Buying your first house?

[_CY_]

if you can swing it and are stable financially... Buy NOW!!

we are on the bottom or very near the bottom of the housing market.
mark my words... wait 2-3 years and prices will have rebounded and interests rates have gone up.

it's currently a buyer's market... in a few years, no telling.

 

[RWS]

i second all of the above, especially to reduce debts and payments between now and then, save as much as you can, and pay ALL bills ON TIME, between now and then. you may be asked to produce 12 months utility biils with NO late payments. we dont have much trouble now, but a few years ago, my wife and i had trouble getting loans because we didnt have enough credit. even though we had no negative info on our credit reports, we didnt have enough loan history to qualify for much of a loan without cosigners or massive collateral/down payments. it was very frustrating at the time. also, you may have to work awhile before your income will be accepted.

 

[trickydick]

All the above is really good advise, to add when you find a house that you might want to "jump on" go by the house during the work day and check out the neighberhood, 5 people walking around the block during a weekday from 9-5 isn't a good thing also go at night to check out the street lights( is one five feet outside the master bedroom window or is the house the darkest place on block where anybody could sneek around undetected).
There are other expenses to buying a house due at closing or when working the contract, ernest money, probably 1000, house inspection 300, termite inspection 2-300, and they might charge you a partial house payment at closing to get the payments matched up to the 1st of the month.

 

[packnpair]

Lots of good stuff here, in addition when youre looking at houses, other things to think about, look at the elevation. You dont want to be at the lowest elevation in the neighborhood. (storm water runoff, is it in a flood zone?) Steepness of the drive, can you get in and out in bad weather? Things like that. Don't get so hooked on a house that you can't walk away, if you don't like the deal, walk away, THE ONE will come your way, keep looking and be patient. Zillow IS a great resource.

 

[eellis]

The first house i would just keep it simple til you get your hole career and everything running. Stay in it for a few years. Then build your own house to sell keep it simple ,dont go over board. If you build 3 house on your last one you should be pretty close to debt free. The key is finding a lender. Im on house number 2. I worked full time and built them on the side.

 

[soonersfan]

1. If you are going to be newly married, rent for a year before buying. It will help you better understand what you are looking for in a purchase and will take some stress off of your first year of marriage.
2. Find a church or local organization offering a Dave Ramsey financial peace seminar. It will likely be the best financial advice you ever get. It will help you get started right in your new life with a new career and wife.
3. Disregard what the bank is willing to lend. Our current foreclosure crisis could have been avoided if people had enough sense to only borrow what they could afford, not what they could borrow.
4. Put 20% down. You need to have skin in the game to really appreciate the magnitude of this investment. Even though money is cheap, paying PMI is stupid.
5. Avoid paying credit card interest ever! If you use a card, be sure you don't spend more than you can pay off at the end of every month.
6. Don't have more than one car payment at a time between the two of you and keep that payment modest.

It is only natural to want everything now but if you want anything later, you'd better stay clear of debt and take your time acquiring assets. There are not going to be enough greeter positions at Wal-Mart for all the 80 year old people from this generation who did little to nothing to prepare for their retirement.

 

[Old Fart]

My advice is don't get into such a big hurry you end up in something you don't like or has more problems than it's worth.

 

[Jefpainthorse]

I'd rent awhile and get settled.

First house we bought (years ago) was a good, sound house purchased from the owner on a "Land Contract-Owner financed basis" ... not the fanciest house or the spendiest neighborhood... but after 9 years... the tax savings and equity put us in a postition to live where we wanted too.

Good luck on your upcoming life!