Buying A Home
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Hi: question about first time home owner
Hi everyone. This is my first time on these boards. I have lurked a little. My fiance and I are in the process of looking/buying our first home. We have a realtor that has been showing us homes. My question is, what, if any, perks are there for first time home buyers. I know there were tax incentives a few years ago, but are there any incentives still available? Also, any other advice is most appreciated.
Re: Hi: question about first time home owner
There aren't any huge programs like the first time homebuyer credits of a few years ago, but some states and counties have grants that are available to first time homebuyers that qualify. I would google your state and your county to see if there is anything available to you. Have you already been preapproved for a loan? If not I would sit down and figure out what your comfort zone is payment wise and then get preapproved for a loan. This will make your offer much stronger when you put one in. We did not even allow people to put in offers if they were not preapproved.
Another big piece of advice is to be realitic with your budgets and what your wants and needs are. If you have a small budget be realistic with what you will get. Don't look at a $200k house if you can only afford $150k you will only get disappointed and down about what you can get.
Have fun!!
If you're interested in the first time buyer incentives by your city or state, start researching them now and reach out to the ones you're interested in to see when they get funding and how long it takes to approve applications. I haven't used these programs but I looked into them when we were buying and funds get used up quickly, once they're gone for the year, they're gone. It's first come, first serve. Some of them have requirements about living in a certain area or staying in the home for a specific amount of time.
Check your local banks and credit unions; they often have free no-obligation home buying seminars you can go to that will help you become familiar with the process and what's involved. I remember when we first got serious about buying I was so overwhelmed and didn't know where to start.
One more thing, if you guys haven't already checked your credit reports recently, I'd do that now. You can get a free copy of each of your three credit reports once a year at http://annualcreditreport.com just to learn if there are any problems you need to work on before you start talking to lenders.
You can buy your FICO score from a number of websites, but the score it shows you will probably be different than the scores mortgage lenders see and will use. Once you have applied for loan pre-approval, your loan officer should go over your credit report and tell you what your score is.
There are no federal tax credits for first time homebuyers however, it is still a great time to purchase a house if you are ready.
Lenders (banks and credit unions) often have first time homebuyer loans. I know Wells Fargo had a 3% down conventional loan for first time homebuyers.
Don't purchase the max of what you were approved for. Typically (even now after the housing crash) banks still approve you for far more than you could comfortably afford.
Be realistic about purchasing and the home. Look past paint colors but be realistic when you start saying "oh we can knock down that wall and expand the house" those things are often quite expensive. They are also normally said on the housing shows as if it's so easy and cheap. Look for a home you can live in 5-10 years or more. House buying/selling is expensive - realtor fees, closing costs on a mortgage, etc. and it's not fun to do it every few years. When purchasing you can change a lot but not the location so make sure it's where you want to be.
Good luck!