First time home buyer - Tulsa area?

[Joeh]

Hey everyone,

To make things quick, as I can be a bit long winded, the fiance and I want to start the process of buying a home. Problem is, I've never bought a home before, so I have no idea where to start. Being young, I don't have any experience, or any contacts in the mortgage/real estate world. So I humbly come to my friends at OSA. Can anyone recommend me a few places to start looking? I'd like to get us prequalified before we begin shopping, although I don't imagine we'll have many issues achieving pre-qualification with our current financial status and credit ratings. Is there a good mortgage office in Tulsa? Who has the best rates right now? Is looking into an FHA loan something I'd benefit from, or are those geared more specifically at younger people with no credit history and not enough money for a down payment?

What about area's of Tulsa/BA/Owasso/Bixby that are good deals for 'starter' homes? We've been poking around out in the 'new tulsa' area, by 41st/51st and ~193rd, and also out in Owasso. Is there any other developments you all know of that we could benefit from looking at? We have realistic expectations (I think) and are looking for ~3 bedroom/2 bath homes, probably in the 1600-1800sqft range.

If needed, feel free to PM me for any specifics. I don't really want to go talk finances on an open forum, but if that information is needed it can be had through PM's.

So, who do you guys use/know? Any advice?

Thanks!
~Joey

 

[Thomas]

If you ever want to re-sell, I would advise buying as far south as you can afford.

As for mortgages, start with whoever you bank with as a base and call/shop around for rates while you look.

Make sure when you use mortgage calculators to see what you can "afford" to add your escrow for property taxes and insurance (roughly $150/month per $100k spent.)

 

[JD8]

If you ever want to re-sell, I would advise buying as far south as you can afford.

I dunno about that, most Midtown places hold their value far better than houses out South. We paid 61 a sq/ft here out south and was looking on average ~ 80-90 SQ/FT in Midtown. Great for a buyer as you get way more house for your dollar out south, but when it comes time to sell..... dunno if this is priority though.

To the OP, Bixby has homes popping up all over the place but the drive up memorial sucks, we ended up settling in south Tulsa/BA and we love it. Midtown in Tulsa is great but like I said, you're not going to get as much for your dollar. The Owasso homes that we viewed were too cookie cutter for us, but a lot of people love it out there. Get on tulsarealtor.com and browse around to see what you might like....

 

[tbudspires]

My wife is a realtor for Coldwell Banker here in South Tulsa. There are definitely some places to avoid and some mortgage companies that are better than others. Unfortunately its just not about the interest rate. She can give you some non-biased, sound advice. She has a lot of common sense which is not all that common in real estate. You can PM me if you want. She is no pressure and could probably help you save a lot of time narrowing down your criteria whether you ever use her to buy a house or not.