Home Buying Advice, Please?

all good stuff: pay for a good inspector, fixed rate, and for the love of god, don't be in a hurry.


also, once you find a place you think you like, go back to the place, sit and simply listen. go one night at midnight on a weekend. show up another day at 6 p.m. on a tuesday and then try another time, say, sunday morning, and sit and listen.

 

That final walkthrough is supposed to take place the morning of the closing, not two days before.
When I was single, I bought a condo, and at the final walkthrough there was still some old furniture and a bag of garbage in the living room and all the repairs that were supposed to be made weren't made. At the closing, the seller wasn't there, just his lawyer, when I insisted on some extra compensation for the repairs and the stuff that was left, the seller's lawyer said he was hoping to come by in the next day or two and finish cleaning the apartment out. I said "no way". Then he said that he wasn't authorized to give me more than what was already agreed to in the contract, I sat there in shock as my lawyer sat there and said nothing in my defense and my lawyer did the same. I had to reluctantly agree to accept the terms. Had to spend my own money to make one of the repairs and bust my ass lugging a piece of furniture down a flight of stairs to the dumpster.

For selling that one and buying the place the wife & I are in now we used a different realtor and a different lawyer and things went much better.

As others have said, a realtor, fixed-rate mortgage, home inspection, and a real estate lawyer to help with the closing are musts. Get a home warranty if you can.
But most importantly, find a place that feels like home. Where you have that special feeling when you walk in the door. Don't settle for less than a house that has that feeling. When the wife & I were house-hunting, she had gone from a studio apartment in NYC to my small two-bedroom condo, so she was concerned with getting the most "bang for the buck" and I told her "It needs to feel like home". After we were done touring the house we bought she turned to me and said "I know what you mean now" (this is after she liked the space/price of several other places we looked at)

 

One other thing about the home inspector. Make sure that's all he does, and not repairs as well. It's a conflict of interest if the inspector starts telling you that the house needs a bunch of repairs, and tries to give you estimates.

That was one of the few things I was lucky with when I bought my house. My inspector was very good. The roof needed work, so we were able to knock the purchase price down a bit.

 

WFW. Figure out your budget and do not go over it.

Also, make sure to factor in monthly savings before you arrive at a figure for a mortgage payment. If you can't put any money away, you don't need to be buying a house.

 

solid advice.

 

We have lots working in our favor right now.
1) We're in apartment for which we didn't sign a lease. We can leave whenever we like.
2) My wife works at a bank and gets discounted mortgage rates (although, we'll still shop around)
3) We're slowly turning into a buyers market around these parts.
4) My wife is the pickiest person on the planet.
5) We're not in a hurry because of the above reasons.

We have a highly recommended Realtor (huh, it is capitalized; it comes up on my auto spell check). I planned on the house inspection — two if I have to. And my dad is a former contractor as well as former auto worker.

We pay $830 for a two-bedroom apartment now. And, we've managed to sock away $1,500 a month for a year. So we know what we can and can't afford. I have a firm number and won't go higher. At all.

And, to Tom Petty: I already planned on staking out the place like your suggestion.

 

Here's another question, maybe someone can answer:

We all know the list price is like the sticker price of a car — for suckers. But my question is, how much below the asking price do I offer on a home? Is it a percentage? A hard figure? What?

We want to offer on a home I already know is priced to sell. It's priced a few thousand less than others in the same area (the husband lost his job). And I've looked in this area before and I have an idea that this house is somewhat cheaply priced. That said, how much below asking price do I offer?

Any advice? Thanks.

 

My Realtor told me in my market, houses typically sell for 3 percent below the list price, so you offer 6-10 percent below the list price and meet in the middle.
Also, look into paying half every two weeks rather than once a month on the house. You can knock seven years (I think it is) off the life of the loan simply by doing that because the interest only accumulates for 14 days instead of 30 days.
But if you do that, make sure your lender actually posts the payment when you do and doesn't just save both for the end of the month. In that case, you get no benefit out of the two smaller payments instead of one larger one.
I use Citimortgage and have been very happy with them. They not only do what I just suggested, they encourage it. They also set up a money market account for your escrow so you get the interest on that money instead of them getting it.

 

I was one of the unfortunates who had a poor Realtor. She recommended a higher price than I wanted to offer. Also was upset because my inspector was delayed and could only get to the house 30 minutes before closing (the schedule was for one hour before because the buyers wouldn't let us in the day before). I refused to budge -- I wanted the follow-up inspection for a problem negotiated during the buying process; agent wanted to sit at the closing table.
End result: We got the house for $1,500 less than the Realtor originally wanted me to bid. With a more convincing agent, we might have saved more. Also, that last-minute inspection found that the problem was not fixed to my satisfaction. Walked into closing and threw that on the table, refusing to sign without a remedy/compensation. Seller offered $3,500 to cover the potential costs to me down the road.
With all of the good advice above, I say that no matter who says what to you, make all of your decisions based on YOUR best interest. Be sure you are comfortable in the decisions you make. My Realtor discussed my "low-ball" offer, saying I was "insulting" the seller. My offer was 8% below the list price, hers was 2%. She took me aside at closing and scoulded me for demanding compensation before I'd sign.
SCREW HER. I got a great house at a great price and have been happy in it for a few years now. I guess I cost her $100 in commission. Tough $***. My family's happiness and comfort are more important than her schedule and her ideas.

 

Thanks guys. We both really love this house we saw today. My wife and I both say we should put an offer in on it.

It's priced $3,000 less than a lesser home sold for recently on the same block. So, I'm not sure how much room we have to work with.

Like I said up top, we're in an apartment and in no hurry to buy. So I have no problem low-balling.

I also don't give two shits if it's "insulting." It's only insulting to the Realtor who wants the bigger commission, not the seller of the house.

I'm not here to make friends, I'm here to buy a house.

I also wish my wife would STOP saying the high-end amount we're pre-approved for. All that does is make our Realtor see green.

 

Okay, that as one of the best lines I've heard in weeks. I even tweeted it as such.