im buying my first house soon -- spam me with tips & advice!!!!!
 

i am 18(soon 19, can buy liquor in canada :pimp) and will be moving out and buying my first house soon (internet is my main source of income)..... i know there are a lot of home owners on here so SPAM ME WITH TIPS AND ADVICE!!!

house in usa? what market?

moving back home to canada.... prince edward island... small island on the east coast.

Pay as much of everything else that you possibly can. Get any outstanding loans/car payments done before you buy a house. Make sure you have a nice little amount stashed away in the bank just incase anything happens.

Thats about all the advise I can give ya other than congrats and enjoy it when you do it. I bought my own house 15 months ago at 22 years old and I love it. Only shitty thing is my younger brother lives with me but he's ok most of the time.

congrats man :)


goodluck with the purchase

Get a good structural survey, try and get 2 beds+ so you can have a lodger paying off most of your mortgage.

Good luck.

I only rented houses, so all i can say - check the water tubes first of all :)
Good luck.

If it's a newly built home. At the final walk through make sure you take a leveler, a framers square. You would surprised how much shit builders, and subcontractors try to get away with.

dont trust the real estate people...do your own research and look for yourself...those real estate people are leeches..they only want to make a sale and dont care if you get the right place

pay someone $200-300 to do a private inspection before you actually buy it.

:thumbsup

Exactly.

Also before you sign ANY paperwork on your offer, or whatever. Make sure that you put in the box there at the end "contingent on results of inspection".

That way if your inspection comes back whack, or there is a whole list of shit that's wrong, you are not bound by your 'offer' on the house. This is KEY.

:2 cents:

I rented out my Basement for the first few years....It allowed me to get a much bigger house

and it paid half of my morgage

oh....and I went on this site every day for 3 months www.mls.ca

most banks/under writters require you have an inspection

make sure they do a termite inspection as well

also my advice is make sure you have atleast 3 months worth of bills in the bank

you will find all sorts of problems pop up when you own a home

Before you start looking get a pre-approved mortgage.

Inspection, inspection, inspection. In fact, even go so far as to get a structural engineer, and electrician and a plumber and an HVAC pro to do the inspections instead of someone who does the "whole house". Most of those are minimally trained.

That sums it up well...

this is sooo true

i was luck with my home inspector as they brought out a complete team of people all specializing in every area of the building

thanks for the tips :upsidedow :upsidedow :upsidedow :upsidedow :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup

you buying in fl?

where?

I'm closing on a house on the 15th. I was able to get the sellers to drop the price by $10k, pay up to $5k of the closing costs, repair a ton of small annoyances, buy a termite bond, and throw in a home warranty for the first year.

You can negotiate a LOT :)

if doable, put down 20% and get a 15 year mortgage.

do NOT get an ARM loan

fixed rate is the only way to go.

if your credit is good enough

I had to get an arm loan as my credit sucked.

This give me 2 years at a fixed rate (higher then a fixed rate loan) to get my credit in shape and refi to a fixed 30 year

My credit score have jumped 50+ points just since closing on the house in oct 06

Buy a single family house or a duplex --not a condo.

The resale potential for a condo is not as good.

:2cents from a former real estate broker.

For those who don't have the best credit, some mortgage lenders have what is called a 'comeback program' (not always called that), where your interest rate starts out higher. For each year you pay on time, the interest is lowered until the end of four years.

Don't get caught off guard by all of the extra costs that pop up during the closing.

no points.

Get roomies to lower your payments for the mortgage. DONT make anybody sign a lease though; leases puts the owner more in hot water then the tenant these days. (at least in Quebec) If they happen to be a pain in the ass you can just kick them out, plus if you happen to sell your house in the next few years capital gain wont be taxable.

thanks :thumbsup :thumbsup **bookmarks this thread**

Avoid a flat roof if you can. My tri-level house has cathedral ceilings over half of it, but the garage and two bedrooms and one of the bathrooms are covered by a flat roof. I have to get up on the roof at least a half dozen times a year to sweep off leaves.

If any amount of water accumulates, it will find the tiniest crack in your roof and start penetrating it. I first had to patch the roof several times in the first few years (plus paint over water stains in the ceiling, replace carpet damage, etc), and since have had to replace that part of the roof twice.

