Buying a home

[sirkickyass]

I'm in my 30s and it's time. Lots of people here have done it and probably made mistakes they wouldn't make if they could do it all over again.

Please god rescue me from making those mistakes. Tell me what happened that you regret or what you did that really worked for you. I'd especially appreciate it if you told me some easily overlooked things about a home you bought that you ended up hating or were annoying.

Some quick baseline as to where we are at. Please tell me if any of these are wrongheaded.

1. We've been mortgage pre-approved and we're going with a relative starter house so that we live within our means. After down-payment, our goal is to essentially not have our monthly mortgage payment be any larger than what we currently pay in rent so that we don't have to substantially change our lifestyle due to "house poor." We think we can do that while getting something nice enough that we'd actually want to live there.

2. We are tilting heavily towards buying one of the smaller, more modest homes in a very good neighborhood rather than a nicer home in a less desirable neighborhood. We don't have kids, but the neighborhood we're looking at is the best public school district in the Phoenix metro and has been for 15 years. Our thought process is that the tax base in this area is high and it is likely to remain nice for longer, even if we have one of the worst homes around. I believe that will also help keep our home values high but that's a pure guess.

3. In Phoenix, desert landscaping is common and it's hard to keep a lawn alive. I'm strongly tending towards trying to get something with minimal upkeep because I'm lazy. I have no idea if having a nice lawn really makes people that much happier.

4. Do people have opinions about HOAs? How do you tell if your HOA is bad or any good?

Anything else? I appreciate it. Thanks guys/gals.

 

[Stoked]

I am doing the same lol. This spring.

HOAs are nice if you have crappy neighbors. However for me personally I don't want an HOA. I will care for my lawn regardless of them. If I want a flag pole I will have a flag pole. Things like that.

Lot's of people in AZ, as I'm sure you're aware, go with a desert lawn style. Rocks and some bushes/trees. If you have no kids and want easy up keep this would be the way to go IMO. Just make sure that it is don't correctly or you will have weeds spouting up all over the place.

Don't be afraid to walk away if you are getting pushed into something you don't want.

 

[fishonjazz]

I'm in my 30s and it's time. Lots of people here have done it and probably made mistakes they wouldn't make if they could do it all over again.

Please god rescue me from making those mistakes. Tell me what happened that you regret or what you did that really worked for you. I'd especially appreciate it if you told me some easily overlooked things about a home you bought that you ended up hating or were annoying.

Some quick baseline as to where we are at. Please tell me if any of these are wrongheaded.

1. We've been mortgage pre-approved and we're going with a relative starter house so that we live within our means. After down-payment, our goal is to essentially not have our monthly mortgage payment be any larger than what we currently pay in rent so that we don't have to substantially change our lifestyle due to "house poor." We think we can do that while getting something nice enough that we'd actually want to live there.

2. We are tilting heavily towards buying one of the smaller, more modest homes in a very good neighborhood rather than a nicer home in a less desirable neighborhood. We don't have kids, but the neighborhood we're looking at is the best public school district in the Phoenix metro and has been for 15 years. Our thought process is that the tax base in this area is high and it is likely to remain nice for longer, even if we have one of the worst homes around. I believe that will also help keep our home values high but that's a pure guess.

3. In Phoenix, desert landscaping is common and it's hard to keep a lawn alive. I'm strongly tending towards trying to get something with minimal upkeep because I'm lazy. I have no idea if having a nice lawn really makes people that much happier.

4. Do people have opinions about HOAs? How do you tell if your HOA is bad or any good?

Anything else? I appreciate it. Thanks guys/gals.

#1. great plan
#2. Great plan
#3. Lawns suck. Get astroturf or just do that desert landscape ****.

You sound like you are making the right decisions.

Imo go with the lowest monthly mortgage payment possible. In other words get the cheapest house you can tolerate.

I wish I would have done that. I would rather have plenty of money and a crappier house than a nicer house and no money.
That's just my opinion though and lots of other people would probably take the nicer house with no money option

 

[franklin]

Interest rates are near all time lows. Buy as much house as you can stomach paying for and be broke for a few years.

 

[RJF]

Avoid a short sale and get a legit home inspection done. I had a "friend" do my inspection, and when the bank did their final walk-through they noticed a section of the loadbearing wall had been cut out and had to be replaced before I could close or occupy the home.

