Chit Chat

Searching for a new home, help

Is there a board I'm missing here? Or is it on some other site, like The Bump or something? I didn't think they were as active as us here, and I enjoy the ladies' advice here more than anything else.

What's the first step in searching for a new home? This will be my first, I'm still living with my parents. My FI and I will be looking for homes when we come back from Jamaica (eeeeeeeeeeeeeeyayayay) later this summer, but I was wondering what the first few steps were.

Did you guys get a realtor? Do they cost extra? Is it better to buy a first home without a realtor? I know my credit score, and FI's (He's into the 800's and I'm high 700's, so I hear that's good for getting a mortgage). Should I avoid bank-owned homes? Obviously, I have a lot of questions and would like to be pointed to the right direction. 

I'll ask my dad for advice, but he's the type to tell me to look it up and then tell him the answers. So I want to research before I start anything.

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Re: Searching for a new home, help

  • Especially for your first home, it is essential that you have a buyer's agent (realtor) who will not be associated with the seller's agent.  The sellers pay the realtors, so this costs you nothing.

    I went through 6 buyer's agents before I bought my house.  Many of them just suck.  I wouldn't sign an exclusivity contract for a buyer's agent.

    You can get a lender pre-approval from anywhere - you don't have to use them for your mortgage, but many agents will want to see it to make sure you are serious about buying and to see what you qualify for.

    Start looking below the amount you are qualified for - you can always go up if you're comfortable with that, but once you look in the higher range, you won't likely be satisfied with anything in the lower range.

    I wouldn't totally avoid bank owned homes, but just know those are more likely sold as is, and will sometimes take longer to close.

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  • First I would figure out your budget. You can also get pre-approved for a mortgage.
    Look around on Realtor.com. Figure out what areas you want to look in. Look at the taxes. And then ask around for recs on a realtor. I wouldn't buy a house without one, but that's just me.
  • Start with what you can be approved for.  Not necessarily a pre-approval, but just an idea of your budget and what you're comfortable spending.  Don't forget to include maintenance, taxes, utilities, etc. in your budget.

    Use a realtor.  They are free for buyers as the sellers pay the costs.  They can give you an idea as to what is out there, which neighbourhoods fit your needs/wants and often hear about houses before they hit the market

    Get a home inspection.  Even if the seller has done one, pay for your own.

    Don't get pressured by having to choose quick.  If it doesn't feel right, don't buy it.  Check out new builds too.  It may not be where you want to be, but you'll get to tour a lot of houses to get an idea of what you like and you don't need anyone else there.  Just remember that everything in them is an upgrade usually and cost way more than the base price.  


    Have fun!! and make sure you allot several hours.  You don't want to feel rushed.  

  • I would definitely speak to your lender first - even if you don't get your preapproval first, they can counsel you on anything you need to do before going down that path. Oftentimes though you won't be able to even look at houses without a preapproval.

    Definitely work with a realtor you trust. It costs you nothing and they will protect you from unscrupulous sellers and keep you from overpaying.

    And yes, this is the type of thing they would have liked us to take to The Nest, but nobody likes TN.

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  • I'll just add - you do not need a realtor if you are buying new or building. There are no fees associated with this, and there is very little (if any) negotiating. Building our house was like going shopping. I'll add this for $500, add this for $2000, etc. No realtor necessary. 

    Id also rec talking to a bank and getting pre-approved for a mortgage. Gives you an idea of your budget, and you can go from there. 

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  • FI and I went through this last year, and 100% get a realtor. And as PPs mentioned, make sure it's someone you like a lot. They'll be pressuring you here and there, and if you don't like AND trust them, this is seriously problematic. 

    First step, honestly, is figure out a budget and start stalking realtor.com and zillow.com. We actually found our home through Zillow, made our realtor show it to us, and bam, fell in love.

    Get all your taxes together from the last few years, and get ready to get together even more financial information (over and over and over again) for the mortgage people.

    I would actually advise against looking at bank-owned homes, although this depends on your situation. My realtor explained to us that banks can have you sign a contract stating your intent to buy the house, but then they still have to approve the offer (since they will probably be taking a hit on the mortgage overall - hence why the bank now owns it, not the owners!) -- THAT process can take up to 6 months in some cases, and because of that initial signature you're locked in, can't put an offer down on another home or pull out of that deal. The bank holds ALL the cards.

