First Time Home Buyer Advice Request

#1

Volunteer08

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#1
Hey folks,

First time home buyer here. My wife and I got preapproved a few weeks ago and have started going to see some houses with our realtor.

Any advice on the process that could come in handy?

TIA
 
#2
#2
Hey folks,

First time home buyer here. My wife and I got preapproved a few weeks ago and have started going to see some houses with our realtor.

Any advice on the process that could come in handy?

TIA

Put 20% down and no more than a 15 year mortgage.. you Won’t be house poor
 
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#3
#3
Hey folks,

First time home buyer here. My wife and I got preapproved a few weeks ago and have started going to see some houses with our realtor.

Any advice on the process that could come in handy?

TIA

I bought a house in 2016. The housing market was crazy. If we saw something we liked, it had a contract on it within days. Often by the time we got to visit.

I highly recommend downloading the Zillow app and the Realtor.com app. I actually found our house on Realtor.com, before my realtor did. Visited on a Tuesday and had a contract on it by Wednesday.
 
#4
#4
Hey folks,

First time home buyer here. My wife and I got preapproved a few weeks ago and have started going to see some houses with our realtor.

Any advice on the process that could come in handy?

TIA

Would need a ton of more info to advise. Depends on what your end game is. How long do you want to live there? Price range? Needs?
There are actually some loan strategies you can use with an ARM and payoff a house sooner than with a 15 year. It all depends on how strategic you want to be and whether you are buying to live there long term or if you will turn in a short time.

A quality realtor is also key. A lot of lazy, good for nothings in this industry.
 
#6
#6
Are you in the Knoxville area?

Don't overspend, 10 or 15 year mortgage if possible (or you can get strategic with an ARM as previously mentioned), and think about resale value (area, schools, neighborhood amenities, etc) even if some things aren't important or applicable to you.

I also agree with getting a quality home inspection. I have seen both ends of that spectrum, and when you get a cut-rate job, you pay for it for a long time as crap comes up.
 
#8
#8
I bought a house in 2016. The housing market was crazy. If we saw something we liked, it had a contract on it within days. Often by the time we got to visit.

I highly recommend downloading the Zillow app and the Realtor.com app. I actually found our house on Realtor.com, before my realtor did. Visited on a Tuesday and had a contract on it by Wednesday.

We bought in 2014, same situation. Looked at houses and offers were on them the same day. We found ours and offered the same day so we wouldn't miss out.
 
#10
#10
Put 20% down and no more than a 15 year mortgage.. you Won’t be house poor

Agree 1000% with this. Also worth remembering is that the bigger the house, the bigger the expenses that accompanies it. Everything cost more...electric bills, repairs such as roofs, paint, etc.
 
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#14
#14
20% is not doable for us. More like 10% - We’re in a position where we either need to commit to buying a property or commit to renting 6-12 months. Rent in this area is expensive - 1,600-2k for something very modest in south Florida.

We have 45k saved and need to cover some closing costs. My wife and I do well and are going the 30 year mortgage route. Home prices here are very high and I don’t know anyone in our circle that has been able to do a 15year mortgage.

I’ll look into the ARM options. Right now rates are 3.8-4.0 for great credit so that’s another reason I’d like to go ahead and get in the game.
 
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#15
#15
20% is not doable for us. More like 10% - We’re in a position where we either need to commit to buying a property or commit to renting 6-12 months. Rent in this area is expensive - 1,600-2k for something very modest in south Florida.

We have 45k saved and need to cover some closing costs. My wife and I do well and are going the 30 year mortgage route. Home prices here are very high and I don’t know anyone in our circle that has been able to do a 15year mortgage.

I’ll look into the ARM options. Right now rates are 3.8-4.0 for great credit so that’s another reason I’d like to go ahead and get in the game.

Look at an amortization schedule and consider lowering your budget. The payments on the front end of a 30 are basically all lost to interest.

I know that's tough to digest at this point in your life, but building equity is a beautiful thing.
 
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#16
#16
Currently in our second home. Started with a 30 yr, then after 7 yrs went to a 20, and then after 8 yrs went to a 15 yr at 2.8% fixed. Building equity so much more quickly now. If I had it to do over, I would have bought a home that cost less, but that I could afford a 15 yr payment on. Then equity would have built so much more quickly, and I could have sold about now, and use the equity to buy a much nicer home, and also have more equity.
 
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#17
#17
20% is not doable for us. More like 10% - We’re in a position where we either need to commit to buying a property or commit to renting 6-12 months. Rent in this area is expensive - 1,600-2k for something very modest in south Florida.

