jillag14
First Time Poster
Cash: $ 0.25
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Joined: 19 Jun 2007
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| first time home buyer |
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I am looking into buying a home. I am purchasing it alone and I am not really sure how to go about buying a home. Does anyone have any advice for a newbie?
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Tue Jun 19, 2007 10:34 pm |
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dreamer100
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Joined: 20 Jun 2007
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| Suggestions |
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As the previous post said, you must get an attormey. One thing the attorney should order is a home inspection. If the inspector finds problems, the attorney should negotiate to have the problems fixed or a price reduction.
When speaking about mortgages, most everyone will recommend a 30 year mortgage. That's where the greatest profit to a lender is. I think that is totally wrong. You should consider the shortest term mortgage possible such as 25, 20, or 15 years. Another suggestion is a 30 year biweekly mortgage payable in 18 years. How this works is if a 30 year mortgage payment is $1,000 per month, you will pay $500 every 2 weeks so you are making one extra monthly payment per year.
This is important because you want to build equity in your house. The longer the mortgage, the longer it takes to pay down principal. If you can only afford a 30 year mortgage, make sure you do not have a pre-payment penalty. In fact this should be a requirement in any mortgage you get. Therefore if your finances later permit you to, you can pay extra money down on the principal which will shorten the 30 years that would be needed to pay off the loan.
Also try to get low points. I consider points on a mortage to be nothing but extortion. 1 point is 1% of the mortgage amount.
Shop around and good luck. Never feel obligated to use a lender that a Real Estate Salesperson recommends.
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Fri Jun 29, 2007 6:52 pm |
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efflandt
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Location: Elgin, IL USA
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I would certainly go with the advice to hire your own attorney to go over everything, even if you have a buyer's agent. It is a small price to pay compared to the snags you can run into if everything is not covered (liens, etc.). When I bought some land without an attorney, I did not realize that the title insurance excluded the easement, which I found out 12 years later was not a valid easement when attempting to sell it.
Make sure you can negotiate or get out of it if there are major problems when you do your home inspection (you will hire your own inspector).
And I agree with dreamer100 about avoiding a prepayment penalty and minimizing points. They may make you think that points lower your interest rate, but in reality the points plus interest over the term of the loan is the same as interest without points. The points are just a sneaky way of including a prepayment penalty (the up front points) without calling it that.
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Sat Jun 30, 2007 12:01 am |
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austin
Contributing Member
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Joined: 29 Jun 2007
Location: Austin
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| Lawyers are more and less common in different states |
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As far as real estate attorneys I have seen this more and less common in different states. I know in Chicago its pretty prevalent and if I lived their I would get a lawyer. In Austin Texas its not very common for real estate transactions. The reason is that title companies handle researching the background of the property and looking for liens. I have seen a few people get lawyers but it creates more problems. Since title companies in Austin do real estate transactions day in and day out they tend to have more experience. When people find a lawyer "friend" the transactions are more risky because if the are in Texas this lawyer has probably rarely if ever done many real estate closings. This is just for residential real estate in the Austin market. For commercial transactions a lawyer is more common in the Austin real estate market.
Inspectors is a hard one. I know alot of agents will pick "easy" inspectors that "dont break deals". Which is pretty sad. I tend to use inspectors that do a pretty through job. In the few cases where a client got a recommendation from work the inspector was in and out in 30 minutes which I think is a bad sign for how thoughly they looked at the house.
My advice would be if your friend recs an inspector ask why. If they dug into the house that is a good sign. If they just told them stuff like you should change out your AC vents and basic advice not related to the house I would look for a more though inspector.
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Tue Jul 17, 2007 4:41 am |
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maxmechgroup
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Hello
First u thing about your budget and Place where u like to buy home then u can search real estate investor and take some advice it's really help u lot.
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Wed Aug 12, 2009 11:31 am |
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lilac_co
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Location: Colorado
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You might want to get a buyer's agent, but if you educate yourself enough, you can do some things on your own first. Here are my thoughts (from my own experience)..
1) Decide on what your long-term strategy will be.. How long do you plan on living in this house? If you wanted to move to a different home after a couple years would you want to rent it out or sell it? Do you want a house that can be fixed up, or one that is already upgraded? The answers to these questions will help you determine what neighborhood and what size house to look for.
