FI wants to buy a house

SCogs18 · February 2012

At first, I was completely freaked out. We are barely 24 and I just didn't see how we could possibly afford it, but FI has apparently been looking into it. One of his clients is a mortgage broker and a friend of his and they have been discussing our options. Apparently, our mortgage payment would be the same as our rent or even a little less. FI has also said he is willing to move back to my hometown in North Carolina, which would make me SO happy (you also get a lot more for your money there than in Richmond where we live now). So of course now I am browsing homes online!

We don't quite have enough money for a down payment yet, but we are working on it. And you never know, perhaps we will be gifted some cash for the wedding? I would love to buy within a year of getting married.

Currently, we are both completely in love with this house. If we get REALLY lucky, it will still be on the market when we are ready to buy, but I doubt it. Until then, a girl can dream!

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/2916-Bolo-Trl_Raleigh_NC_27615_M67064-83175?source=web

Laur110 · February 2012

Gorgeous house!

FI and I just closed on our condo in September 2011 and I am so happy that we got it. We have more space and a yard and are paying less than what we were paying in rent.

Good luck with your search!

wineo929 · February 2012

I love that house!!

My FI and I are planning on purchasing shortly after the wedding, too. We were going to know but our emergency fund is our wedding fund (TERRIBLE, I know.) So we're waiting until we're back in the positive with emergency money in case anything breaks.

Good luck on the house! Keep us posted

DirtyWater · February 2012

1st, I love that house.
2nd, I'm jealous of everyone who lives down south. Shacks cost that much in NE.

Please, dont let this sacare you, but my only suggestion, and I'm speaking from our situation, would be to make sure you have about a years worth of taxes, mortgage payments and a bit for emergency money saved and in the bank. We had two years worth saved up after we put down our 1st payment on our 3 family (we already owned a condo). Within 6 months I lost my job. When I found another job FI lost his job. So in that year all of our emergency money and payments were used up pretty quickly. Always plan for a disaster and you'll be fine.

Katiesue04 · February 2012

Awww cute house! 24 is not too young to buy a house! I bought my first house at 22 and I was still single

Have you looked into just doing an FHA loan through the government? It would be a little bit higher interest but you wouldn't need as much money down. I had a regular loan through my local credit union and II almost didn't get my house because I only had 12 percent down and they wanted 20, they finally came down to 15 and I borrowed some money from my parents to get the house(this was the time of the 8,000 credit so thankfully I had money to fall back on, and it just went to pay off more of my mortgage). Then again I was still single so they didn't really want to take a risk with me!

Johnsonk313 · February 2012

I LOVE that house! FI and I both on our own house but after the wedding we want to consolidate and purchase a bigger one together. It is exciting to plan our dream house.

kellycatalo · February 2012

1. i don't think it's too young! Dan and i bought a house before we were engaged (well we closed after we got engaged, but that was not my doing, i had no idea!). i was 22 at the time, he was 23.

2. that house is gorgeous! and the pictures look great. i'm so surprised at how much house you can get for the price in your area, and pretty jealous.

but here's some things to keep in mind:
--houses don't always turn out to be what they look like in pictures
--there's more to a house than just what it looks like
--it needs to have a good location (within the street and also where its located in relation to school districts and other things)

Dan and i ended up looking at probably 40-50 houses, and we restricted ourselves to a very small area of our town, probably 20 square blocks worth or something like that. there were some that looked great in pictures but were terrible in person, and then others that we had no interest in after looking at the pictures, but really surprised us when we got there.

in the end, we ended up buying one of the houses we saw on the first day. it was the 3rd house we went to, and when we walked in, i felt like we lived there. i had more of a moment with that house (like OMG this is OUR house, i just know it), than i did with my dress.

also, i'd really advise putting down 20% or more. you will end up saving so much money in the long run, because you can get a lower rate and also won't have to pay private mortgage insurance. and GOSH rates are so low right now. i thought we were getting a great rate last year in july, but now we're considering refinancing because rates are almost a point lower than what we got now.

also, i highly suggest spending time picking out a great agent. someone who will take care of you and tell you what to look for, and isn't afraid to be blatant. ours came from a friend's recommendation, and we couldn't be happier. she was fantastic, and treated us like we were her kids. she wouldn't let us settle for something she knew was a bad investment. and that's really how to look at a house, as an investment. but anyway. interview several agents before picking one!

wow, sorry i went on forever.

meagandal · February 2012

I LOVE that house, it looks like my parents house almost exactly, but our has the front door to the side not center and green shutters rather than blue!

The inside is gorgeous too! I like that family's taste

As a fairly new home owner I say go for it! We did have enough saved to be prepared for some repairs, we did a furnace right after closing and since we bought a fixer-upper we knew we were going to put a lot fo money into it, but our morgate with escrow is still cheaper than what one of us was payign for rent in the same town-neighborhood even.

Our taxes are more than our mortgage. Regardless I think buyig is the way to go and I am happy everyday I pull into my drive way because its mine!

abcollins08 · February 2012

This house is really close to me and FI has family that lives in that neighborhood. Small world! The houses there are all really pretty, and it seems to be a young family neighborhood ie. lots of elementary age children. I'm not sure what kind of yard you're looking for but most of them are really small yards.

kellycatalo gave some great advice up there especially saving up money for emergencies. We're currently renters and probably will rent for another 2-3 years after we're marriend. I love not being responsible for maintenance and upkeep if something breaks!

