I'm pretty bummed out...
I'm trying to buy my first house... With my daughter getting bigger, the apt life isn't really fitting us.
Today was our 2nd day of checking out houses and we looked at 4 houses. We found this gorgeous house...both my bf and I LOVED! It's 1950 sq ft and listed at $129,900 with 3 bd and 3.5 bathroom.. It had a huge bedroom, bigger than master in the basement and that wasn't even counted as bedroom...huge living and kitchen also. It was listed only about 9 days ago and I mean... it was sooo nice. Everything we wanted AND more. It is at the top of what I was approved. But since we have the apartment lease we just renewed in December, we got about 9 more months to go and we were actually thinking about buying one around October or November to give us time to fix the house if needed. Couple months worth of rent, I can do, along with the mortgage but not for 10 months. I did look into how to get out of the lease and I have to pay over $5,000 or move out hoping someone will move in our spot soon.. If not, it will hurt my credit. I'm trying to keep telling myself that longer we wait, more money we will have saved for appliances, furniture, and to even fix whatever needed. BUT I loved it so much that the next house we saw was like nothing. I was like bleh. Then there was another house we were very interested... it was listed for one day and now it's pending already... It was also 3 bed room with about 2,000 sq ft at $114,500. So I'm sooo bummed out. I'm thinking maybe I should wait till like end of August or so to start actually going to look at houses so that this doesn't happen again..but not sure if that should be enough time. We can only go look at houses on weekends because of working schedule.
For those who already own a house or have went down that road, how long did it take for you to find the one you liked? Also, do you think it would be enough time if I start actually checking out houses in August to move into one in December at the latest? Or should I keep checking them from now although we don't really have fund for it yet? (We are going to get FHA loan so down payment will be 3.5%..)
I know this is REALLY OT but I don't have anyone to talk to really.... and was just wondering what you ladies would think...
Thank you!
You can ask the rental office if they currently have a wait list for your size apartment. If not find out how many they have available at this time. This should give you an idea of how quickly they will rent it out. Something else to ask is if you can sublet.
Now is an excellent time to buy; prices are low as are interest rates. If it were me I would do everything I could to buy a place now; I would even consider eating the 5K. You have to consider the tax advantages in addition to your current market and approval status.
If you decide to wait looking now will only drive you nuts with what you can't have. Realistically once you are in a position to buy it most likely won't take more than 45-90 days to be in your new place so August might even be a little early; again this depends on your area.
I just bought my first house Nov. of last year. I think I looked since May of last year. Things just weren't working out financially for me and all the houses I liked were way out of my price range and then the ones that were didn't last long on the market. I found my houses in October and was finally able to make an offer on it. My mortgage lender made me work on my credit before he would move forward with me. There was on house that I just loved and the day before I was able to make an offer it went off the market. I didn't think I would ever find another house that I liked, but I did and I am glad I waited to find this one. I ended up getting a Rural Development loan and didn't have to put anything down and the seller paid all the closing costs!
It's a long road but it will be worth it. As soon as I moved out of my old apt (after the lease was up) they tried to say that I owed them $900, which I didn't. You will feel like things are coming down around you but you just have to keep pressing forward. Just don't get discouraged. Everything will work out eventually.
House hunting can be fun There was one house that I went into that advertised 2 1/2 baths, the half bath was a toilet in the middle of the basement. There was the house with a pepto bismal pink bathroom, everything was pink, the toilet, sink, bathtub, ceramic tile on the walls and floor. These were the good ones, I was so discouraged. I was ready to give up and then I found the one I wanted, I went thru the house with my realtor and the sellers realtor, as soon as we got outside I told them to start the paperwork I wanted this house. It was 3 months from the time I put in the bid to the day I moved in.
Have you checked out all the home buyers assistance programs in your area? If not, check them out and see if you qualify for anything. You might not want to look until you are ready to buy, it will just set you for disappointment when you see one you really want.
Thank you! My realtor is also my mortgage agent. I checked out different types of home buyers assistance programs and was told that I can get FHA... So that's about it.
jademarlene One of the house we went to see said it had 2.5 garage...We could barely park Dodge Neon and Jeep side to side. :P Then another house we went said fully remodeled.. I think they forgot to say "had to stop in the process of" in front of "fully remodeled." Doors were missing doorknobs..and the husband didn't know what he was doing because trims were like 3 inches shorter, drywalls not full sized... :P
I think you ladies are right. I shouldn wait to look until I'm ready... I was told by some people that it can take upto a year if not more to find one...and that's why I started looking now although I am not fully ready yet because I was scared that we wouldn't have a place to move by the end of the lease... (My bf moved to MI and living with us, and I don't have any family in MI... so we don't have anywhere to stay at... )
Mojo You are soo right. Something I really like is quite out of my price range, and whatever is in the range goes off of the market even before I can lay my eyes on the actual property. I think I will wait till about July since we will have more than enough for downpayment by then..and whatever we save after that will be for stuff for the house. And it will give us some time to look for the right one and then some more..as we are thinking we should be looking at putting an offer sometime in October so we have extra time just in case things don't go as planned.