2) Meet with a loan officer and get a pre-approval letter. Learn your credit score. Find out what price range you qualify for. Ask about FHA loans and government incentives for first time home owners.
3) With the info from questions 1 & 2 in mind, look online for local MLS listings (in the Denver area I use a website www.recolorado.com, but there should be similar MLS listing websites in other regions). I'd say that location (neighborhood) is the most important thing to look for. Many investors look for good deals in great neighborhoods. You want a neighborhood with a history of appreciating. Once you find some listings you like in the MLS, go to www.Zillow.com to see data about the property value and the neighborhood.
4) Once you find some good deals, you can call the selling agent directly and ask to do a showing. At this point you may or may not want to get a buyers agent to represent you - if you don't, the sellers agent can take care of all the paperwork as a transactional broker (the process really isn't that complicated if you educate yourself about offers, appraisals, inspections, etc.. most of the stuff is handled by the title company).
Getting someone to represent you as a buyers agent may be a good idea, but I've found that just because someone has a real estate license does not mean that they are going to necessarily give you the best advice - you really need to educate yourself first in order to be in control of the huge decision to purchase your first home...
If you want to learn real estate concepts and gain some confidence you might want to check out the Real Estate Investment Simulator at www.InvestorHeadStart.com. It has multimedia lessons for beginner real estate investors, as well as a virtual environment where you can get hands-on practice buying and selling real estate. In the simulator, you can practice the entire property purchase process including analysis of MLS properties, understanding financing options, offer negotiation, appraisal, inspection, reading the settlement statement, and closing, as well as more advanced real estate investment concepts.
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Mon Aug 31, 2009 11:14 pm |
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sweethome
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When purchasing a house you must do swagging as well as you must asked for some help because they will assessed your house if it has some defects as well as you will know the resolution to it as well
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Fri Sep 18, 2009 4:51 pm |
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Fletcher
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Almost 80% of all home searches today begin on the Internet. With just a few clicks of the mouse, home buyers can search through hundreds of online listings, view virtual tours, and sort through dozens of photographs and aerial shots of neighborhoods and homes. You've probably defined your goals and have a pretty good idea of the type of home and neighborhood you want. By the time you reach your real estate agent's office, you are halfway to home ownership.
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Thu Sep 24, 2009 2:35 pm |
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Nick Brian
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Hi jilag14, I think going through a lot of real estate agent on the internet based on your locality is a nice idea. If you are a newbie then learn first of offerings from different websites/ real estate agents. Everybody does understand the good without any knowledge.
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Sat Sep 26, 2009 9:04 pm |
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rose_rain
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Location: peshawar
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Hi dear,
I am khushi here, I suggest you that you don’t waste your time in this. Because every one is very busy in their own life and every one have a very precious time. You have to hire buyer brokers which can help you to buy the house. Here you also tell the requirements that which type of house you need I think the broker can’t take any commission on the buying house ……….
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Thu Oct 08, 2009 5:03 am |
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jackieross
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Real estate law controls the purchase, sale, rental, and development of land and buildings. Whether you’re buying or selling a home, your team of expert advisers should include a real estate lawyer as well as a REALTOR. A lawyer will help you understand the purchase contract, including how you will take title on the property.
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Tue Aug 02, 2011 3:54 pm |
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ogden34
Member
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Location: Philippines
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Grab this once in a lifetime opportunity to own a home right now! You as potential home buyer is in a very strong position in the current housing market situation. First, know how much you can afford for a home, do research about the neighborhood you are planning to purchase a home and finally hire a reputable agent that can give you advise and help you throughout the entire process.
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Wed Aug 03, 2011 8:22 am |
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ogden34
Member
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Location: Philippines
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Grab this once in a lifetime opportunity to own a home right now! You as potential home buyer is in a very strong position in the current housing market situation. First, know how much you can afford for a home, do research about the neighborhood you are planning to purchase a home and finally hire a reputable agent that can give you advise and help you throughout the entire process.
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Wed Aug 03, 2011 8:23 am |
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ansentancy
New Member
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Joined: 08 Aug 2011
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Following are the best tips for first time home buyers
Check the selling prices of comparable homes in your area
See what you can afford
Find out what your total monthly housing cost
Find out how much you'll likely pay in closing costs
Look at your budget and determine how a house fits into it
Talk to reputable real-estate agents in your area about the real-estate climate
Remember to look at the big picture
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Mon Aug 08, 2011 10:41 am |
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