We decided to buy a house

[Kimbear 53]

So David and I decided to go see the bank and figure out what our options are. We are paying 835/month for a one bedroom apartment which is noisy and well..yeah...i hate most of our neighbours lol.

Anyways we got some good news and were given a pre approval from our bank. We also found out as first time home buyers that we qualify for a state grant type thing that is bascially a 0% interest loan that we have 10 years to payback, which will pay contribute to our downpayment, as long as we can come up with 1% , as well as a program from our bank for 2500$ closing costs.

Also compared to last year Davids credit score jumped almost 20 points! Now i'm not sure how that works. but i've been told that that is a very good thing to see. We are just waiting for the paperwork to be emailed to us today to confirm all of this.

I guess my question is whether we have enough time to find a place and close for when our lease ends July 1st. I know forclosures and some short sales can take forever, but i'm wondering if 3 months is enough time for all this to happen..i guess it depends on how fast we find a place we are happy with.

Buying a house in the u.s. is far more complicated than i'm used to. I had a home that i bought up in Canada, and aside from a few hiccups (seller had a vendor take back from the original owner) which we had to wait for first, it was pretty quick, and our closing costs weren't that expensive or time consuming.

But i guess one step at a time. lol.

Anyone have any recent home buying experience? I already know poor Krikits horror stories and i hope we don't have anything similar..no offence Krikit!

[patient2010 93]

Congrats and happy house hunting!!!

[jimnlena 8]

Been 2 years now but only took me 6 weeks from finding house to close. Most folks say it is 30 to 90 day experience here in texas.

[Barbara J 115]

So David and I decided to go see the bank and figure out what our options are. We are paying 835/month for a one bedroom apartment which is noisy and well..yeah...i hate most of our neighbours lol.

Anyways we got some good news and were given a pre approval from our bank. We also found out as first time home buyers that we qualify for a state grant type thing that is bascially a 0% interest loan that we have 10 years to payback, which will pay contribute to our downpayment, as long as we can come up with 1% , as well as a program from our bank for 2500$ closing costs.

Also compared to last year Davids credit score jumped almost 20 points! Now i'm not sure how that works. but i've been told that that is a very good thing to see. We are just waiting for the paperwork to be emailed to us today to confirm all of this.

I guess my question is whether we have enough time to find a place and close for when our lease ends July 1st. I know forclosures and some short sales can take forever, but i'm wondering if 3 months is enough time for all this to happen..i guess it depends on how fast we find a place we are happy with.

Buying a house in the u.s. is far more complicated than i'm used to. I had a home that i bought up in Canada, and aside from a few hiccups (seller had a vendor take back from the original owner) which we had to wait for first, it was pretty quick, and our closing costs weren't that expensive or time consuming.

But i guess one step at a time. lol.

Anyone have any recent home buying experience? I already know poor Krikits horror stories and i hope we don't have anything similar..no offence Krikit!

Well congratulations to you. We are in the same boat, we live in an apartment too here in Augusta and we have just bought a house. We have found a brand new home built last year and since we saw the realtor the closing is happening all in one month lol am so not used to this as in Australia when you buy a house it takes 6-8 weeks for loan and settlement with solicitors and such so this has happened really quick . Now mind you I fell in love with this house at Xmas time or just after so we saw realtor 2nd March closing on the 29th lol and closing is only 700 or so. My hussband is retired military and we have VA loan no deposit full payment on closing. I can't wait as we have a young boy upstairs whom I like to call thumper. Sheesh feels like he is coming through the ceiling sometimes he jumps so hard.

I am so excited as I have never owned a new home before in my life, have always lived in pre owned and older homes so this is beautiful. Will post a pic on my profile if you wish to look , so I am starting to pack up and gosh my husband has some stuff lol

[^_^ 5,021]

I purchased my townhouse back in 2003 so my experience is by no means 'recent' but I don't believe much has changed in the process outside of loan underwriting being much more strict.