 

[Keefe]

1. I'm not sure how much you're approved for but put a solid amount down but not so much that you're cash-strapped. In some ways, I would say just put down the 10-20% or as little down as possible imo. Things come up. Big things. Foundation. Roof. Siding. A desire to upgrade. Like that. And if you're a relatively conservative spender, it's good to have that extra money liquid or relatively liquid depending on if it's invested.

2. Smaller home in a great neighborhood is generally a good way to go. A lot better than the best home on a street so to speak. More upside.

3. I love lawns but am also in NJ so it's a different mindset.

4. I'm not sure what you would need HOA fees for if you're buying a house in AZ. What do they cover? I'd guess they'd be minimal considering, landscaping and snow issues should be pretty much nil.

My own thoughts. See a lot of houses. I saw 30-40. Take your time and don't rush until you find the house/street you love. We did and are thankful. By seeing so many, we also had a great sense of value in the given area and got a hell of a deal. Seriously, you pick up on the details (upgrades, decks, patios, pools, finished basement, etc. and about how much value they add to a home) and at a certain point get a really good sense on the relative value of the home and if it's fairly priced or overpriced.

Once you find that house, make a relatively low-ball offer. Can it hurt? Sure, I guess. But typically not. Buyers like any offers. It's a starting point if nothing else. And if the house has been on the market for 193 days or if the house is vacant or if it's an estate sale or there could be another reason that the sellers may just be looking to unload the home for anything even remotely fair, they may accept said low-ball offer or close to it. If there's a house that is listed for you at 500K and you believe the value to be about 485K, make an offer at 450K. **** it. It really can't hurt. There is the chance the seller could be greatly offended but that's what your realtor is for. Get a sense for that in advance from your realtor if you can. But in the end, why overpay by 35K if you don't have to.

While looking at homes, I believe the most important things to look at to be the foundation/structural integrity, electrical, plumbing, roofing, windows, attic insulation, and siding and probably in that order. I could be forgetting something.

Try to get more land. There's a huge difference between 0.35 acres and 0.5 acres imo and the layout of said parcel matters. For example, I own a 150 x 150 lot. It feels like a very nice neighborhood and is and we have nice privacy being spread out but I ideally wish our lot went a bit deeper. We only have about 45-50 feet from the back of the house to the back of my proprty. Am I getting nit-picky? Perhaps. But this is one of the biggest financial decisions you'll ever make and you should think through everything you want and think you'll want in the future both from a desirous perspective and a functional one. This also pertains to little things like parking, garages, patios, decks. Think about what you want. Know in advance what those things (a new 17x35 deck for example) would cost you if the home you purchase doesn't have one. Because in the end, you may be better just buying the home with those "upgrades" already done. In short, it may be more cost effective.

Ask the seller for all utility bills for the last 12-24 months. They can request them from their utility provider if they don't have them. You don't want to buy a home that is an air-sieve and pay $750/month on electric/gas because the A/C needs to be cranked at 67 degrees just to keep it relatively cool during the awfully hot summers.

Lastly, after the inspection (and have a very thorough one as mentioned), try to get the seller to pay for a good handful of things the inspector noticed that he/she deemed flawed, for lack of a better word. We had a list of a good 20 things. Most were very minor. But I asked for virtually all of them to be fixed before signing off to finalize the deal. The seller said no. I narrowed the list down to about 8 things. He fixed a few; some siding was replaced, some of the front porch masonry work was fixed, and something else as well. The biggest issue however was singed electrical wiring that looked very dangerous. We asked the seller to re-wire the entire home in copper (it was aluminum which most homes pre-1975 or so had) and he said no. We then asked for $2,500 back after closing and he said yes. It's a negotiation basically and as a lawyer you should be plenty skilled to do it, though it will be through your lawyer, so the back and forth I mentioned was in actuality between my lawyer and the seller's. Also, in my case, I regret not asking for more, probably 5K, but MsSerp was afraid the seller would back out. I should've known he wouldn't. He'd already moved out about 12 months before. It was literally the last stage of the process before he said yes and we set up the closing/signing date and if I was him, I wouldn't have wanted to start the process all over, hoping to find another buyer, soon, paying property taxes and utility bills for no reason.

Know all this. As much as you can. It'll seem foreign at first. But the more houses you see, the more comfortable you'll be and you'll know the ins and outs after a while.

