First time home buyer

Anyone want to give me some tips? I just talked to a loan officer and got pre approved.

What should I look out for besides HOA's firedevil)
Any websites for forclosed homes that you know of? Everyone I have seen wants you to pay for a list.

Where should I stay away from around Everett (besides casino road... and well Everett )

Any suggestions that can help prevent me from getting shit on would be greatly apreciated.

hire an inspector to inspect the house before you buy.

Roger that, thanks.

WaXJ_Skier said:

hire an inspector to inspect the house before you buy.

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We had a VA inspection. Spend the extra couple hundred and hire a real home inspector. Could save you TONS of headaches.

If you can get into a home and close before Nov 30th you are will get a 8000 dollar tax credit from the gov. Also one of the best places to look is www.themlsonline.com. This will show you if the houses are active, or pending. IMO i would stay away from forclosures and short sales. They are a very long drawn out process that is usually a bidding war, or just waiting for the banks to approve your offer.

Good luck there are alot of great deals out there right now.:cheers:

Isn't it 9000 after nov?

Yeah there are alot of great deals and with 8000.00 dollars the goverment is going to kick down is a plus. If you have a stedy job you would be a fool not to buy right now.

Here's my story

Keep an eye out for City ordinances. A buddy of mine purchased in Mountlake Terrace and has received two tickets. The first ticket stated the cord of firewood in his front yard needed to be stacked, he stacked it. The second ticket two weeks later stated he needed to move the firewood from his front yard because it was a city right of way. Keep in mind this clearly in his front yard and there aren't any sidewalks or even the appearance of a walking path.

Have you checked out Lowell? If I were to purchase in the Everett area I would check out Lowell.

During the purchase of our first house I had three primary concerns after my wife identified the house as a possibility.
1. Useable garage space
2. Parking Parking Parking
3. Non existent or non active HOA

I added two more things to the above list after the purchase of my first house:

4. Make sure there are no rental houses in the immediate vicinity (section 8 specifically), this burned me.
5. Make sure there's a lot of distance between your house and your neighbors. I didn't think the close proximity would bother me, but it does.

After our purchase the HOA became active and distributed a list of proposed additions to the CCR's. Several of the additions specifically address working on vehicles in your driveway. The HOA mailed out 125 letters describing the proposed additions and one person responded, me. The HOA needs a 70% majority to revise the CCRs which isn't going to happen. I met with the HOA board and they do not have the same interests as me and they had an opening for VP. Im now the VP :gee: as it was the only way to guarantee my property rights are protected.

Sideshow said:

I met with the HOA board and they do not have the same interests as me and they had an opening for VP. Im now the VP :gee: as it was the only way to guarantee my property rights are protected.

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1. Make sure that your loan approval is with a bank that you really want to do business with. I would "shop" the rate and make sure you are happy.

2. Make sure you are happy with the house, neigborhood, area, school district, traffic, neighbors, conditions, etc, etc, etc, etc. Don't compromise because you are excited to get in.

3. Get a reference for your inspector. If you want one, I have 1 and only 1 that I would recommend (I have used many). PM me and I will look up his card for you.

4. If it is an HOA make sure you understand all of the rules, and get in touch with the board to understand how active they are. I know others disagree but I have had nothing but good things to say about them and they can significantly protect your property value when you have issues in the neigborhood.

5. Talk to the police about areas that are "better" than others. They are the people who know where to stay away from the.

6. Talk to as many people as possible that have been through the process. I learn something new everytime I go through this process.

Good Luck,
Michael

MpSlayer said:

Isn't it 9000 after nov?

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my understanding is it was going away after nov....:dunno:

Thanks for the list Sideshow. I was typing a response when I got the call about my dogs don't feel like typing it again lol.

That's funny scott

Thanks for the tips Michael, much apreciated.

I read up a little more after I posted that jones and it looks like the extension didn't pass the senate

I'm not in your area but we bought a house not too long ago.

1. Home inspection is required before you can get a mortgage for the house

2. Get a reputable home inspector; they should have no qualms about you tagging along during. Mine explained everything to me in depth as we went. I also go a binder with pics, info, etc. We used HouseMasters.

3. Stay away from HOAs. Seriously.

4. If you find a house you like, visit it numerous times of the day; from 4am to 11pm. This allows you to scope the neighborhood and neighbors. Get up early and drive from the house to your work. Then back to the house when you get off

5. Do you want the nicest house in an OK neighborhood, or an OK house in the nicest neighborhood? This plays into re-sale. Plus, if you upgrade stuff in the house, you get more bang for your buck if you get an OK house in a nice neighborhood. Don't let this stop you from getting the house you really want, though.

6. Think carefully before getting into a house that needs repairs (foreclosed). These repairs can easily multiply in time and money. What you thought was just a leaky basement can mean a bad foundation; etc.

7. As stated above, find out what you want for your house. List your priorities on paper. I wish we had 2 bathrooms. It's annoying to only have one. But, we have a huge parking area.

8. Find your city's master planning document and see what kind of ideas/plans they have for your area. Would suck to buy a house, then 2 or 3 years later find out the city wants to build a parking garage for their city buses next door.

9. Along the same token, read through previous city council minutes and see what, if any, problems or ideas they have for your area.

10. Don't get preapproved for more than you are wanting to spend total on a house. This helps to limit temptation.

11. Remember that there will be all sorts of little fees and junk that will tucked into your mortgage after it's all said and done.

12. DON'T buy more than you can afford. I'm really relieved we didn't.

13. Visit the house you like (before you buy) during rain events/after rain events. You'd hate to have a flooded yard everytime it rains.

14. When looking at a house, try to be objective. Walk through it as if you already own it. Walk from bedroom to bathroom. Go from living room/den to kitchen and open the fridge. Think about where your furniture will be placed. Will your furniture block rooms, etc?

15. Look at all hardware/fixtures. Is it old school (brass) or has it been updated? Are the ceiling fans in good shape? Previous smoker? How much repainting will you have to do? Nasty carpet? Hardwood floors under carpet? (we pulled up our nasty carpet and are redoing the hardwood).

16. Do you want to live on a main/busy street or in dead end?

17. Enough parking for your vehicles and good space to work on them? Can you store them outside w/o getting fined? Does it have a garage, etc?

18. Proximity to stores. We live less than a block from Kroger and it's awesome being able to walk to the grocery store.

19. Neighbors with loud dogs. We have a ton and it sucks.

20. Do you want trees on your property? If so, take a good look at them. Are they healthy and pruned? If not, you might get this.

21. Do you like yardwork and landscaping? Is it nasty and FUBAR? Ours was jank when we moved in.

22. Can you get out if you get tons of snow?

23. Do you live in a floodplain or near a creek or drainage ditch. My fiances brother just got flooded with 4' of water in a flash flood from a small drainage ditch in his backyard.

HTH

nw-xj-scott said:

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:roflmao: