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

[vbailey]

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.

I agree with all of the above...and like I said, try for the 15yr payoff plan..that way if you want to sell in a few yrs you will be better off, really, it was great for hubby and I, we bought our first home with the 15yr plan. Sold it after 5 yrs and made a ton of money to put down on our new home.

 

[mattvivslivesou]

home inspection
lead paint check
well inspection
septic inspection
bug inspection
property survey
check for any homeowner done home improvements (deck, finished basement), if found, check for permits

the house is on "city" water and sewage, so there is no well or septic tank.

 

[mAlice]

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.

We refi'd with a 15 yr, two payments a month.

 

[clevalley]

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

Even better - go park your car somewhere in the neighborhood and go for a walk in it. Talk to some neighbors and tell them you are interested in buying the home at xxxx street, you would be surprised at how friendly people can be. We have had that happen a few times, prospective buyers stopping to ask questions when I am out mowing the yard.

 

[dems4me]

Your first line is disturbing...

I caught that too

 

[DEEKAYPEE8569]

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.

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I know 12 years ago doesn't qualify as "recently" but I did learn a valuable lesson. Don't let anybody play on your intentions or hopes or anything like that. "Oh, we want to buy a house together and get married and start a family," etc., etc.. Make up in your own minds that you won't allow yourselves to be talked into anything. I know whereof I speak.

 

[AK-74me]

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

Yup, still disturbing.

 

[clevalley]

YOU pay for the home inspection - that way the inspector is working for you and YOU get an honest report.

 

[huntr1]

the house is on "city" water and sewage, so there is no well or septic tank.

still get the pipes inspected...

 

[vbailey]

We also did a lot of fixing on our first home...we used our tax return money each year to put in hardwood floors, redid the the kitchen, cabnets, floors, etc...new project each yr, added value to the home. Made it more appealing when we sold it. I almost did not want to sell it looked so good.

 

[theArtistFormerlyKnownAs]

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.

30 years is safer if you don't have the extra money
15 years is, obviously, cheaper if you can safely afford it :shrug:

 

[vbailey]

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.

Thats what we thought we would do with our new house......does not happen. When we sell this home we plan to go back to a 15yr, we really liked it a lot. This house goes on the market next month we hope....

 

[vbailey]

------------------------------------------------------------------------

I know 12 years ago doesn't qualify as "recently" but I did learn a valuable lesson. Don't let anybody play on your intentions or hopes or anything like that. "Oh, we want to buy a house together and get married and start a family," etc., etc.. Make up in your own minds that you won't allow yourselves to be talked into anything. I know whereof I speak.

I would feel like , if I am good enough to help someone pay for a house for 30 yrs, shouldn't I be good enough to be their wife/husband. Why are the young people so afraid of marriage?
I knew someone who had lived with a man for 25yrs, when he was sick and dying in the Hosp. doctors would not let her in the room at certain times and would not talk to her about his condition....she was not Family....That stinks in my book.

 

[theArtistFormerlyKnownAs]

I would feel like , if I am good enough to help someone pay for a house for 30 yrs, shouldn't I be good enough to be their wife/husband. Why are the young people so afraid of marriage?
I knew someone who had lived with a man for 25yrs, when he was sick and dying in the Hosp. doctors would not let her in the room at certain times and would not talk to her about his condition....she was not Family....That stinks in my book.

Because if you're not married to someone, then if for some reason you break things off, she can only take half the house and not half of all your other sheeyot

 

[AK-74me]

I would feel like , if I am good enough to help someone pay for a house for 30 yrs, shouldn't I be good enough to be their wife/husband. Why are the young people so afraid of marriage?
I knew someone who had lived with a man for 25yrs, when he was sick and dying in the Hosp. doctors would not let her in the room at certain times and would not talk to her about his condition....she was not Family....That stinks in my book.

Probably because so many marriages end in divorce these days and the laws that split up the assets aren't exactly fair always. That and people don't work to make things work now a days like generations in the past, they/we are big quitters this day and age for the most part.

 

[cartman]

go here ST.MARYS COUNTY, CALVERT COUNTY, and CHARLES COUNTY, MD Real Estate – Rick McNabb

call him
Rick McNabb
# 410-231-5510

Go to his First time homebuyers seminars even if you dont use him as your agent you will learn alot of what you need to know.. We(me and my wife) back in March/April Settled our house in July. Rick was great..

 

[dsparrow06]

Please bring your g/f to the forums. We'd like to have a word with her.

Yes, I am reading everyone's thoughts. It's just a matter of time that my boyfriend puts a ring on my finger (which I hope is days instead of months)...He wants to buy a house first before getting married; me on the other hand - I wanted to get married first before buying a home...but with how low the real estate market has gone down, I figure if we find a house that we both like and can get a good deal on it, let's go for it.

 

[vbailey]

But if anything happened to her, her family could step in and take her part. But if they are married, it goes to the wife/husband. I saw this happen once.....

 

[dsparrow06]

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

Thankfully, we both have excellent credit. Our mortgage broker was very impressed for how good our credit scores are at our age (25 and 23).

 

[Joebagel]

Go to Maryland Real property search and find out how many people on your street rent vs own this is a lot more important than it seems. You can also find out what the seller paid for the house which can help with negoiations.