I agree 100% that you should make a list of what is important to you in having a home. Do you want something that is move-in ready or do you want a fixer-upper? If you go the fixer-upper route (which is what we did), you may end up paying a lower price initially BUT the costs of fixing some aspects of a house can sneak up pretty quick!

    DO NOT look at any home above your budget! If you have a limit on what you want to spend, do not look at homes over that. Even if the home is only $5000 more than your budget, you have to add in the cost of your inspection (ours was $500), closing costs (if you have to pay them), appraisal (ours was $200) and it was required that we have a termite inspection done on our house since other homes in the area are starting to have termite problems (that cost us $75). So we have to pay almost $800 upfront to know whether or not we could even buy the house! That doesn't seem like much but on top of everything else we had going on, it was costly!

    One of the big things that we looked at when buying our home was would it be something that we would be able to sale if a time every arose. We have put alot of time and money into our house in the last 5 months and we know that if we ever want to sell we'll get it back and then some (assuming the market ever picks up).

    Just don't settle and if you have any questions, just ask! Your FI should have a pretty good handle on everything but also keep in mind that along with a mortage comes a heating bill, electric bill, water bill, cable/internet plus any other bills you have so getting a home at the very top of your budget might make paying those 'lesser' bills harder.
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  • PPs have good suggestions.  I would absolutely recommend reading these 2 books before you actually start looking.  We did, and they were a great help - made me think about a lot of things I wouldn't have.




    I guess most of all, don't fall in love with a house until you've signed all the closing papers and actually own it - a lot of things can go wrong before you get to that point!  And stick with it - it sucks, but it will be worth it in the end.  Buying a house was way worse than wedding planning, IMO =]


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  • Congrats!! Our home buying experience wasn't that stressful.

    Make sure you look around A LOT. It's a big decision and you don't want to settle just because you're tired of looking.

    Factor in HOA fees .. if you have an HOA. Ours a really high and one of the biggest reasons why we're going to put our house up for sale in within the next year.

    Look past the cosmetic. Even well decorated houses can hide some terrible problems and some ugly houses can be beautiful. Remember, you're buying the house - not the people's things.
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  • Thank you so much everyone, your suggestions and advice are so helpful!! 
    We luckily have a great realtor, I was her intern last year, and completely trust her :)

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  • PP had great suggestions.  Just wanted to say congrats!

  • Some very good suggestions here! Congrats to you both :-)
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  • Don't settle for something you don't want! It is kind of a long process and at times you just want to quit looking and give up, but keep looking. Good Luck and Congratulations
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