Still, buying a home is a great investment - good tax write-off, and mine is almost paid off (six more years).

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Consider the number of stairs in the house. Ours is three storeys and for damn sure my next home will be a single-level bungalow.

The kids get mighty tired fetching me beer from the kitchen fridge. :winkwink:

bought my first 6 months ago and its been great.. I wouldn't trust anyone though.. my advice is:

inspection, inspection, inspection but also location, location, location...

I had someone try to sell me that on my refi because I was going nodoc. I politely declined since my credit is perfect and even after the end of the lowering, it was STILL higher than my local bank offered (this was HSBC who offered the "comeback program" - of course, he didn't call it that, lol).

Seems like a good program for someone with poor credit though.

Also, put down at LEAST 20% if you're in the states. Not sure how others do it but here you waste money on PMI if your loan is more than 80% of the value of the house. Also get owner's title insurance. I even get that on the vacant lots I buy. I just have this fear some Indian is going to knock on the door telling me my land is an ancient burial mound and I can't ever sell it :(

Make sure each and every window opens.

As long as you have a good credit history, you should be alright. If you're a "ghost" or have bad credit, expect to pay a higher than average interest rate.

prepaying as much as possible every year will remove MOJOR interest...

Congratulation for you future house! :)

Wow buying a home at 18. Congrats! :thumbsup

-get it inspected by a professional so you get an idea of the condition of the house and potential future maintenance expenses.
-put aside money for closing costs, furniture (especially important if you currently don't own any furniture and must buy it all), and unforseen problems (say you have a bad month, can you still pay the mortgage?)
-if you think you would have problems making the monthly mortage payments if rates were to increase, get a fixed rate. It's the safest way to go for most people.
-take into account other expenses/loans you have: car payments etc. on top of what you will pay for mortgage. You'll want to have money left over for things like utitilies (heat, water, electricity) and food.
-if there are things like unique light fixtures and other "chattel" that could possibly be taken by the seller that you want to keep with the house, you'll need to specify that in your contract.

Maybe your real estate agent can give you a small book "How to buy your home" (mine gave me one when I was buying). It's very small easy read and goes thru everything you need to know.

Make sure you have a real estate agent that is honest.

Make sure that your agent understands loans and lending and can review the loan papers for you.

Try to find a semi-reputable loan officer (good luck!) Stay away from Countrywide if you can. If they make big promises, get it in writing and be sceptical.

ALWAYS get a home inspection, even on a new home.

If you are buying a new home, stay on top of the builder and make sure they do the final repairs/punch list as soon as possible.

Double check your loan papers before closing. Don't know how many times I have had, of have seen the loans 'change' at the last second. Crappy loan officers will pull a switcheroo at closing, dropping you into a loan that makes them more money. They count on you not wanting to screw with them when you are sitting down and signing all your paperwork.

Good luck!

True dat

thanks for all the tips guys :thumbsup its very appreciated

clear all other debts first - this one is going to stay with you.

A house can be very expensive - unexpected repairs crop up frequently and need taking care of sooner or later. Imagine a leaky roof - or insects in the beams... some are just a few hundred, others a few thousand...

I have heaps of tips, which would relate to any marketplace in the world, but I am in Australia, so it is hard to give you advice on a market foreign to me. What I will say, is that if you are in Canada, A property Broker would be a good option, as they will do all the hunting with/for you, trying to get you the best price possible. If you do do this, I suggest you choose an independant brokerage, one that doesn't engage in Real Estate sales, as they are more likely to "Play you off" in a dutch auction so to speak. I have alot of advice to give anyone here who wants to know a little about the inner workings of real estate. Good Luck.

Let me just reiterate in case someone missed it before.

Stay the fuck away from Countrywide if at all possible!

congrats

Put down 20% to avoid PMI and to get the best possible interest rate.
Go with a fixed rate only, no matter how low the ARM rate starts out.

Beware of places like lendingtree.com, they like to sneak in alot of junk fees or bump your rate at the last minute when you're ready to close and they know if you cancel the deal because of that you won't get the house because someone else will buy it before you secure other financing.

Go with a local bank or mortgage broker who will disclose ALL of their fees upfront so you know what you're getting into, and you know who to go beat the shit out of if they try to screw you later.