Best of luck to you both in house hunting!

ZenInMotion · February 2012

Gorgeous! I can see why you both love it.

mamameech · February 2012

a gorgeous home like that is only 200K?!?! Man I live in the wrong city!!
Our townhouse can be sold for 330K+ and it's nowhere near that size!
Single homes like in our area go for 600K!!
It really is awesome and I can totally see "family" written all over it

adktd2boots · February 2012

I love that fireplace! And the kitchen! An incredible starter home.

I don't think you're too young. I think it all depends on your finances. I think it's a wise decision to invest in your future instead of throwing money away on rent, when they are relatively the same price. Yes, you will have the upkeep and such, but owning your own home is a great feeling.

morenachica110 · February 2012

Awesome house! I agree it's not too early to look for a house. My MOH bought a house and she's single and 21. haha! (Her mom is a real estate agent.) But, hey! We may be neighbors in the next year or two! FI and I want to buy a house within a year or two of the wedding closer to his family and they live right outside of Raleigh. And by right outside I mean within a 5-10 minute drive so they pretty much are Raleigh. lol It's a gorgeous area and it's really starting to boom.

CowgirlK39 · February 2012

My brother lives in Raleigh and just bought a house in Apex that looks similar! Good pick!

I def agree with DirtyWater. Buying the house is one thing, all the property taxes and various things that come with it are another. I would allow yourself to be better prepared first, honestly.

I am so jealous of all you people who have lives. We are barely making ends meet, and I can't wait to get this wedding crap over with so I can go on and get our lives going. We aren't sure if we are staying in this area because our jobs/careers are really unclear. You are all so lucky!

Sarah&Eric2012 · February 2012

That house is gorgeous! I don't think you're too young for a house either. Just think, the sooner you buy the sooner you can be mortgage free! FI and I bought our house almost 2 years ago and I love it. There are projects that I want to complete. I was planning on re-doing the kitchen this year, then he gave me a ring so that changed things slightly...next year for the kitchen! lol

Good luck, it's such an exciting purchase, stressful, but exciting too. I agree with Dirty, make sure you have extra saved in an emergency fund. It will take awhile to get used to all the bills that come with a house and I know that FI and I used some of our savings the first year, even though we both have good jobs.

Keep us posted!

SheaCC · February 2012

I'm so jealous, that house is beeeeaaaaauuuuttttiffffuuullll! I wish we could buy a house now, but I think we're a few years away from that. And we don't know where we want to settle down! Ideally I'd like to move back to Northern VA where I'm from and my FI pretty much doesn't care where we live. Your house is making me question that, though, because $200,000 for that gorgeous house is a STEAL! In my hometown neighborhood a house like that would easily go for $500,000-$800,000. I hope it's still available when you're ready!

SCogs18 · February 2012

Thanks for all the support guys! I should have mentioned that FI a financial planner-- he isn't going to let us do anything that would but our financial future in jeopardy, it's his job to not let that happen!

We have looked into the FHA loans and if we chose to go that route, we could probably buy tomorrow (we'd have to break our lease though). We would much rather put 20% down (and have the emergency fund).

There is an open house tomorrow that I don't think FI and I can attend, but my mom has said she is willing to go check it out to see if it really is as good in person as it is online. So excited! FI said that his ideal plan would be to move into a house a couple weeks before the wedding and live with the move until the wedding, go on our honeymoon, and start really getting settled once we get home

ekk120 · February 2012

We are literally in the SAME position! Im 24, and just got my first full time job after getting my masters. We found a house in our area that is GORGEOUS... built in 1717 and is pretty modern, but could use some fixing up on the inside, for an insanely low price (we live in CT, so houses are never cheap here!).

We are planning on using wedding $ for a down payment, too. We are keeping our fingers crossed that the house we're looking at (been on the market since July) will still be on next fall.

I will keep my fingers crossed for you -- buying a house is SO exciting and such a huge accomplishment at your age.

SCogs18 · February 2012

Good luck ekk! The house we like was just put on the market on January 28th and the market is pretty slow in NC. The houses that are selling are houses in our price range for the most part, but we have our fingers crossed. Ideally, we would like to close in August so we can move in right before the wedding, so we would start looking in a few months.

kissamary · February 2012

Buying a house was the smartest thing we ever did! We got engaged when I lived in an apartment, and that spring, when my lease was almost up, we started looking at houses. We wanted to find a house we could afford at hour low hourly rate of pay so that when we got our "big kid jobs" we would be extra comfortable. This was the best idea ever!

We got a 30 year fixed loan with just a tad over 3% interest, and our payment for mortgage, insurance and taxes is under 800 a month! Way less per month than my 1 bed 1 bath apartment and we got a 3 bed, 2 bath, with a basement and a .2 acre lot in a really nice city. While we were closing on the house Todd got his "big kid job" and everything was cake! I did student teaching and we didn't die! I keep telling him to wait until I get my "big kid job". We are going to be so glad we got this nice starter house when we make enough money to live in a bigger one.

My advice, though, is to be open to suggestions and look at any property in your choice cities that the realtor wants to show you. We looked for months at so many houses. FI got really discouraged, but I kept telling him it would work out (which would make him really mad), and it sure did!

FI wants to buy a house

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