House buying question

J&K10910 · August 2009

We want to buy in hopefully about a year to a year and a half. I know it can take a long time to find the right house and close and all that jazz. When should we start looking?

pumpkinpumpkin · August 2009

In a year and a half. Don't look before you're ready...you'll be more likely to make a purchase based on emotion. As far as closing, etc...doesn't take that long. From the time we put our offer in, had the inspection, and moved in, it was 2.5 weeks. Yes, our house was vacant when we purchased...

becs11048 · August 2009

In my experience it takes about 3 - 6 months or so to find a place and then 30-60 days to close. If it were me I would wait until after the wedding to start looking, unless you want to be in a place right when you are married.

gkb0910 · August 2009

I wouldn't start looking until you're in a position to buy so you don't fall in love with a house that you can't make an offer on. Start in about a year, but realize that you may not be in a new house until after your timeline.

tlv204 · August 2009

It really depends. We're hoping to be in a house by Nov. 17 (when our lease ends) and started looking right after the wedding, in June. Theoretically it should take at most 60 days (usually more like 30-45, but you never know nowadays) between when an offer is accepted and closing. So I would start non-seriously looking about 4 months out or even a little more, but don't put in offers until more like 2 or 3 months before you actually want to move. That's how our agent explained it to us at least.

lyndausvi · August 2009

It really depends. I started looking in June. Saw one condo, put in an offer. It was declined because they accepted an offer earlier in the day (they were bummed because I was a full price offer). Waiting 2 weeks. Saw another place. Put an offer in and got that condo. I closed on Sept 8. But that was because of stupid USVI stuff. My dad's job transferred him a lot. My parents could fly in to a city they have never been to before and buy a house in 3 days. Closing was normally 6-8 weeks later.

danieliza1127 · August 2009

Ugh, I wrote a long response and the Knot ate it.Basically I said what the others said, don't waste your time or your realtor's time looking until you are really ready to put an offer on the house if you find the right one. Otherwise you'll end up sad that you found one you can't get right now, or you'll end up getting something you aren't ready for or can't really afford.

Soon-to-be Mrs. Vogt · August 2009

It really depends. FI started looking in our area before I even came into the picture (about a year before) and we continued to look for 6 months. So at least 18 months, but we were also looking for a farm, so it's a little different.Our closing took 2.5 months by the time all the kinks got worked out (we closed right in the middle of all the new regulations to funding after the fannie mae/freddie mac debaucle)We also wrote offers/counter offers on 5 properties before the last one was accepted.

kwilson02 · August 2009

Well for FI and I it took us about 3 months to actually find a place that suited our wants and needs, that was in our price range. It really depends, but I wouldn't start looking until you are fully ready to make the purchase. No sense in looking at, and falling in love with a place, and not being able to make an offer.

tlv204 · August 2009

Also remember that if you put an offer on short sales or foreclosures they can take a lot longer to actually move in, but I agree not to look before you can actually afford to put an offer in.

J&K10910 · August 2009

That makes sense. Obviously we weren't going to start looking NOW, and we could afford to purchase in about 6 months. Our lease isn't up until May, and we want to have quite a bit more saved than we think we'll need. And obviously the longer we save, the bigger down payment we can put down and the better off we'll be.

squirrly · August 2009

Don't actually look, or even really talk to a realtor much, before you're prepared to put down an offer and write an earnest money check. You'll just end up finding a great house and not being ready to act on it. What you SHOULD do is browse listings online so you have some idea of the pricerange in your area & what that can buy. Once you have a better feel for what price range you think you should be in, then investigate mortgages to see what you qualify for. Then - you'll be good to go with actually looking at houses.

danieliza1127 · August 2009

You also want savings because no matter how nice the house is, you're going to move in and want to spend a bunch of money on something. Appliance, curtains, new bedding, it's just exciting and it adds up quickly.

