Buying a Home

Top Ten Pieces of advice that are associated with buying your first home

Back in April, I decided to seriously pursue home buying as I decided I'm happy living back in my home city, have a pretty good stable job, and didn't want to waste anymore money on rent. I also wanted to be living on my own, not under the roof of my parents. Not that I dislike them or anything, just that I'm used to being so independent, and after 4 years of independence, it was hard to live back at home.

So, I searched, and toured, and looked online, and got daily updates. Here's my advice for you:

1. Start saving your money. You're going to need lots of it. Not just for a down payment, for eighty billion other things as well. I estimate about 8% of the cost of your home if you are doing a FHA loan with 3.5% down.

2. Decide what you're looking for and what you can afford. You're going to get too overwhelmed if you waste your time at looking for something you can afford. Your realtor can help you set "Wants" and "needs" as well as a location. You may be browsing and find a nice hour for less than 100k, but really, are you going to want to live in the slum trash of the city? Probably not. Which brings me to my next point.

3. Find a really good Realtor. One that is going to work for you. If you can find one with a personal connection, even better. If you're a buyer with nothing to sell, realtors cost nothing to you for just searching for houses. Actually buying a house, that's another story with your closing costs. In my case, my realtor was friends with my parents. She was excellent! I made a list of houses I wanted to see. She told me which ones would be a waste of my time (her experience shone through, she had been in some of the houses before). We met and searched everything that was with in my price range.

4. Don't act on dime, don't settle for less, and weigh all the factors. I always say that the very first house I looked at, long before I was set on buying one, was the house I should have bought. It was completely redone inside and out, had spacious bedrooms, a garage, perfect sized yard, and was inside my price limit. It was in the west end, but not a terrible part of town. Not exactly my ideal location, but still doable. But, I'm now happier living in the east end of town and feel more secure.

5. Look at the potential--but don't overestimate what you're actually going to be capable of doing. Obviously if this is your first home you probably don't have $20k to do an overhaul on the bathroom that is in terrible condition.

6. Consider the maintenance of the house and the yard. If you live in an area like I do, where we get massive amounts of snow, you probably don't want a driveway that is half a block long, nor do you want to be in a back alley that is the last to get plowed. The house I purchased is on a snow emergency route, which is great because it means my road is the first to get plowed when it snows. It also means the massive amount of snow that was on this snow emergency route will be dumped in my driveway. Think about the basic maintenance as well--will you need to get your oil tank filled? Will your house need a new roof in the next couple of years? Are there going to be any major street/road construction to which you will be subject to assessments?

7. My mom told me she heard from a radio talk show to "stalk" the neighborhood you are going to buy a house in. I thought this sounded ridiculous, until I looked at a very cute an adorable house with the little doll house charm and a gorgeous kitchen--with two GIANT Great Danes that looked in the upper level window from the neighbors' yard. They may be friendly animals, but the incessant bark is probably not the thing I want as a neighbor. I drove past this house multiple times, (Coincidentally it is just 1.5 blocks away from the house I purchased) only to once see a man in his recliner outside with beer in hand, another day a 4-wheeler in the front yard. This was probably not what I was looking for as neighbors. That house sat on the market for months after--I'm not sure if it was ever sold or just taken of the market, but I'm sure the neighbors had something to do with why the house wasn't selling.

8. No offer is too low--unless you find yourself in a bidding war. The first house that I was serious about, I called my dad right away to come look at it NOW. We called the Realtor and asked for an extension of our showing time, only to have the people who were renting the house walk through the door wanting to kick us out. After standing in the driveway mulling over what to do, I decided I was serious about this house and wanted to put an offer on it. My Realtor, myself and my mom drove back to the Realtor's office. While in the car my Realtor called the listing agent--and the listing agent said they had an offer on the table. My Realtor asked if they'd wait and we'd put in my offer. We wrote the offer--she hand delivered it and got to tell the seller all about my likeable qualities and how I really should be the one to get the house :)--and at 8:30 that night I found out I had just bought a house. The problem was, it really was more than I wanted to pay. The offer we put in was the asking price--$129,900. The house needed some work--new carpet, lots of paint and a whole new electrical system. The electrical was written into the purchase agreement that the seller would update it to code aswell as well as an I and I inspection. Anyways, my point is, because I felt the pressure that there was a deal on the table--I offered full price. Had I not, I probably would have lost the deal--and you know what? It would have been okay. If you're not willing to pay over a certain amount for a certain house--then don't offer that amount. Additionally, no offer is too low. If you get outbid in the process, it's really not meant to be. In the end I ended up not getting this house, for reasons I will state in #9. The second offer that I put on my house went much better. The asking price was $119,900--I offered $112,000 and made that offer based on the square footage. In the end we settled at $118,000--still more than I offered, but this was okay with me because I really felt that this house was worth it. It was in move-in condition and an excellent area.

9. Get a certified home inspection by a very reputable home inspector. My dad, a pretty handy man, didn't think a home inspection was necessary. After attending my FHB class and hearing the horror stories--I wanted an inspection for peace of mind. I am ever so thankful that I had an inspection on house #1. When I went to have it inspected, the inspector tore a panel off the basement wall only to find the whole wall, made of CINDER BLOCKS, caving in, to the point where he could take a brick out of the foundation. He also pointed out every little problem that may arise, such as wiring that had gone from the house to the garage, buried under the concrete driveway, that would eventually rot because it was not wrapped in conduit. Alas, when it came to having an estimate on the cost to repair the crumbling foundation, my inspector who just so HAPPENED to have his OWN side business in repairing foundation recommended that we use this special "stabling" method that ONLY HE DOES. This was a little shady, as this was not fixing the problem, but only stabilizing the wall. Needless to say the home inspection on house #2 was done by a different home inspector--who did an excellent job and didn't refer me to any of his services.

10. Don't be in a rush if you don't have to be. Take your time to do the research, keep looking at houses and make sure you even check out those that are for sale by owner!