Also, just get the shortest mortgage term without remotely cash-strapping yourself. If it's still just 30 years, cool. But a heads up. One extra mortgage payment a year (which would be full principal), every year, takes eight years off the life of your mortgage. So you'd basically end up with a 22 year mortgage by doing that once a year.

That's all for now. Hope that makes sense.

 

[The Pearl]

I am still reeling from the fact that Kicky is in his 30's. Does the Fesenko jersey still fit?

 

[JAZZGASM]

Avoid a short sale and get a legit home inspection done. I had a "friend" do my inspection, and when the bank did their final walk-through they noticed a section of the loadbearing wall had been cut out and had to be replaced before I could close or occupy the home.

Agree with all but the short sale. My first home was a short sale in good condition. It took six months to close, but we had a lot of built in equity based on a very low sale price. We sold two years later and made $110,000 over what we paid. If you have time to jump through the hoops of a short sale, it is so worth it.

 

[Keefe]

Agree with all but the short sale. My first home was a short sale in good condition. It took six months to close, but we had a lot of built in equity based on a very low sale price. We sold two years later and made $110,000 over what we paid. If you have time to jump through the hoops of a short sale, it is so worth it.

Agreed.

 

[b_line]

First, make sure you respect your loan officer and real estate professional. Do some research in them if you can, and don't be afraid to switch if you don't like what you find. We have had good and bad ones, and it makes a huge difference.

I bought a short sale and loved the experience. I made a ton of money when I sold it. But be prepared for some work if you are buying a short sale.

Now is the perfect time to buy for a good deal. Don't wait til summer, as prices will be higher. Nobody is buying right now because they don't want to mess with the kids school schedule.

Buy below market value or at very worst at market value. If you have to move within 5 years you don't want to have to pay to sale the house.

Don't be afraid to miss out. You should get a house you are comfortable buying and living in. If the first house you look at is the one, that's great. If the 90th one is the one, that's fine too. Just buy it when you are ready and not because a real estate agent has spent so much time or they scare you into fear of the house selling when you are still deciding. That said, when its right, move fast.

 

[leftyjace]

Mortgage Insurance sucks.
Put at least 20% down if you can and get a conventional loan.

 

[Boris]

1. I'm not sure how much you're approved for but put a solid amount down but not so much that you're cash-strapped. In some ways, I would say just put down the 10-20% or as little down as possible imo. Things come up. Big things. Foundation. Roof. Siding. A desire to upgrade. Like that. And if you're a relatively conservative spender, it's good to have that extra money liquid or relatively liquid depending on if it's invested.

2. Smaller home in a great neighborhood is generally a good way to go. A lot better than the best home on a street so to speak. More upside.

3. I love lawns but am also in NJ so it's a different mindset.

4. I'm not sure what you would need HOA fees for if you're buying a house in AZ. What do they cover? I'd guess they'd be minimal considering, landscaping and snow issues should be pretty much nil.

My own thoughts. See a lot of houses. I saw 30-40. Take your time and don't rush until you find the house/street you love. We did and are thankful. By seeing so many, we also had a great sense of value in the given area and got a hell of a deal. Seriously, you pick up on the details (upgrades, decks, patios, pools, finished basement, etc. and about how much value they add to a home) and at a certain point get a really good sense on the relative value of the home and if it's fairly priced or overpriced.

Once you find that house, make a relatively low-ball offer. Can it hurt? Sure, I guess. But typically not. Buyers like any offers. It's a starting point if nothing else. And if the house has been on the market for 193 days or if the house is vacant or if it's an estate sale or there could be another reason that the sellers may just be looking to unload the home for anything even remotely fair, they may accept said low-ball offer or close to it. If there's a house that is listed for you at 500K and you believe the value to be about 485K, make an offer at 450K. **** it. It really can't hurt. There is the chance the seller could be greatly offended but that's what your realtor is for. Get a sense for that in advance from your realtor if you can. But in the end, why overpay by 35K if you don't have to.

While looking at homes, I believe the most important things to look at to be the foundation/structural integrity, electrical, plumbing, roofing, windows, attic insulation, and siding and probably in that order. I could be forgetting something.