We have 45k saved and need to cover some closing costs. My wife and I do well and are going the 30 year mortgage route. Home prices here are very high and I don’t know anyone in our circle that has been able to do a 15year mortgage.

I’ll look into the ARM options. Right now rates are 3.8-4.0 for great credit so that’s another reason I’d like to go ahead and get in the game.

Save more Homes will still be there. Someone in your household has house fever
 
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#18
#18
20% is not doable for us. More like 10% - We’re in a position where we either need to commit to buying a property or commit to renting 6-12 months. Rent in this area is expensive - 1,600-2k for something very modest in south Florida.

We have 45k saved and need to cover some closing costs. My wife and I do well and are going the 30 year mortgage route. Home prices here are very high and I don’t know anyone in our circle that has been able to do a 15year mortgage.

I’ll look into the ARM options. Right now rates are 3.8-4.0 for great credit so that’s another reason I’d like to go ahead and get in the game.

Don’t be in a rush to buy a house and barely be able to afford it. There’s a lot of expense with the house including furniture maintenance yardwork etc. don’t be house poor...
 
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#19
#19
Hey folks,

First time home buyer here. My wife and I got preapproved a few weeks ago and have started going to see some houses with our realtor.

Any advice on the process that could come in handy?

TIA

Get multiple “Fees Worksheets” which are non-binding and present zero liabilities to the mortgage lender(s). This is different than an “Good Faith Estimate” which is more binding and further down the mortgage application road.
If they won’t provide a simple “Fees Worksheet”, then I’d consider moving on. Get at least 2-3 quotes, with multiple loan option scenario programs. Trust me, they are all different.
It’s really not necessary to have multiple lenders pull your credit for a Fees Worksheet, but if they require it, it won’t effect your credit if you do them all within a 14 day time window because the credit bureaus associate that with “mortgage shopping”.

If you have a very good realtor, I’m sure they can or have referred you to more than 1 lender.

Don’t be afraid to offend the seller with a ‘realistic’ , yet fair low offer. ... I’d ask for 6% seller concessions towards closing cost if your doing an government program loan. If you go conventional, 3% seller concessions is the limit.

Get a good Home Inspection, after your offer is accepted.

There’s a lot more to say, but if you’ve got an experienced realtor who’s a great negotiator and market analyst, then I’m sure you’ll be fine.
 
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#20
#20
If you have a friend who’s a GC or knows their way around a house see if they’ll will tag along for the home inspection. Also go to the home inspection. Don’t let the guy off on his own. You have no idea what he looked at or didn’t. And remember if your realtor recommends them they are probably not the type of guys to torpedo a deal. They may find a couple minor things but may not report or even look for serious issues that would derail the sale.
 
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#21
#21
Do you. Everyone's budget, planning, and goals are different.

Purchased our first home 10 years ago. 100% for 30 years because we were tired of throwing money down the rental toilet. Just sold it for a nice profit.
 
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#22
#22
Look at an amortization schedule and consider lowering your budget. The payments on the front end of a 30 are basically all lost to interest.

I know that's tough to digest at this point in your life, but building equity is a beautiful thing.

Not many people are going to be able to afford a 15 year mortgage in South Florida. You people act like every place in the country is McMinnville or East Ridge...

Anything decent nowadays is going to run you $300k in Nashville alone. No telling what they want in South Florida.
 
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#23
#23
Most new 1st time buyers have to do the 30year on the 1st house,, We did that on a 60K house 30 years ago.. Next house was 300K we did a 15 year....
 
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#24
#24
Not many people are going to be able to afford a 15 year mortgage in South Florida. You people act like every place in the country is McMinnville or East Ridge...

Anything decent nowadays is going to run you $300k in Nashville alone. No telling what they want in South Florida.

Ballpark numbers to ponder, given current rates:

A 15 yr loan will cost approximately 40% more a month on the same amount of mortgage cost. However, 2/3 of your early payments go to PRINCIPLE, whereas in a 30, 2/3 or more goes to INTEREST.

On a normal payment schedule, it would cost about $510,000 to pay off a $300k loan on a 30. $370,000 on a 15.

Given low returns on most conventional investments at the current, it is very logical to consider a shorter mortgage term as a terrific financial decision for most younger people. I.e.: why try to save a little money at a few percentage points of interest while losing 67% of your $1500/mo house payment every month?
 
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#25
#25
Not many people are going to be able to afford a 15 year mortgage in South Florida. You people act like every place in the country is McMinnville or East Ridge...

Anything decent nowadays is going to run you $300k in Nashville alone. No telling what they want in South Florida.

Yeah, 2k sq feet is going to be $300k in Phoenix. We're buying in 2018 but waiting for the right house.
 
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