Done bought a house... OT

[Biomechanoid]

Finally, I think.

In about an hour, we're going to take our second tour of a house we looked at a week ago. We've been shopping since June, really, but now the ball is rolling with a head of steam, and my wife loves this place. I'm nearly sold on it to, but I'm the pessimist, the skeptic, the anchor that has delayed this step from worry-free apartment living to responsibility-laiden home ownership. But there's no stopping her now, we're going to buy a house.

So this joint, like every other house we've seen in our limited price range, is an old miner's dwelling here in western PA. There are four bedrooms, 1 bathroom, an attic, kitchen, dining room, living room, foyer, laundry room, and an unfinished basement that probably leaks. However, this joint, unlike all its competitors, is freshly renovated. Instead of carpet in the bathroom, there's actually linoleum. Instead of old, tacky paneling in every room, there's fresh paint and even wallpaper. All the carpets are new, and the kitchen is redone. Fresh roof over the front porch and laundry, and the main roof looks good. Nice sized deck along the side. New furnace and water heater. Off street parking! Best we've seen out of half a dozen. The bonus is the "as is" rental unit out back, which is nearly big enough to make adequate slave quarters, but has potential being a four-room w/ basement joint on its own utilities (actually slightly bigger than our first apartment).

Yet despite all its ammenities, I'm still apprehensive about the whole situation. Ain't ne'er bought a house before. Don't wanna have to do it again for a while, but we can't get the dream house on our income. Then, there's the fact that this house is for sale by owner, and the owner is a bank...divorce and foreclosure are the hilights of that backstory. I know a realtor adds to the cost, but in my mind I want that safety net. I'm insecure that way, yet I want my family to live in this house.

Now, nothing's set in stone, and there's a guy that keeps sending us potential listings. There's a plan B on the backburner, too.

I'm just here to wonder, before we go there, and hopefully get some advice from those of yinz who've done this already. Did you use a realtor? Did you find more work to be done later that hadn't been apparent before you moved in? How do banks treat first-timers?

Thanks in advance.

<font color="#cd6600" size="1">[ October 26, 2006 11:21 AM: Message edited by: Imbalance ]</font>

[Moviemaniac4]

Due money matters, I moved from a house to an apartment. At first I was looking by myself, but didn't liked anything I researched. I have a cousin that work for a realty company. She understood my needs and budget.

After several visits, she finally found one for a good price....5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, kitchen, dinner area and even a studio and patio !!!

Of course, the second floor still need some maintenance, but I will do it at my own pace. The bad reality is that there is not enough place to display my figures unless I use the walls...but I wanted to use some IKEA glass cabinets....

[macabeee]

Nostromo

First off, congrats on the step into homo-nership [img]wink.gif[/img]

I've bought 2, sold 2 and had 1 house built so I've got at least a little experience here.... let's see if I can answer, or shed some light at least on some of your questions.

I used realtors for the buying and selling of all of my houses, but not the new construction (dealt with the construction company for that, which was an entirely different nightmare.) You might want to consider getting a buying agent to represent you. Buying agents only get about a 3% commission, while the selling agent normally takes about 7%. The buying agent will help you through the closing paperwork, which will be VERY confusing your first time through. If you don't get a buying agent you should get a real estate lawyer to at least look over the closing papers to make sure everything's kosher before slapping down your John Hancock. The real estate lawyer will probably cost a little more, and the funds to pay them probably will have to come out of your pocket while the 3% that pays the selling agent comes out of the proceeds of the house. If the seller won't work with a selling agent DEFINITLY get the lawyer, or tell the seller to eat a dick (they're probably trying something shady, which happens VERY often, trust me. I work in the Title Insurance business and see it all the time.)

One thing you want to make SURE you do is get an inspector in to look at the place. The inspector will verify that the roof that looks good IS good, and that the basement wall that leaks isn't a hard sneeze away from falling in on you. Without an inspector it?s very easy to get stuck with some turd wrapped in gold that will be nothing but a nightmare for you. DO NOT get an inspector that any realtors involved with the house suggests (even one in the same office.) Do some research of home inspectors in your area and hire them yourself. You'll have to pay for the inspection out of your pocket (they run around $250 in my area) as opposed to having it be incorporated into your mortgage or closing costs, but believe me, it's worth it. A good inspector will clue you in to what work will have to be done that you or I would never notice, and could point out a BIG flaw in the home that could sway your ultimate decision.