Try to get more land. There's a huge difference between 0.35 acres and 0.5 acres imo and the layout of said parcel matters. For example, I own a 150 x 150 lot. It feels like a very nice neighborhood and is and we have nice privacy being spread out but I ideally wish our lot went a bit deeper. We only have about 45-50 feet from the back of the house to the back of my proprty. Am I getting nit-picky? Perhaps. But this is one of the biggest financial decisions you'll ever make and you should think through everything you want and think you'll want in the future both from a desirous perspective and a functional one. This also pertains to little things like parking, garages, patios, decks. Think about what you want. Know in advance what those things (a new 17x35 deck for example) would cost you if the home you purchase doesn't have one. Because in the end, you may be better just buying the home with those "upgrades" already done. In short, it may be more cost effective.

Ask the seller for all utility bills for the last 12-24 months. They can request them from their utility provider if they don't have them. You don't want to buy a home that is an air-sieve and pay $750/month on electric/gas because the A/C needs to be cranked at 67 degrees just to keep it relatively cool during the awfully hot summers.

Lastly, after the inspection (and have a very thorough one as mentioned), try to get the seller to pay for a good handful of things the inspector noticed that he/she deemed flawed, for lack of a better word. We had a list of a good 20 things. Most were very minor. But I asked for virtually all of them to be fixed before signing off to finalize the deal. The seller said no. I narrowed the list down to about 8 things. He fixed a few; some siding was replaced, some of the front porch masonry work was fixed, and something else as well. The biggest issue however was singed electrical wiring that looked very dangerous. We asked the seller to re-wire the entire home in copper (it was aluminum which most homes pre-1975 or so had) and he said no. We then asked for $2,500 back after closing and he said yes. It's a negotiation basically and as a lawyer you should be plenty skilled to do it, though it will be through your lawyer, so the back and forth I mentioned was in actuality between my lawyer and the seller's. Also, in my case, I regret not asking for more, probably 5K, but MsSerp was afraid the seller would back out. I should've known he wouldn't. He'd already moved out about 12 months before. It was literally the last stage of the process before he said yes and we set up the closing/signing date and if I was him, I wouldn't have wanted to start the process all over, hoping to find another buyer, soon, paying property taxes and utility bills for no reason.

Know all this. As much as you can. It'll seem foreign at first. But the more houses you see, the more comfortable you'll be and you'll know the ins and outs after a while.

Also, just get the shortest mortgage term without remotely cash-strapping yourself. If it's still just 30 years, cool. But a heads up. One extra mortgage payment a year (which would be full principal), every year, takes eight years off the life of your mortgage. So you'd basically end up with a 22 year mortgage by doing that once a year.

That's all for now. Hope that makes sense.

It sounds to me like Cunning has been on the desperate end of to many real estate deals. I have been an agent I know how to deal with those types.

Being mieser trash will not get you a better deal. All you are doing is wasting everyone time involved. I would not dignify this gutter trash with a offer response, and would ban your entire agency from viewing my condo. This is how you deal with sub human garbage.

Better to find a house you love and pay fair value. Quibble over 5 grand or whatnot? Please.

 

[RJF]

Agree with all but the short sale. My first home was a short sale in good condition. It took six months to close, but we had a lot of built in equity based on a very low sale price. We sold two years later and made $110,000 over what we paid. If you have time to jump through the hoops of a short sale, it is so worth it.

There's more to my story that I'm not going to share so I'm a little biased. But I do agree, if you have the time, a short sale will garner you much more equity. I sold for almost 20k more than what I purchased it for. Had sell because of a layoff or I'd have made more.

 

[Dr. Jones]

I have made money on every real estate deal I have ever done... except my own homes. Lost money on every one of them.
Don't make it too emotional and buy smart. You make money on a home when you buy it more so than when you sell it.
I have never made smart decisions with my residence.

Buying near good schools is definitely safer on resale.

HOA's can be a GREAT positive. They are all somewhat a pain in the sirkickyass, but they usually do a good job of keep some consistency within a neighborhood and thus the real estate values. Analyze what you get for the dues/money and how much, if anything, it's above what you would spend anyway (lawn maintenance, etc). Get some minutes from the last few meetings from the homeowner and read through them... you will get a good idea of what issues the neighborhood is facing and the temperament of the current board members of problem solving. I would prefer HOA over none... but I'm also kinda a dick.

 

[Jazz Spazz]

An HOA is much like posting on Jazzfanz, with all other homeowners being the equivalent of posters, and the HOA board being the moderators.

Does that answer your question about that?

 

[Gameface]

It sounds to me like Cunning has been on the desperate end of to many real estate deals. I have been an agent I know how to deal with those types.