It took me about 2-3 months to find a property I liked. This was with me looking every week with my realtor. There wasn't as much inventory back then compared to today though.

From offer to closing was about 5-6 weeks IIRC. Inspection did not reveal any major problems so there was no delay there.

[^_^ 5,021]

. I can't wait as we have a young boy upstairs whom I like to call thumper. Sheesh feels like he is coming through the ceiling sometimes he jumps so hard.

We own in a 4-unit townhouse style building which of course means I share two walls with two adjacent units. Not too long ago a new family moved into the unit right behind our kitchen. They have two boys who practice their music all weekend. They start early, like 5 am. And when they aren't practicing, they're outside on the lawn adjacent to my living room playing soccer and screaming gooooooooooal at the top of their lungs.

So it's good you're moving out because they just get louder when they're older lol.

Good luck on the new home.

[Barbara J 115]

We own in a 4-unit townhouse style building which of course means I share two walls with two adjacent units. Not too long ago a new family moved into the unit right behind our kitchen. They have two boys who practice their music all weekend. They start early, like 5 am. And when they aren't practicing, they're outside on the lawn adjacent to my living room playing soccer and screaming gooooooooooal at the top of their lungs.

So it's good you're moving out because they just get louder when they're older lol.

Good luck on the new home.

Oh that's would be terrible and thankyou. He starts at 5 am too some days and his mother with her heels on at all hours of the morning on weekends lol

[^_^ 5,021]

Oh that's would be terrible and thankyou. He starts at 5 am too some days and his mother with her heels on at all hours of the morning on weekends lol

It is pretty bad. I want to upgrade but i tend to over think things so that's easier said than done.

[Kimbear 53]

hehe ya i have a thread in the "moving here ..." forum about my issues with the neighbours and management. Not to mention i've had the extirminator here multiple times since january to get rid of ants etc to no avail. figured its time to move and get our own place since houses are hella cheaper then paying rent here in Chicago. its just the damn county taxes which bloody suck the life out of ya almost..

i'm amazed at how a house can be so darn cheap but have 3-4k taxes..apparently the land here is what its all about. And i dont want the hubby to have a super long drive to work especially with the price of gas being 4$ now..UGH lol.

[^_^ 5,021]

hehe ya i have a thread in the "moving here ..." forum about my issues with the neighbours and management. Not to mention i've had the extirminator here multiple times since january to get rid of ants etc to no avail. figured its time to move and get our own place since houses are hella cheaper then paying rent here in Chicago. its just the damn county taxes which bloody suck the life out of ya almost..

i'm amazed at how a house can be so darn cheap but have 3-4k taxes..apparently the land here is what its all about. And i dont want the hubby to have a super long drive to work especially with the price of gas being 4$ now..UGH lol.

3-4k taxes are awesome lol. Average here in jersey is around 8-9k and anything nice is closer to 12k

I actually want to own by the main train line to NYC. I figure then I won't use my car as much if I go work in the city. But property around the train lines are exorbitantly expensive! We just looked at these three bedroom townhomes (yeah, more townhomes) with about 2000 sq feet....liisted at 410k base with around 10k in taxes and a 300+ HOA fee.

[Flames9_RN 358]

1. Check around with various banks/credit Union to get the best rate and closing costs--they can differ greatly. Get 1 of them to run ur credit check and ASK for ur score. With the others tell them ur score, BUT tell them not to run ur credit rating, and get their offer based on those #'s--of course if you go with them, they will have to verify them. But you do not a whole bunch of people checking ur score!! You should also make sure al ur credit cards are paid off, balance kept low for a few months prior, not something you can do now,lol

2. Interview a few realtors and go with the one you feel comfortable with and is going to work for you! We usually give our Realtor a list of what we MUST have, LIke to have, CAN't have,lol Its my $$$$ so I make sure I get what I want and run the show if you know what I mean! Some Realtors forget whats in your best interest and whats in their best interest! If I feel they are not working in my best interest, i thank them for their time and interview process starts again. Communicating what you need and expect is huge to make it as less stressful as possible

3. If your in a hurry, stay away from foreclosures/short sales. They can drag on for months and months and even never close

4. The right house can be found in a day or a year, ya just never know.

5. Watch out for Home owners Associations (HOA's). Some like them, some do not!! 1 area could have a HOA, while the next street over does not.