J&K10910 · August 2009

Exactly Dani, which is why we want to wait a year or year and a half even though we could technically afford to buy in about 6months, even sooner if I get a job soon. It's just really exciting for us, and I'm having a hard time staying away from online listings today. I'll try to contain myself.

tidetravel · August 2009

You can still "look" to get an idea of what you like, what you want, what's available and what you can afford. I browse www.realtor.com all the time. It will make you a more informed consumer when you do go to purchase a house.

punkyb2b · August 2009

sorry to thread jack but dani- are you dani, or eliza or neither? I think of you as dani eliza in my head. not sure it matters ;)J&K- i second everyone who says to wait till you have the money to put in an offer or close to it.

laurening · August 2009

You shouldn't start seriously looking until you are ready to buy. But, if you're not sure what kind of house you want or what neighborhood/town you like, I would start checking out the Sunday paper and going to open houses. I also think it's a good idea to talk to your bank now and get prequalified. Finances can easily change in a year and a half, but you can get an idea of how much you can afford to spend (just don't take on a lot of new debt until then). I'd also get your credit checked and make sure there isn't anything problematic on there. If there is, this gives you time to fix it.

danieliza1127 · August 2009

Well squirrly is right, it doesn't hurt to look online. Looking at lots of different houses online really helped us narrow down what we knew we wanted and had to have - like have to have 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms but basement is optional, stuff like that. It's good to get all of that in mind so that when you do finally get with a realtor, you can be that specific and not waste your time looking at houses you know you won't want. Another thing it helped us do is narrow down the part of town we wanted to be in. We thought we wanted to live downtown, but when I started looking online at houses in our price range downtown, I knew there was no way that was going to happen. The neighborhoods were bad and the houses were too run down for us to afford being able to fix up. So that helped us know to focus on other parts of town.Hope all of this helps! We just bought our house last year, so it's all kind of fresh in my mind.

kwilson02 · August 2009

I was the same way, I was way too excited to not look at listings. It's a really exciting time, and it should be. Just don't rush into anything and you will be good.

Enjoy this time, and that year and a half will go by fast.

danieliza1127 · August 2009

punky - Danielle Elizabeth=danieliza I just made it up one day when I needed a screen name for something and it stuck.

J&K10910 · August 2009

Yeah, looking online has definitely given us a good idea of what we want and don't want, what we can afford, and where we want to look. Thanks everyone for your great advice!

ffmaid · August 2009

Well you should start saving now making sure credit is as great as possible. Then start scoping neghborhoods and learning comps in about a year but look at all sorts of homes go to all different neioghborhoods and houses open houses. Learn a ton about the areas ect. Then start seriously looking in a year and a half but 6 months of a lot of sunday afternoons at open houses will teach you a lot about what you view as negotiable and non negotiable it will also show you the variety in your price range

squirrly · August 2009

Oh - if you want to drive around and look at some of the ones you found listed, that's not a bad idea either. Gives you a better idea of what the neighborhood is like, along the lines of what dani said. Just don't make official visits, go inside, etc. I wouldn't even do open houses until you're ready to buy.

blynn03 · August 2009

I'm going to echo others in that you shouldn't start seriously looking until you're ready to buy - and more specifically, have been preapproved.In the mean time, I would start looking at stuff online. Start figuring out how many bedrooms and bathrooms you want, how much square footage, and what other specific amenities you might be looking for (finished basement, fenced in yard, etc.). You can start trying to figure out a general layout that you might like....high ceilings/loft, a great room, etc. You can also use a variety of free mortgage calculators that are available to get a tentative idea of what you can afford without having to go through the preapproval process.I just bought my house in May. I had been looking online to figure out what I was looking for, and waiting for the right time, for at least 2 years. Honestly, I never actually was "seriously looking." I had been thinking maybe I should be getting serious, and then randomly went to a few open houses one day and found this one and fell in love. A month later, I lived in it! (I was pretty lucky in that I pretty much knew I would be preapproved for it....so I just applied for preapproval in as soon as I got it, I put in an offer. It took less than 5 days for all of that.)

AngelaOct11 · August 2009

I started looking about a year to a year and a half before I bought my house. I didn't have a realtor though. I looked online and went to open houses on my weekends off. I really was just wanting to see what was available in what areas for what prices. Then when I actually found a house I was interested in I contacted a realtor.

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