looking for advice on buying my first home

[NorCalChris]

I'd like some advice. I'm looking to buy a house. I've never done it before, I'd like it to be an investment for my future. Everyone is always telling me it's time to buy, it's time to buy, so I figured I'd start looking and watching the market and learning about it. I owe on my student loans still, I look at that as long term debt. Not sure if those play a role in buying a house. I am looking for 150k and under. Id like to learn everything i can about how the process works, mortgages, repayments, tax write offs, first time home owner assistnace. etc... I guarantee I'll have a lot of questions, and as always, thank you for any advice.

 

[BleepinJeep]

i have some experience here but you need to be more specific. the points you mentioned could take up 3 or 4 books alone. I dont have that much time... But I will say that you should NEVER spend more than 45% of your take home pay on a home. the less the better. you can find some good deals right now on homepath.com. the banks are sitting on a lot of properties right now and are slowly selling them off.

as far as the debt. you might want to check out daveramsey.com and get some of his books or audio tapes.

And "Dolf De Roos" has an amazing audio book called "Wealth Magnet". he deals more with property investment but I'm sure his ideas might help you as well.

 

[NorCalChris]

i have some experience here but you need to be more specific.

Ok, what more information can I give to be less specific? I'm new to this stuff. Thank you for the links.

 

[Cottontail]

Someone else asked almost the same question within the last 8 weeks or so. Dig around the off-topic and see what you find. He got lots of good advise.

 

[PhotographerMike]

Since you plan on living in the house you need to be comfortable where you will live.
Before we bought we walked around the local neighborhoods we were interested in. Lots of time well spent getting the feel of different areas.
Learn all you can.
Have a professional home inspection done before you finalize anything.
Get "pre-qualified" with a bank so don't miss out.

Good luck,
Mike

 

[tbburg]

I forget which rapper is was, who said:

"Buy the cheapest house in the most expensive neighborhood you can find."

 

[Darky]

Have a professional home inspection done before you finalize anything.

x2

Also, if you are told of any major repairs that have been done recently, verify them before you let that influence your offer. I was told the well on our house had just been redone shortly before we bought it in 2008. Turns out it was redone in 2005, using the same pump from 1995...

 

[scoobyxj]

I'm not a home owner, but I would go as far as to say have two home inspections done, by two completely different people. I've learned a lot by just watching the Holms TV shows. It's amazing what you can pick out yourself with just a little knowledge.

 

[Rod Knee]

Arrange so the inspector works directly for you and understands that he/she is representing you. If the inspector says something to the effect that he generally works with the realtor, find someone else. Do not let the realtor into this process.

Do not work with a mortager that does not understand that he/she is working for you. Do not let the realtor into this process.

 

[SleeperXJ]

I think the idea of investment should be second on the list.
My wife and I bought our property as a short term investment.
15 years latter, we are settled into the neigborhood and not
moving any time soon.
In the long run, if it's a good neighborhood you'll be happy and that's the best
investment you can make.

 

[BleepinJeep]

Ok, what more information can I give to be less specific? I'm new to this stuff. Thank you for the links.

I just mean is there anything more specific that you would like to know about? I'll try to help if I can.

 

[whitexj98]

I'm also looking to buy my first house... I want to find one that needs some work. I was messin around on the internet to try and see how much I could qualify for, they called me and told me they won't give more then the purchase price for the house.

So how do you go about buying a house for say 50K and wanting a loan for 75K so you can do some work?

Also, could I take out more to pay off 6.8% student loans when most house loans are 3-4%?

And finally say you take a 30 year or 15 year loan, is there typically a penalty to pay off early?

 

[XJLI]

holy crap you can buy houses for 50k??? i need to move.

 

[WrenchMonkey]

Avoid home owners associations.

All the advice I got.

Robert

 

[NorCalChris]

I'm also looking to buy my first house... I want to find one that needs some work. I was messin around on the internet to try and see how much I could qualify for, they called me and told me they won't give more then the purchase price for the house.

So how do you go about buying a house for say 50K and wanting a loan for 75K so you can do some work?

Also, could I take out more to pay off 6.8% student loans when most house loans are 3-4%?

And finally say you take a 30 year or 15 year loan, is there typically a penalty to pay off early?

Holy crap dude. Couldn't have asked better questions. I'd like to know all that as well.


Also, I can't buy houses around here for under 130k it seems like. I'm not just going to jump on a house. I've been looking at mobile trailers which are selling for under 40-75k for really fancy ones. My questions is, is there any value as an investment in a mobile unit? Or even a modular home?

 

[BleepinJeep]

I'm also looking to buy my first house... I want to find one that needs some work. I was messin around on the internet to try and see how much I could qualify for, they called me and told me they won't give more then the purchase price for the house.

So how do you go about buying a house for say 50K and wanting a loan for 75K so you can do some work?

Also, could I take out more to pay off 6.8% student loans when most house loans are 3-4%?

And finally say you take a 30 year or 15 year loan, is there typically a penalty to pay off early?

So how do you go about buying a house for say 50K and wanting a loan for 75K so you can do some work?--
This is called a renovation mortgage. The easiest way for you to get one of these is to go to http://www.homepath.com/ and search for the homes that offer the renovation mortgage option. All the homes on there are bank owned foreclosures and they are only available to owner occupants (not investors) for the first 15 days after posting on the site.

Also, could I take out more to pay off 6.8% student loans when most house loans are 3-4%?--
No, you might could get a home equity loan to do this but you would have to have equity in your home first. And that is not advisable anyway, as you could lose your home over a student loan.

And finally say you take a 30 year or 15 year loan, is there typically a penalty to pay off early?--
Every loan is different, if the bank wants you to pay them back in hotdogs they can stipulate that in the paperwork and it would be legal. So make sure you get a loan that has no prepayment penalty, and no hotdog penalty:roflmao:

 

[BleepinJeep]

Holy crap dude. Couldn't have asked better questions. I'd like to know all that as well.


Also, I can't buy houses around here for under 130k it seems like. I'm not just going to jump on a house. I've been looking at mobile trailers which are selling for under 40-75k for really fancy ones. My questions is, is there any value as an investment in a mobile unit? Or even a modular home?

No, Never, Zip, Zero, Zilch. If you find one cheap and want to live in it that's fine but mobile homes, doublewides, always go down in value and houses always go up in value... over time.

 

[karstic]

Start with the book "Home Buying for Dummies"

 

[NorCalChris]

So It's a good idea to get "preapproved" for a loan? How does this work, If I get approved for say 200k, is it okay if I buy something for 150k? If so what happens to the extra money I was approved for?

Also, how are condos as an investment?

 

[NorCalChris]

Start with the book "Home Buying for Dummies"

Just bought it, Thanks for the recomendation.