what's YOUR advise for a first time home buyer?

M

mattvivslivesou

www.meerkatsound.com
My Girlfriend and I are about to buy a new house and we are both first time home buyers.

For those who have recently purchased a house, what are some tips and/or tricks that we should need to know about.

Basically fill us in with the worthy details. We have read a lot of the informational sites and book that tell you do this and that. But, what are the real world experiences like with buying a house?


Yes, we are working with a Realtor and a Mortgage company at the moment.
 
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LateApex

LateApex

New Member
mattvivslivesou said:
My Girlfriend and I are about to buy my first house and we are....

For those who have recently purchased a house, what are some tips and/or tricks that we should need to know about.

Basically fill us in with the worthy details. We have read a lot of the informational sites and book that tell you do this and that. But, what are the real world experiences like with buying a house?


Yes, we are working with a Realtor and a Mortgage company at the moment.
Click to expand...

Number 1:

Make sure your girl friend is the one you're going to marry....
 
V

vbailey

vbailey
I would go with a 15yr mortgage if at all possible. Hubby and I did that with our first house and you can see the principal going down. Then when you go to sell in a few yrs to upgrade yourself, you will make more money because you will have more of the princapal paid down.....it worked for us. You pay less interest over the yrs that way, more goes to the actual house payment.
 
cattitude

cattitude

My Sweetest Boy
mattvivslivesou said:
My Girlfriend and I are about to buy my first house and we are....

For those who have recently purchased a house, what are some tips and/or tricks that we should need to know about.

Basically fill us in with the worthy details. We have read a lot of the informational sites and book that tell you do this and that. But, what are the real world experiences like with buying a house?


Yes, we are working with a Realtor and a Mortgage company at the moment.
Click to expand...


Your first line is disturbing...
 
P

poster

New Member
LateApex said:
Number 1:

Make sure your girl friend is the one you're going to marry....
Click to expand...

.....or you can kiss your house goodbye in the event of a break up.

Number 2:

Get used to the fact that now you will have no money as your house will suck any and all "extra" funds you have until the day it is sold.


Happy buying, it's an exciting (and scary) time.
Have fun with it as best you can.

Sorry don't have any advice for you.
We've been lucky, so far all our experiences have been fine.
 
V

vbailey

vbailey
And you really should get married...if you are commited enough to each other to buy a house together why would you not want to be married. If anything happened to either one of you it will be a lot less headaches if you are married...
 
vraiblonde

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
1: Do not enter into a financial entanglement with someone who is not your spouse.

2: Do not get an adjustable rate mortgage, no matter how attractive it may sound.

3: Ditto for an interest-only mortgage.

3: Check out the neighborhood carefully. Drive through during the day and at evening to get a full feel for it.

4: Be aware of your monthly payments. The mortgage people may say you qualify for X, but if you can't afford the monthly payments without living on ramen, you can't afford it. Make sure they tell you PITI - principal, interest, tax, insurance. THAT is your monthly payment, not just principal and interest.

5: Shop for a home with an eye toward the future. If you want to have children, don't buy a house that isn't appropriate for that.

Good luck and have fun! There are a lot of great houses on the market these days with reduced prices.
 
Pete

Pete

Repete
I think credit is going to get really tight. Unless you have great credit scores it might be hard to find a decent loan.
 
lbreder

lbreder

2into4
Check the national sex registery! Make sure you dont have any creeps next door. Look at your surrondings and see whats also around your house, besides in your house. Meet any neighbors and ask them questions, like who use to live there and previous owners and be noisey.
 
vraiblonde

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
vbailey said:
I would go with a 15yr mortgage if at all possible. Hubby and I did that with our first house and you can see the principal going down. Then when you go to sell in a few yrs to upgrade yourself, you will make more money because you will have more of the princapal paid down.....it worked for us. You pay less interest over the yrs that way, more goes to the actual house payment.
Click to expand...

Now, see, I was told just the opposite - get a 30 year mortgage and make extra principal payments when you can. You're still getting it paid down, but not obligated in case you need that money for something else.
 
Xaquin44

Xaquin44

New Member
Property taxes will go up. Always. Make sure you can handle an increase in your bills every year.

Also, it's a buyers market right now. Don't settle even a little bit.

If the buyer promises to do something to the home (i.e. fix the bathroom vent or something) make sure it is done before settlement.
 
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