Buying first house - advice?

[Catt57]

That's the plan, but we'll have to see how it works out. Im expecting roughly an 800 dollar payment on a couple of the places we're looking at. Nothing concrete so far.

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Don't forget that things like insurance, escrow, and property taxes are going to be added to that payment. An $800 "payment" could end up being $1300 after that all gets added in.

Make sure your looking at a "payment" that includes everything, not just the mortgage.

 

[xseler]

Don't buy anything on credit before you sign the papers and get the keys. I've seen people lose their financing because they charged a refrigerator before everything was final ---- the mortgage company pulls a final credit report just before you sign the closing documents.

Best of luck in your 'journey'!!

 

[MacFromOK]

One more thought...

Title insurance.

They guarantee the title is valid.

 

[Catt57]

This.

One more thought...

Title insurance.

They guarantee the title is valid.

The best peace of mind you could ever have.

 

[inactive]

Don't buy anything on credit before you sign the papers and get the keys. I've seen people lose their financing because they charged a refrigerator before everything was final ---- the mortgage company pulls a final credit report just before you sign the closing documents.

Best of luck in your 'journey'!!

+1

I went under contract to sell my first house in 6 days after listing. We had to extend the closing 4 or 5 more months because the buyer got all their appliances and furniture on credit before the original closing day.

Not only did it screw them up, but those extra months of carrying costs sure burned me.

 

[Tanis143]

When you find a house, talk to the neighbors. Nothing like moving in and finding out your next door neighbor is a crack head, or worse a Democrat (j/k for the few Dem minded folks here). Also, once you do buy the house, fill out the homestead paperwork. From my own experience, don't accept too many flaws in a house. I bought one as a fixer upper in 2010, 2 years later dropped almost 10k in HVAC and last year dropped another 5k in piers. We've not been able to do much inside because of this. If its a solid slab house, older than 20 years and has not been piered yet, I would be wary. If it has a crawlspace, make sure the pipes have been insulated. And always, always, always get a two car garage.

 

[RustedBeef]

+1

I went under contract to sell my first house in 6 days after listing. We had to extend the closing 4 or 5 more months because the buyer got all their appliances and furniture on credit before the original closing day.

Not only did it screw them up, but those extra months of carrying costs sure burned me.

Dang! The realtor said not to do anything like that just as I was leaving his office. Didn't realize it could be so bad

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[RustedBeef]

When you find a house, talk to the neighbors. Nothing like moving in and finding out your next door neighbor is a crack head, or worse a Democrat (j/k for the few Dem minded folks here). Also, once you do buy the house, fill out the homestead paperwork. From my own experience, don't accept too many flaws in a house. I bought one as a fixer upper in 2010, 2 years later dropped almost 10k in HVAC and last year dropped another 5k in piers. We've not been able to do much inside because of this. If its a solid slab house, older than 20 years and has not been piered yet, I would be wary. If it has a crawlspace, make sure the pipes have been insulated. And always, always, always get a two car garage.

What's piered?

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[Fredkrueger100]

Make sure you get a really good and honest inspector to inspect the house. And if there are any issues make sure and have the homeowners to fix them before you will buy.

 

[Tanis143]

What's piered?

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When a house settles the foundation can split away from the floor slab, causing cracks on the walls both inside and outside. To fix this they attach a metal bracket to the foundation wall, using a hydraulic jack to insert metal piping into the ground until it hits bedrock and lifts the foundation wall back up. Due to our clay soil in OK a large majority of houses will need piering within 20 years of being built. Some houses were built with piers already in place when the foundation was poured. Typically piers run 400-800 apiece depending on the company and method of installation.