In terms of banks treating first-time buyers, the bank that I went with on my first mortgage (which just so happened to be the bank that I worked for at the time) was a complete nightmare. Thing is, I didn't know how bad it was till I bought my second house and saw how smooth and easy that process was. Again, do your homework on banks and lenders in your area. There are probably a zillion mortgage companies and brokers that may be able to get you better rates and/or closing costs then the big banks in your area. With your first mortgage expect to have to come up with a shit load of paperwork. I hope you kept your tax returns for the past few years, you'll probably need those. But again, check around, because there are lenders in my area that do "No doc" and ?limited doc? loans if you're credit score's good enough.

Speaking of credit score, make sure you go to Experian, Trans Union and Equifax and get your credit rating BEFORE shopping for your mortgage. Go over the credit report with a fine toothed comb, as there could be some funky stuff on there that clearing up could really up your credit rating and make your mortgage process easier and your rate lower. There are a billion "Free Credit Report" websites out there that personally I don't trust, I've always gone straight to the source companies. You are entitled one free credit report a year, so this shouldn't cost you anything, whether you go to the source or a free credit report site.

I think that?s all I have right now, but I think it covers all your questions. If you have any other questions feel free to email me ([email protected].) I?m in no way a real estate professional, but I have done quite well in the real estate game and therefore gone through all of this a few times.

[Street Worm]

LMK/take pics of the roof & I'll look at them-

16 oc or 24 oc on the rafters?

oh & good luck [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]

Instead of old, tacky paneling in every room.................

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">am I the only guy who likes this stuff [img]confused.gif[/img]

<font color="#cd6600" size="1">[ August 31, 2006 07:22 PM: Message edited by: Street Worm ]</font>

[JacktheRipper]

We're buying a house too!
We were in escrow on the first home, but the inpsection made this what seemed like the perfect place a money pit.

We are in the process of looking at more homes now and have placed offers on two of them.

What makes me cry is seeing the prices of homes in other states. What we could afford if we only lived somewheres else. However, I'm one of the few people that really loves living in California. $500,000 for a 3br, 2ba. on 7226sq.ft. piece of land. [img]graemlins/cry.gif[/img] [img]eek.gif[/img]

[Drau]

Congrats!!

I'm hoping to get back into another house in the next few years...

[sculpey]

Congrats !!!!! Definitely buy a house. Mine has appreciated three times what I paid for it. Of course I'd have to pay three times more to move to a new one. Don't be too afraid of having to fix things as an owner. I think I've had to hire a plumber so far and that's it. Of course, now that I've said that all my appliances will fail tomorrow.

The main thing is you'll have equity, and a very nice tax deduction.

[Andyman]

Welcome to the homo* community!

<font size="1">*(HOMe Owner)</font>

[munkkeyboy]

We've bought 2 houses in the past 2 years...we only stayed at our first house for a year, then we moved and bought a new house a year ago. Both times the process went fairly smoothly...and all of the people we used (realtors, mortgage co, home inspector, etc.) all came from word-of-mouth recommendations. So my only real advice is try to talk to other people in your area to get the real scoop on who is good to use and who isn't. And unless you buy a house new, there is almost always going to be some kind of updating to be done, a lot of which you can do on your own. Just ask your home inspector lots of questions, and don't be shy about it even if you think the questions are "dumb".

<font color="#cd6600" size="1">[ September 01, 2006 10:18 AM: Message edited by: munkkeyboy ]</font>

[Michael Crawford]

I don't know what the realtors are charging in mac's area, but 6% total is the going rate, usually 3% for the buyer's agent and 3% for the sellers. That's not set in stone however.

Avoid a realtor at all costs. They will NOT do what you're hoping for - protect you from issues after the sale. There only true purpose is to help you find a house. Most of the paperwork for any sale is provided by your mortgage company and the title company. The only legal paperwork that most realtors provide involves the offer letter and up front stuff, and you can get that from most states or draw up your own. If you're worried about that sort of thing, get a lawyer to help - not a realtor.

Realtors are a dying breed, trust me. And they are beginning to realize it. They'll never go completely away, and they have their uses, but 10 years from now the real estate market will be completely different, as will the charges.

You do absolutely without any shadow of any doubt need a good inspector. Ask around to get a GOOD one - there are plenty that aren't. There's where your greatest risk of issue comes in.

Now is certainly a buyer's market. Things to consider as you negotiate - you're in a winter state, and in about 2 months, the current market (which is already dead) will dry up completely til March. The seller knows this. Unless they have someone else out there clamoring for the house, they'll be ready to deal. Don't think they're doing you any favor selling you a house in the current market - it's a buyer's market right now, big time, and you're in the driver's seat. When your inspector comes back with his list of things to correct - and he will, and if he's a good inspector it could be a hundred or more that you'll need to decide on the importance of - be sure to get the ones corrected by the seller that are critical to you.

And welcome to the world of home ownership - the only way to go!