    On top of that, you don't often know (at least in my area, this is generally the case) what else might be going on that either caused the old owners to give up or that has happened in the meantime since the bank has owned the property (leaks, pipes, electrical - just a general question mark hangs over everything). 

    GOOD LUCK!!!!! This was a hugely stressful process for my FI and I, but we really tried to cram it all in as fast as we could, so taking your time could help in that department. But it is SO so worth it, we LOVE our home.

  • MadHops21 said:

    Is there a board I'm missing here? Or is it on some other site, like The Bump or something? I didn't think they were as active as us here, and I enjoy the ladies' advice here more than anything else.


    What's the first step in searching for a new home? This will be my first, I'm still living with my parents. My FI and I will be looking for homes when we come back from Jamaica (eeeeeeeeeeeeeeyayayay) later this summer, but I was wondering what the first few steps were.

    Did you guys get a realtor? Do they cost extra? Is it better to buy a first home without a realtor? I know my credit score, and FI's (He's into the 800's and I'm high 700's, so I hear that's good for getting a mortgage). Should I avoid bank-owned homes? Obviously, I have a lot of questions and would like to be pointed to the right direction. 

    I'll ask my dad for advice, but he's the type to tell me to look it up and then tell him the answers. So I want to research before I start anything.

    Me researching currently: working animated GIF
    Congrats!

    Realtors are FREE for the buyers, the seller will pay the commission to both agents.  I would talk to a few and get a feel for who would be good to work with.  Since this is your first time buying I would look for someone who specializes in first time buyers or represents a large number of buyers.

    Take a hard (really, really hard) look at your finances.  Make sure you have a pretty hefty down payment (10-20% is recommended), an emergency fund and a pretty hefty "slush fund" for new furniture, home repairs, paint, curtains, ladders, appliances, shelf paper, lawn mowers and all of the other hundreds of things you will find out you need.  I've bought three houses and we still spent an insane amount of money when we bought our new home back in May.

    If possible try to buy a house that you can afford on one income.  It will allow you to have more flexibility down the road in regards to possible children, vacations or if one of you would lose your job.  Don't forget to account for property taxes, homeowner's insurance and utility costs (bigger house = more heating/cooling).

    Talk to a bank to get a pre-approval letter.  The banks will give you a number MUCH MUCH higher than you should actually spend.  They just look at your income and your debt, they do not take into account retirement savings, utilities, vacation funds, savings or anything else so what they say you can afford can get you in trouble really, really fast if you don't do some hard calculations.

    After you have an agent and a pre-approval you are ready to start visiting houses!  Create a "must have" list of things you won't compromised on like the location, number of bedrooms, garage or whatever.  Then create a "nice to have" list that you may not be able to get within your budget.

    While your budget is important also realize that going over your budget by $10,000 is going to be about $50 a month in additional costs depending on your interest rate (assuming a 30-year mortgage).  Be willing to look at homes within a range of prices and as long as the monthly cost is within your comfort level the overall price is a little less a big deal.  
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  • Thanks, ladies. I've been looking at trulia.com since apparently realtor.com keeps showing homes already sold and sometimes aren't up to date apparently. I found a bunch of homes and look at the property taxes, HOA fees, mortgage, etc. It's really nifty seeing all that.

    I've been told that getting pre-approved is the best idea first to get an idea of a budget. We've been saving up to put a nice, sizeable deposit down, since every...$1k gets you $100 off a month? I think I heard that right?

    I thought realtors cost something, good to know to look for the right ones. We have until June 2016 to buy, but I figured we could start learning now and looking to see what we want and what we need. 
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  • My biggest piece of advice is to try hard to find a house that is affordable on one income.  The flexibility, freedom and piece of mind that comes with that is priceless.
  • I would suggest a real estate agent and the google.
  • I would advise against using Zillow. It's much less accurate than realtor.com (which feeds directly from realcomp). You'll get your heart broken by homes that say they're still accurate but actually already have a contract pending. And the Zestimates are WAY off.

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  • I would advise against using Zillow. It's much less accurate than realtor.com (which feeds directly from realcomp). You'll get your heart broken by homes that say they're still accurate but actually already have a contract pending. And the Zestimates are WAY off.