Being mieser trash will not get you a better deal. All you are doing is wasting everyone time involved. I would not dignify this gutter trash with a offer response, and would ban your entire agency from viewing my condo. This is how you deal with sub human garbage.

Better to find a house you love and pay fair value. Quibble over 5 grand or whatnot? Please.

Between shifts at Maverik?

 

[colton]

I'm in my 30s and it's time. Lots of people here have done it and probably made mistakes they wouldn't make if they could do it all over again.

Please god rescue me from making those mistakes. Tell me what happened that you regret or what you did that really worked for you. I'd especially appreciate it if you told me some easily overlooked things about a home you bought that you ended up hating or were annoying.

Some quick baseline as to where we are at. Please tell me if any of these are wrongheaded.

1. We've been mortgage pre-approved and we're going with a relative starter house so that we live within our means. After down-payment, our goal is to essentially not have our monthly mortgage payment be any larger than what we currently pay in rent so that we don't have to substantially change our lifestyle due to "house poor." We think we can do that while getting something nice enough that we'd actually want to live there.

2. We are tilting heavily towards buying one of the smaller, more modest homes in a very good neighborhood rather than a nicer home in a less desirable neighborhood. We don't have kids, but the neighborhood we're looking at is the best public school district in the Phoenix metro and has been for 15 years. Our thought process is that the tax base in this area is high and it is likely to remain nice for longer, even if we have one of the worst homes around. I believe that will also help keep our home values high but that's a pure guess.

3. In Phoenix, desert landscaping is common and it's hard to keep a lawn alive. I'm strongly tending towards trying to get something with minimal upkeep because I'm lazy. I have no idea if having a nice lawn really makes people that much happier.

4. Do people have opinions about HOAs? How do you tell if your HOA is bad or any good?

Anything else? I appreciate it. Thanks guys/gals.

Sounds like you've thought things through pretty well and I think you're making wise decisions. Good luck with the process.

About the only comment I have is to choose your real estate agent carefully. Get recommendations for an agent from people in the area. Get multiple recommendations from multiple people and ask them what made the agent stand out. I've had three agents... the first one was amazing and likely made us about $30,000 - $40,000 by getting us a great deal on a house that wasn't even listed yet. Plus she knew about a great financing program for first-time home buyers in Maryland that I had never heard of before. The second one was crappy... didn't really do anything I couldn't have done myself. I felt that paying her commission was just pouring money down the drain. The third one was somewhere in between. That first agent was a recommendation from my soon-to-be boss, and really paid off.

 

[sirkickyass]

I am still reeling from the fact that Kicky is in his 30's. Does the Fesenko jersey still fit?

Still got em hanging in the closet. Always a stylish choice for the man on the go.

Mortgage Insurance sucks.
Put at least 20% down if you can and get a conventional loan.

We're going to put 20% down, but let me tell you, laying out $60k in cash hurts. We're going to be feeling poor for a good long while.

It sounds to me like Cunning has been on the desperate end of to many real estate deals. I have been an agent I know how to deal with those types.

Being mieser trash will not get you a better deal. All you are doing is wasting everyone time involved. I would not dignify this gutter trash with a offer response, and would ban your entire agency from viewing my condo. This is how you deal with sub human garbage.

Better to find a house you love and pay fair value. Quibble over 5 grand or whatnot? Please.

I'm definitely tending towards picking the thing I want even if it's a slight overpay. I can honestly say that I will not lose a single night's sleep if we like the place but we slightly overpay for it. Let's just say I'm not totally convinced there's such a thing as an objectively correct real estate appraisal.

Thanks everyone for the tips.

 

[The Pearl]

As an unrelated follow up, if Kicky is in his 30's than Ize of Light, somewhere out there in the universe, is entering her sexual prime.


"Pearl frantically reviewing the rotation."

 

[Qman]

I have bought a couple of homes in the Houston Area recently. Sounds like you have the big financial things in order. Now for the little nitpicky things about the house/property. Something that bothers you a little on a showing probably will start to annoy you in a week and push you to move in time.

Basically you need to know what is on your and your wife's must haves. For my wife it turns a lot of natural light in the kitchen is a must have. We wanted a lot of things but if you don't hit your must haves, I don't see how you'll be happy in the house long term.

Also it is relatively easy to change flooring and/or paint just before you move in.

Finally a good home inspector can save you a lot of money.