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Questions about owning a house...
We were driving around today and decided to stop and see some model homes. Yes, I know, bad idea. Now I have the house buying bug. To go with my baby bug. And now I'm just feeling really impatient all around.
But what shocked us were how low the prices on new houses were! I remember a couple years ago a house went on the market in my family's neighborhood and is was like 130,000 for a 12 year old house. Back then I remember thinking that was good but to get a new house built for less then 200,000? Wow.
So I guess my question is whether anyone has advice on having a house built as opposed to buying one on the market or if anyone has bought a foreclosed home instead?
And also if there are any great books out there for first time home buyers who really don't know what we're getting ourselves into.
Help! It's like a whole world has been opened up to use and we have no idea where to start.
Re: Questions about owning a house...
We didn't buy new - but out house was fairly "new"
It is only like 4 years old and we paid - 110K for it. It was a smokin deal and there is no way I would have bought a new build unless it was close to that price! It was a short sale though, and those are toughies to deal with! It can take a long time and end up not working out - but it was definitely worth it for our nice and tiny mortgage!
I would keep your eyes open for both new builds and already built homes. Just see what you like. New builds obviously have a ton of positives - still under warranty, design it the way you want it, etc. But with the surplus of great homes on the market for cheap right now, you may be able to get more for you buck by going via the existing home route. Just make sure you have a good realtor to get you through the ins and outs! (if you need a rec. just let me know)
This is true, but there are some home builders out there that include a lot, usually the smaller homebuilders. Also, if you can get one that is already built that can save a lot of money. People will put a deposit down on a new build, the builder with start the process and then the buyer will back out, leaving a brand new house with all the upgrades they picked out, but with no buyer. They try to get rid of those quickly and they are usually a good deal. When we looked at homes we looked at both new and used homes and the one we liked best was used, but with a lot of upgrades the previous owner had done. So my advice would be to look at both and wait until you find the one you love.
we brought a bank owned older (1971) townhouse for the price of a car last novem. the process for us was super quick - wrote the offer on halloween and closed on novem 17th. but we bought 'as is' and it is def a fixer but we LOVE it.
recently, we have been looking into buying another home and have looked at newer ones too. we have seen a few in which as lyndsey has said where the orginal buyer backed out. we found those to be much cheaper and nicer than starting from a 'basic new build.' i dont know of any books but you can go onto hgtv's website and click on the property virgins site and learn alot there. make sure you find a good realtor as well. plus what has help us alot is making a list of our wants/needs and taking it with us when we view homes, also after we look at a home we quickly write down everything we liked and didnt that way later we can quickly narrow the list now and remember exactly what our 1st thoughts of the home was. goood luck!!
This, they are usually called "spec" homes, and that is the type of house my parents got when they first moved out here and it has some major upgrades that they ended up not having to pay for since at that pointed they just wanted to sell the house. Also if you really want to do new build maybe see if they have models for sale, most times they again will have upgrades that you won't have to pay an arm and a leg for. My friend is currently buying a model home and it has a ton of upgrades.
Like pp have said look at both, and see what you like more, also know that with an older home or "pre-owned" home you could find something you like even more then a new build
Good luck and have fun and make sure you have a good relator 
Keep in mind too the out of pocket costs of moving in to a new build-- no window treatments (how long can you go with sheets hanging over windows?), no backyard landscaping/very minimal front yard landscaping, no pool (if you want one), etc. This stuff can add up to tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket, how long will it take you to do all of it? A lot of times tou can get a recently build "used" home for the same price with all of this included.
Look at your local community center or community college, a lot of times they offer classes for new home buyers.
this, and a new build will have an HOA that will have requirements on how quickly you need to get these things done. i like new homes because they're new, but i feel like the build quality of older homes is better. now they are really cookie cutter and it seems like they're in such a hurry to get them built corners are probably cut. i like the look of new homes better, but the construction of the older, block style homes. that being said, new homes come with a warranty so you really shouldn't have anything to worry about there.
most new built homes are on the "outkirts" so i guess that's one downfall is that they're usually further away. but a lot of people will deal with it to get such a great deal. my husband is the opposite, he wants to live in the developed areas and would rather pay a little more. frustrating to me sometimes but i can't make him! good luck!
That would be great. I'm not opposed to buying any of the dummies books because that's usually where I start out;)
I was surprised to see things like access doors in the garage being an upgrade you had to pay for on top of the price of the house. But I didn't even think about anything like window treatments(because of course every time you move the windows are always different sizes then the curtains you have) and I'm very sick of the dirt yard at the rental we're in now and I'm sure landscaping can get very expensive.
I think for now we're going to keep looking into it and find a Realtor and put away some money for a down payment. I like the thought of designing our own custom home some day when we have the money to put into it.
Yeah, I'm the same way. You've got another PM.
I think the one thing to be sure of is the bottom line. We bought a couple of years ago, and the house wasn't in the best of shape, but it already had a 500 sf pool, and was fully landscaped, end of a cul-de-sac back yard. we're still working room by room on getting the house to where we want (next up? knocking down walls in the kitchen), but because it was foreclosed, and the bank was willing to pay for repairs AND closing costs, we decided that we liked the idea of doing some work to make it our own inside, since the outside needed zero effort.
Another thing to remember is don't be afraid to fire your realtor. I know people who were so upset becase they felt they had to stay with the person they went with, but they weren't looking at anything they liked. Finding someone who's willing to really listen and help you find what you want makes the process much less stressful-and with a process so nerve wracking the first time through, you need to make sure you're going to be happy with where you end up