    I've used that before, the jumped back into realtor and saw most I saved were sold. So pissed I wasted time on that app. 
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  • mlg78mlg78 member
    500 Love Its 1000 Comments Second Anniversary 5 Answers
    I love the realtor.com app.  I drive a lot for work and anytime I find myself in a neighborhood that catches my eye I stop and click "nearby for sale".  Zillow's home values are whack.
  • luckya23luckya23 member
    1000 Comments 500 Love Its Second Anniversary First Answer
    edited March 2015
    MadHops21 said:

    Thanks, ladies. I've been looking at trulia.com since apparently realtor.com keeps showing homes already sold and sometimes aren't up to date apparently. I found a bunch of homes and look at the property taxes, HOA fees, mortgage, etc. It's really nifty seeing all that.


    I've been told that getting pre-approved is the best idea first to get an idea of a budget. We've been saving up to put a nice, sizeable deposit down, since every...$1k gets you $100 off a month? I think I heard that right?

    I thought realtors cost something, good to know to look for the right ones. We have until June 2016 to buy, but I figured we could start learning now and looking to see what we want and what we need. 



    If you're not seriously looking now, don't contact agents yet.  They do frown on you wasting their time.

    Preapprovals are usually only good for 30 - 90 days also.

    ETA: But open houses can still be fun, the agents have to be there anyway, and that's actually how I met the agent that helped me buy my house - at an open house way outside of my price range. 

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  • I found Home Buying for Dummies pretty helpful. I still wound up doing a ton of local market research but that covered the process and what questions to ask really well.
  • luckya23 said:

    MadHops21 said:

    Thanks, ladies. I've been looking at trulia.com since apparently realtor.com keeps showing homes already sold and sometimes aren't up to date apparently. I found a bunch of homes and look at the property taxes, HOA fees, mortgage, etc. It's really nifty seeing all that.


    I've been told that getting pre-approved is the best idea first to get an idea of a budget. We've been saving up to put a nice, sizeable deposit down, since every...$1k gets you $100 off a month? I think I heard that right?

    I thought realtors cost something, good to know to look for the right ones. We have until June 2016 to buy, but I figured we could start learning now and looking to see what we want and what we need. 



    If you're not seriously looking now, don't contact agents yet.  They do frown on you wasting their time.

    Preapprovals are usually only good for 30 - 90 days also.

    ETA: But open houses can still be fun, the agents have to be there anyway, and that's actually how I met the agent that helped me buy my house - at an open house way outside of my price range. 

    Oh, I'm not contacting anyone yet. I just want to be prepared when the time comes. I was wondering about open houses, though. Just to see what I'll be expecting and what I'll need to know when I actually start everything. 
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  • We haven't bought yet but did go through the beginning process a couple times. If nothing else, it was pretty enlightening to see how much work it is.  Get all your paperwork from ever together because you're going to need it. 

    I would also go through a realtor. It's really confusing without one. Even with a realtor I know of a few horror stories, let alone without.  Choose very carefully here- one was recommended to us by a friend, we didn't go through with the sale and then he immediately completely screwed over another pair of mutual friends and acted very unprofessionally. Long story short: he didn't assess the property as carefully as he said, which ended in a lot of money spent and a lot of grief from a neighbor over a dispute over what actually was their land vs his land, and he vanished into thin air and was no help. 

    I would start by going to a bank.  You just won't have any idea of what your budget is until you do.  We thought we could get a decent budget but there's some weird rules about what counts as income.  Because I'd been working my part time job for less than 2 years (um who does that anyway) and under the table before that, and I made significant money off annuities from an inheritance but that didn't count. I had an incorrect ding on my credit that I didn't know about it that tanked it, I looked like I had terrible credit and no income.  

    So we were better off by pretending it would only be H contributing. Well, H makes $50k a year, which qualified us for about a $100k mortgage, which gets you a pile of shit.  Even though we had decent savings and I made pretty good money between my two jobs, it just didn't matter. They have really cracked down on making sure banks are verifying income sine the crash, and it doesn't matter which one you go to, they all have these draconian rules now. 

    So ANYWAY. Yes. Start there. Even if it turns out now isn't the time to buy, I still think it was worth it to figure out the process and get our shit together. Now I'm glad we didn't buy because we didn't end up staying in that area. Closing takes months, so if you aren't in it for the long term, don't bother with it.  When we first went into it we thought even if we only kept the house for a year or two it would beat renting, and that's not really the case. 
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  • Very good advice, thanks! Glad to hear other's stories and learn more from it.