6. Find a competent Home inspector. They say you should never go with one that the realtor recommends!! Make sure your offer has an out based on home inspection etc etc.

7. Walk the neighborhood!! talk to neighbors//people in that neighborhood!! yes that includes knocking on the door. You will be surprised what people wil say! Drive by the neighborhoods at various times of the day/week. Big difference at 10 am, vice 5 pm, 8pm traffic wise.

8. Google the area. check out crime statistics. there are web sites-and call the local police.

Good luck, it can be a fun process. But take your time and do your research, Houses can be money pitts, so yes your noisy neighbors suck, but a house sucking $$$$ out of ur wallet is no fun either!! See if you can go month to month on ur apartment. or find another apartment and keep looking for the right house. Lot of horror stories of homeowners too that bought in the wrong neighborhood---BUT now you just can't walk away until you sell that house!! Best of luck

[^_^ 5,021]

I like visiting the closest or most convenient grocery stores during a weekday after work and again on a weekend afternoon to get a feel for the community.

[Moosker 7]

Great tips so far! We just bought a house 2 months ago and it was a crazy process. We were approved and decided to start looking. Within a week we had put an offer in on a house, closed in 30 days. It was a totally nutty process, but so worth it!

A few things we learned along the way....

- Banks should provide you with a "Good Faith Estimate" for you to start house shopping with. Bank of America refused (from what I've heard, they have crazy fees) and that right there sent me to another company.

- Find a good realtor, and watch out for the 'contracts' they try to get you to sign. If you test them out and really aren't happy, tell them.

- Shop around on www.redfin.com (that's how we found our home) and sign up for an account. You get a lot of information about how long on the market, taxes, HOA, what it sold for previously, etc.

- Don't do anything "extra" credit wise from now until after you have purchased a house. They typically re-run your credit a day or two before your close on a house to make sure everything is still the same.

- Have you considered FHA? Great for first time home buyers.

- HOME INSPECTION. I have friends who figured they knew what they were talking doing, refused to pay the $450 fee and their house is a complete money pit. We had a company called U.S. Inspect and they were great.

- Home Warranty. Our house came with one, but anyone we've talked to say if you have appliances (furnace, etc) older than 10 years, pay the $150-$300/year for the warranty! Our water heater actually started leaking, we called the warranty company, paid our $100 deductible and got a brand new one (it wasn't fixable). That would have been a $3,000 job. We will renew the warranty in a heartbeat since we have older appliances.

- Short sales are almost an oxymoron! Our real estate agents daughter bought a short sale and finally got the house 2 years later, crazy!

- You could buy a house tomorrow, or a year from now. Don't feel pressured because of your lease, buy the house you love and will be happy with.

- Like everyone has said, visit the neighbourhood during the day, and at night. You want to see the traffic/noise levels/etc.

- Don't be afraid of offering low! We got our house for $20k lower than asking, turns out the owners had already bought another house and just wanted to cut their ties!

- Once you buy a house, you can usually "fight" your taxes (or at least try to) within 60 days of purchasing. Take the home appraisal to your government office and fill out the appropriate form. We were paying taxes on a house that they were saying was worth $100k more than it was (out of date, the market was low).

Good luck!!!

[Flames9_RN 358]

and READ what you sign!!! We went to closing and the closing company screwed up on one item. Luckily my Wife reads everything,lol And search out home forums, find a lot of great info on them.

[mandaNchris 3]

Congrats Kimbear, I hope you find a great house quickly. Good luck!