real estate rule #1: you can NOT fall in love with a house! It is just a house- nothing more, nothing less. Getting emotionally involved will lead you to make countless expesive mistakes.
hang in there. In this market I would underbid thier asking price by a lot (like 20%) after it has sat on the market for a while. Then let them come back to you with a counter offer. You have all the power in a down market- if they need to sell bad enough they might consider paying your $5k fee to break your lease even.
you are new at this and fell in love with a house that looks perfect to you- now do your homework and visit lots of other houses. You'll have to learn to look beyond the cosmetic details. Carpet is easily replaced with hardwood, walls can be retextured, new countertops and painted cabinets make a kitchen look new... it is your first house so invest wisely- look for an ugly house at a cheap, cheap, cheap price(worst house in the best neighborhood) then fix it up and build instand equity. Many real estate experts think we have not seen the bottom of the market yet so wating until your lease expires would be good.
winter is a GREAT time to buy a house in the midwest - no one wants to move in the winter so the sellers must be highly motivated. I know it is hard but waiting it out might get you a much better deal. My friend bought last year and has lost $50k so far on her house- she wouldn't listen when she was told to hold out because she fell in love with a very cute house that was perfect for her.
real estate rule #1: you can NOT fall in love with a house! It is just a house- nothing more, nothing less. Getting emotionally involved will lead you to make countless expesive mistakes.
Thank you for the advice! It really hit me hard!
Quote:
you are new at this and fell in love with a house that looks perfect to you- now do your homework and visit lots of other houses. You'll have to learn to look beyond the cosmetic details. Carpet is easily replaced with hardwood, walls can be retextured, new countertops and painted cabinets make a kitchen look new... it is your first house so invest wisely- look for an ugly house at a cheap, cheap, cheap price(worst house in the best neighborhood) then fix it up and build instand equity. Many real estate experts think we have not seen the bottom of the market yet so wating until your lease expires would be good.
I even got a man who can do hardwood, drywalls, painting, and so on...and his friend! They have no problem working on it either on weekends... I really will have to learn to look beyond the cosmetic details! Thanks!!!
I could cry looking at the prices you've listed there lol.
My parents were up a few weekends ago to look at investment properties and the most rock bottom one in this suburb was $320,000 - and it was 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 420mtr block with no garage or carport - holes in wall, doors missing, the oven didn't work, needed new carpet and total repainting.
Real estate in Canberra is expensive. The average 3 bedroom house (with no ensuite) on a tiny block is about $360 - $370k and even THEN the number of buyers will force the price up higher.
I used to work in real estate (property manager) so I love the industry and I love houses...love "kicking bricks" i.e. house hunting.
I can't wait till I can seriously start looking myself. I am aiming for this time next year. I am most of the way to a 10% deposit and the job I have just been offered means I earn enough to qualify for a loan on my own...can't wait
Good luck with it all though - buying a house is a major milestone!
Hey there! My DH and I just bought our first home about a year ago and it was an interesting experience. We weren't planning on buying until summer of '08, but we had the 20% down payment and started looking just for fun. Well, we ended up falling in love with a house and bought it.. it was the 2nd house we looked at. Something I struggled with - a YEAR ago - was wondering what the housing market was going to do. I mean, a year ago it was a "good time to buy." Well, it is now, too...an even better time to buy! I don't think the housing market is going to turn around any time soon. So despite feeling rushed because you don't know what housing prices are going to do... I say, don't worry about it. It won't turn around over night and if you see prices starting to go back up (which I doubt they will, for at least another year if not more), then you can start looking then. I agree, if you look before you're ready, it'll just drive you nuts!
But something I do recommend is casually looking... 6 months before we bought our house, my husband and I would look online and find houses for sale. Then we narrowed down the area of town we wanted to live in, based on home values, crime, school districts, distance to work, etc. During the summer, we would drive over to these neighborhoods and park the car and take a walk around the neighborhood, just to get a feel for it... did people take care of their properties? Were there abandoned cars or unkept lawns and houses, because this was going to affect the value of our home. Did we like the neighborhood (were there lots of kids playing outside?) or did it seem kind of skeevy? Then, we visited open houses to get an idea of what we wanted versus what we needed. All this led up to purchasing our home.
It is sooo exciting to buy a home, but you WILL want to buy new furniture, appliances, etc. when you move. We had to buy a new fridge and then ended up with new couches soon after we moved. It can get expensive, so just think of this time as a way to save even more money to get the things you really want. And of course, anything added to the down payment is a bonus!
OT: house hunting/"My First House"
So I'm sooo bummed out. I'm thinking maybe I should wait till like end of August or so to start actually going to look at houses so that this doesn't happen again..but not sure if that should be enough time. We can only go look at houses on weekends because of working schedule. 
There was one house that I went into that advertised 2 1/2 baths, the half bath was a toilet in the middle of the basement. There was the house with a pepto bismal pink bathroom, everything was pink, the toilet, sink, bathtub, ceramic tile on the walls and floor. These were the good ones, I was so discouraged. I was ready to give up and then I found the one I wanted, I went thru the house with my realtor and the sellers realtor, as soon as we got outside I told them to start the paperwork I wanted this house. It was 3 months from the time I put in the bid to the day I moved in.