    I have another question, if we get married in June, when should we actually buy? I know that sometimes an offer takes a while, then might be rejected, then you have to look again, but if we want to move in about a month before (so May), when's the best time to say "This is the house, here is our offer." ? I don't know the general rule of thumb for how long it takes, just been told "it can take a while". 
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  • mlg78mlg78 member
    500 Love Its 1000 Comments Second Anniversary 5 Answers
    Both times I've bought/sold it took about 4-5 weeks to close from the time an offer was accepted.  As for how long for the buying process...that's all up to you.  If you want to move in May I'd recommend you hop on this quickly. 
  • julieanne912julieanne912 member
    1000 Comments 500 Love Its Fourth Anniversary First Answer
    edited March 2015
    Timeline will vary depending on your local market.  I'm a real estate broker in the Denver Metro area.  Pretty much any home here under 400k sells within a day or two and with multiple offers.  So, your timeline doesn't matter at all in a market like that, it's all about what the seller wants.  Most closings are 30-45 days here, but some are longer because the seller wants more time.  Also because of the market being the way it is, you could offer on 5-10 houses before you actually get one, so if your local market is like that, give yourself some extra time.  

    Just a few other thoughts, I honestly think your first step should be to get your mortgage in order. Chances are, they will approve you for higher than you're comfortable with.  I remember when I was in Chicago as a single gal, they approved me for something like $530,000.  Yeah, no.  I was comfortable with the numbers at a price of half that.  Once you have the numbers in order, you have a realistic range in which to look in.  Also, again, depending on your market, don't look at houses out of your price range thinking you can negotiate it down.  That works in some places, but many markets these days are sellers markets, not buyers, so there isn't much negotiating going on.  

    Lastly, if you do hook yourself up with an agent, they can set you up on automated searches from your local MLS.  That will be the most accurate and up to date.  I can't speak for all MLS's everywhere, but the one here, you can set it up so it emails a listing the second it hits the market.  

    Good luck with the home hunt! 


    Married 9.12.15
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  • It's so hard to say - I made my offer early November, had my inspection and contract at the end of November, and didn't close until March 6.  Sometimes it depends on the seller's motivation!

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  • Oh, sorry, June 2016. Next year. I wasn't very clear on that, my bad. 
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  • Start with shopping for a lender/bank. Tell them you're first time home buyers and you want a pre approval for a home loan quote. It should include two basic things: a max number they'll loan you and an interest rate. They'll ask you what kind of loan you want. Consult the google and talk to them about pros and cons on these. We did a fixed rate mortgage (FRM) vs. an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) because the interest rates were low when we bought and we wanted to lock that rate in for the life of the loan.

    Some personal decisions you need to make are:
    - regardless of the max # from the bank, what are you comfortable spending? DH and I bought our house based on our lowest household income only - mine. So basically, if either of us lost our jobs, we could still afford our house. We could have gotten a pretty sick house if we bought on both incomes but stability and saving is more important to us.
    - how many bedrooms/bathrooms do you want? Even if you only want/need two BRs and one BA, three BR/two BA houses are easier to resell.
    - is there work to be done? Can you swing the cash to pay for it after your down payment and everything else?
    - good neighborhood/school district - good if you're having kids and better for resale value

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  • The ladies here covered everything pretty well.  The only thing that I would add is do not get talked in to using a mortgage broker.  There is nothing that they can do for you that you can not do for yourself, you're just paying them to do it and that is money better spent on your home and expenses.   

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  • edited March 2015

    I would def. get a realtor.  My best advice would be to buy UNDER your budget.  My husband and I own a house that was way under our budget.  It's been a godsend. Besides marrying my husband, I'd say it's been the best decision I ever made. Unfortunately, we know quite a few couples that bought houses that were very expensive and because of this they are constantly money stressed and worried about making ends meet..basically, they are house poor. I also think it's important to have a large down payment.  We put 20% down, which we felt was important, again for future money saving purposes. Good luck and have fun!

  • MadHops21 said:

    Very good advice, thanks! Glad to hear other's stories and learn more from it.


    I have another question, if we get married in June, when should we actually buy? I know that sometimes an offer takes a while, then might be rejected, then you have to look again, but if we want to move in about a month before (so May), when's the best time to say "This is the house, here is our offer." ? I don't know the general rule of thumb for how long it takes, just been told "it can take a while". 
    Traditional closings (no short sells, foreclosures or estate sales) usually close in 4-8 weeks after the signed offer.  If both parties have their acts together regarding paperwork and there isn't protracted negotiations over the inspection results it will be closer to 4-5 weeks.  My first house was a foreclosure and closed in 6-7 weeks, my last two houses were "normal" sales and closed in 4 weeks.

