New home buyer tips?

[Kaido]

Lifehacker has a guide up: "The Start-to-Finish Guide to Buying a Home"

http://lifehacker.com/the-start-to-finish-guide-to-buying-a-home-1663317601

 

[96Firebird]

Thanks for that, I'll take a look at it later today.

Got pre-approved Friday for $150k, which is a little above what I was looking to spend. Good to know I have that buffer though. Home prices are cheap here, but taxes are highest in the country (% wise).

Going to a few more open houses today.

 

[seepy83]

Got pre-approved Friday for $150k, which is a little above what I was looking to spend. Good to know I have that buffer though. Home prices are cheap here, but taxes are highest in the country (% wise).

Be careful to not put yourself in a position where your mortgage is eating up too high of a % of your monthly income. In my opinion, the banks are still approving people for bigger mortgages than they could really afford. Just make sure you put enough thought into your lifestyle, where you do and do not want to make cuts to support your mortgage, etc.

 

[Kaido]

Thanks for that, I'll take a look at it later today.

Got pre-approved Friday for $150k, which is a little above what I was looking to spend. Good to know I have that buffer though. Home prices are cheap here, but taxes are highest in the country (% wise).

Going to a few more open houses today.

Congrats!! Good luck in your search!

 

[LegendKiller]

I also think that one of the biggest issues is drainage. Having a house that has water problems is demoralizing and costly because you simply cannot fight it effectively without great cost. This isn't just water table or grade, it's also making sure the attic area has proper insulation, no heat infiltration from holes, attic access...etc, so that water dams can't form and have water leak inside.

This was a huge thing for me, the builder screwed up my grade and I had them come back in and put in additional draintile to pull water away from the house.

Do not take a single chance on water damage, none. It isn't worth it.

 

[NutBucket]

Not necessarily...however; you want an inspector that really does an inspection, many have this blanket clause about hidden things which they use to include everything. If they aren't going into crawl spaces / attics, they really aren't doing an inspection.

Word of mouth is best for this, sometimes you can google a company/contractor.

I don't think you will find an inspector that doesn't have a disclaimer in their report. There's a guy on another forum who has to rebuild half of his recently purchased home due to termite damage. No external signs. No inspector will leave himself open to that liability. Would you?

 

[alkemyst]

I don't think you will find an inspector that doesn't have a disclaimer in their report. There's a guy on another forum who has to rebuild half of his recently purchased home due to termite damage. No external signs. No inspector will leave himself open to that liability. Would you?

I agree, but too many make EVERYTHING fall under that.

I got a good inspector. He checked things that the other guys said they don't do.

 

[michaeladam]

Sell your old house after buying new house.

 

[RearAdmiral]

I've been very happy that I bought a cheap house compared to my income(1.34x of income). My payment/tax/insurance is at about the 25-30% mark of net income. Lots of stuff comes up to upgrade and fix and I can actually do it with regularity. I'm not strained for cash and not having that stress is nice!

 

[alkemyst]

Sell your old house after buying new house.

Most don't qualify to close carrying two mortgages.

 

[96Firebird]

Well, I put my first offer in today. Don't think they'll accept it though, just heard the seller wants asking price or he is going to rent. I told my realtor he can rent.

 

[zardthebuilder]

Do not take a single chance on water damage, none. It isn't worth it.

I have to disagree. There are different types of water damage. Some can be fixed and not have any future related negative effects. I had a roof leak (18 years old + hail). My insurance paid for a new roof (less deductible). No problems since. (But, I do agree with your point on grading and drainage. There are types of water damage where you don't know if it is really fixed or not.)

 

[zardthebuilder]

I don't think you will find an inspector that doesn't have a disclaimer in their report. There's a guy on another forum who has to rebuild half of his recently purchased home due to termite damage. No external signs. No inspector will leave himself open to that liability. Would you?

this is why you should always ask the seller if they have a transferable repair and retreat termite guarantee or bond. if they have one, put it in the contract that they will transfer it to you.

 

[Muse]

Good neighborhood.

Solid foundation.

 

[NutBucket]

Sell your old house after buying new house.

Most don't qualify to close carrying two mortgages.

This is AT so everyone has $1mil annual salary and pays cash for $200k homes...duh.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I also think that one of the biggest issues is drainage. Having a house that has water problems is demoralizing and costly because you simply cannot fight it effectively without great cost. This isn't just water table or grade, it's also making sure the attic area has proper insulation, no heat infiltration from holes, attic access...etc, so that water dams can't form and have water leak inside.

This was a huge thing for me, the builder screwed up my grade and I had them come back in and put in additional draintile to pull water away from the house.

Do not take a single chance on water damage, none. It isn't worth it.

When a road is built laterally across a hill and houses are above and below the road level, I only look at houses above the road. You always have to look at the lay of the land and think about flood possibility, even when the property isn't near a flood plain.

I remember a few years back at my last house...it rained really hard one day and we picked up 4" of rain in an hour. The storm drain up the street actually filled up and the manhole cover floated so water was pouring back down the street. My house was about 25 feet from the street and above grade.... The people across the street had water rush into their garages.

 

[Ventanni]

I've been very happy that I bought a cheap house compared to my income(1.34x of income). My payment/tax/insurance is at about the 25-30% mark of net income. Lots of stuff comes up to upgrade and fix and I can actually do it with regularity. I'm not strained for cash and not having that stress is nice!

This is an excellent angle. As much as I wish I could find a decent house at 1.3x my income, what would you say is a smart limit to "don't go past this", 2.5x?

 

[richardycc]

you might not care, but your Realtor might. when going to open houses, you might want to mention to the showing Realtor that you are working with one, so if you ended up buying a house from an open house, your Realtor will get the commission. Ideally, your Realtor should go with you to the open houses, but most of them are lazy and just want free money.

 

[NutBucket]

This is an excellent angle. As much as I wish I could find a decent house at 1.3x my income, what would you say is a smart limit to "don't go past this", 2.5x?

Totally depends on the market. In Socal even 2.5x our household income puts you in a bad neighborhood and we're both professionals. Basically, do what makes sense for the area.

 

[zardthebuilder]

you might not care, but your Realtor might. when going to open houses, you might want to mention to the showing Realtor that you are working with one, so if you ended up buying a house from an open house, your Realtor will get the commission. Ideally, your Realtor should go with you to the open houses, but most of them are lazy and just want free money.

mentioning to the showing realtor that you have a buyer's agent should not be necessary, but might avoid misunderstanding with the showing agent. it happened to me. the showing agent wrongly thought i was unrepresented (and was probably dreaming about double commissions). when she found out i had an agent, she got all upset. so, we didn't sign the contract with her and bought another house.