    After the sale price is accepted and contract signed you will need to get an inspection (you pay this out of pocket, usually about $400-500 depending on the size of the house and market).  Once you get the results you negotiate with the seller to address any major issues.  You can ask for them to fix it or you can ask for a reduction in sale price, but nothing is guaranteed.  Save this for MAJOR issues (furnace, roof, water damage, foundation, true safety issues, etc.).  If it is a "minor" issue you are better waiting and fixing it yourself or hiring someone you trust to do the work.

    After the inspection is finalized you start working closely with your mortgage lender to finalize your application.  You will need to provide two years worth of tax returns for everyone on the mortgage, your last two pay stubs (for both of you), two months worth of bank statements for any accounts you will be drawing from for your down payment, copies of investment documents (non-retirement) and possibly more paperwork based on your individual situation.  The faster you do this the faster your closing will be.

    At the same time you are working with your mortgage broker they will be ordering an appraisal and the seller will be working on any items that they agreed to fix in the Request to Remedy.
     
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  • huskypuppy14huskypuppy14 member
    2500 Comments Fifth Anniversary 500 Love Its First Answer
    edited March 2015
    MadHops21 said:

    Very good advice, thanks! Glad to hear other's stories and learn more from it.


    I have another question, if we get married in June, when should we actually buy? I know that sometimes an offer takes a while, then might be rejected, then you have to look again, but if we want to move in about a month before (so May), when's the best time to say "This is the house, here is our offer." ? I don't know the general rule of thumb for how long it takes, just been told "it can take a while". 
    I'm probably in the box.


    I was married in June and we closed on our house at the very end of May. We started looking in January and we went to a lot of open houses and private appointments with our realtor. We saw our house in April and wrote an offer that day. So if you definitely want a house before your wedding is get everything together by January at the earliest.

    Depending on your market and the climate you live in, more houses go in the market in the spring.

    Good luck.

    ETA: Stupid typos, I was on the ipad, which can't reply because of the stupid follow us banner, so I had to do it on my phone.
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  • AprilH81 said:

    Very good advice, thanks! Glad to hear other's stories and learn more from it.

    I have another question, if we get married in June, when should we actually buy? I know that sometimes an offer takes a while, then might be rejected, then you have to look again, but if we want to move in about a month before (so May), when's the best time to say "This is the house, here is our offer." ? I don't know the general rule of thumb for how long it takes, just been told "it can take a while". 
    Traditional closings (no short sells, foreclosures or estate sales) usually close in 4-8 weeks after the signed offer.  If both parties have their acts together regarding paperwork and there isn't protracted negotiations over the inspection results it will be closer to 4-5 weeks.  My first house was a foreclosure and closed in 6-7 weeks, my last two houses were "normal" sales and closed in 4 weeks.

    After the sale price is accepted and contract signed you will need to get an inspection (you pay this out of pocket, usually about $400-500 depending on the size of the house and market).  Once you get the results you negotiate with the seller to address any major issues.  You can ask for them to fix it or you can ask for a reduction in sale price, but nothing is guaranteed.  Save this for MAJOR issues (furnace, roof, water damage, foundation, true safety issues, etc.).  If it is a "minor" issue you are better waiting and fixing it yourself or hiring someone you trust to do the work.

    After the inspection is finalized you start working closely with your mortgage lender to finalize your application.  You will need to provide two years worth of tax returns for everyone on the mortgage, your last two pay stubs (for both of you), two months worth of bank statements for any accounts you will be drawing from for your down payment, copies of investment documents (non-retirement) and possibly more paperwork based on your individual situation.  The faster you do this the faster your closing will be.

    At the same time you are working with your mortgage broker they will be ordering an appraisal and the seller will be working on any items that they agreed to fix in the Request to Remedy.
     


    So you need to get an offer accepted before doing the inspection? Can you take it back if the inspection shows up something bad, like a bad foundation or...something horribly expensive? I don't think I know what "sale price being accepted" means. 
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  • MadHops21 said:

    AprilH81 said:

    Very good advice, thanks! Glad to hear other's stories and learn more from it.

    I have another question, if we get married in June, when should we actually buy? I know that sometimes an offer takes a while, then might be rejected, then you have to look again, but if we want to move in about a month before (so May), when's the best time to say "This is the house, here is our offer." ? I don't know the general rule of thumb for how long it takes, just been told "it can take a while". 
    Traditional closings (no short sells, foreclosures or estate sales) usually close in 4-8 weeks after the signed offer.  If both parties have their acts together regarding paperwork and there isn't protracted negotiations over the inspection results it will be closer to 4-5 weeks.  My first house was a foreclosure and closed in 6-7 weeks, my last two houses were "normal" sales and closed in 4 weeks.

    After the sale price is accepted and contract signed you will need to get an inspection (you pay this out of pocket, usually about $400-500 depending on the size of the house and market).  Once you get the results you negotiate with the seller to address any major issues.  You can ask for them to fix it or you can ask for a reduction in sale price, but nothing is guaranteed.  Save this for MAJOR issues (furnace, roof, water damage, foundation, true safety issues, etc.).  If it is a "minor" issue you are better waiting and fixing it yourself or hiring someone you trust to do the work.

    After the inspection is finalized you start working closely with your mortgage lender to finalize your application.  You will need to provide two years worth of tax returns for everyone on the mortgage, your last two pay stubs (for both of you), two months worth of bank statements for any accounts you will be drawing from for your down payment, copies of investment documents (non-retirement) and possibly more paperwork based on your individual situation.  The faster you do this the faster your closing will be.

    At the same time you are working with your mortgage broker they will be ordering an appraisal and the seller will be working on any items that they agreed to fix in the Request to Remedy.
     
    So you need to get an offer accepted before doing the inspection? Can you take it back if the inspection shows up something bad, like a bad foundation or...something horribly expensive? I don't think I know what "sale price being accepted" means. 

    Yes, make sure your offer is contingent on the inspection and financing approval and that will allow you to back out if there is something major wrong with the house or if your mortgage doesn't get approved (this could be due to appraisal, credit history, job loss, etc.). You won't be able to break the contract because you decide the house is too small or you don't like the kitchen, but if the foundation is bad or the roof needs replaces or something BIG you can withdraw the offer and get any earnest money (good faith deposit) returned.


    Sale price being accepted is my poor way of saying that both parties agree to a selling price.  It may take a few rounds of negotiation to get to that point and that process can take several days depending on the agents involved and how stubborn the buyers and sellers are.
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  • Everyone has already provided great advice.
    I will second that the bank will tell you they can give you far more than you can really afford. Crunch your personal numbers. 

    One good part of the process is that after you choose a home or two, the mortgage provider is supposed to give you what's called a Good Faith Estimate. That should show your mortgage, taxes, home insurance, and HOA fees (if applicable) in one fell swoop with a variety of mortgage/down payment options, if you ask.

    Do NOT go for a variable rate! Get a fixed rate! This is part of the reason so many people who bought in the early 2000's got into a crisis. They assumed they'd be better off financially in a few more years and could then afford a higher monthly payment or they assumed they could refinance. Nope and nope. Too risky. Lock that rate down for 20, 25, 30 years. 

    Be realistic. Please don't be like the people on House Hunters. Me, I had a very small budget so had to accept a place that was move-in-ready enough (nice kitchen, bathroom needed some work which I'm finally getting around to after almost 5 years).  I saw a much bigger place that needed serious remodeling I couldn't afford, so I had to walk away. You are probably going to have to have some trade-offs. 

    Taxes- I think listings normally say what the taxes are. If the existing homeowner gets exemptions, you're not going to get the same rate. Find out how and when the town or county re-assesses property taxes. Many people I know were swayed into the exurbs with new construction and low taxes, but then with the boom, taxes went sky-high to pay for all the new schools and services needed for a bigger population. 

    And yes, get a bigger down payment. If you borrow too much of a percentage of the purchase price, you'll throw your money away on PMI (mortgage insurance). To be perfectly honest, my parents loaned me part of my down payment and I pay them back monthly. I was skeptical when my parents offered (because I had pride and wanted to go it alone), but I actually saved money paying my parents in addition to the bank than if I had just borrowed 90% from the bank and paid PMI!  My parents saw it as an investment (yup, they're charging me interest) and I'd rather give them grocery money than give more fees to a bank. Win-win. 

    Um, that's all I got for now. Good luck OP! 


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