Buying A Home
R3dhead25
member
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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.
Not sure where to start...
My SO and I want to start looking to buy a house, but I'm not sure where to even begin. If you guys could help steer me in some sort of direction that would be amazing.
TIA!!
Re: Not sure where to start...
I'm in the process of buying a home now with my husband! It's so exciting but also scary!
I started with looking up articles about "Are you ready to buy a home" not because we weren't sure but because they usually have links to mortgage calculators, so you can see what you can afford to buy.
I then chose a lender. My brother had just bought a house and liked his so we went with American Mortgage (In Ohio- not sure if they are nation wide).
Having a realtor is free for the buyer so your lender can reccomend one. Or you can look on your own. We found our dream house right away just by driving around the area we wanted to live in.
After you find the house you want your lender will walk you through the rest of the process.
Helpful hints: If you don't already, create a filing system for all your check stubs, taxes, make copies of your drivers license and social security card and keep it in there too. Preferably make it mobile (I use a file tote) so whenever they need something, you will have it with you. I take mine everytime I go into the office to sign something. Also MAKE COPIES! Your lender may not lose things but once they start processing your loan it takes about 30 people and things may get misplaced along the way and you don't want to have to keep getting info together. So make copies and file it in there too.
Happy house buying. ( :
We close in about 3 weeks. ( :
The best place to start is your budget. You want to make sure you buy a house that you can afford without having to stretch too much. A lot of people dont realize that a mortgage calculator only tells you the principal and interest you are going to pay but you also need to factor in taxes and homeowners insurance. Also your utilities in a house will be more than an apartment. Once you figure out how much you can afford its time to start thinking about where to buy. This can help you estimate the amount of taxes and insurance that you will have to add to that monthly mortgage calculator amount so you can see what you REALLY can afford to borrow. From there I would say talk to a mortgage lender and get preapproved so again you know where you can afford to look. There is nothing worse than looking at your dream home and realizing you cant buy it. Keep in mind that often times you will be approved for more than you really can or want to afford per month.
I would ask friends and family for realtor recommendations, unless you are in Pennsylvania in which case Ill be happy to help you! But thats the best way to find someone......by asking people you trust.
The PP's have given some great advice.
First, like a PP suggested, start doing some readings online about buying your first home and what to expect.
Second, take a long hard look at your budget. When DH and I started to think about buying I made up a spreadsheet with our current and projected expenses. We are in the process of TTC so knowing we could swing baby and house was very important to us. Over estimate everything! If you do, you'll know you can handle it and the silver lining is that once you have found the house of your dreams and moved in hopefully you'll find cost of monthly bills less than your estimate.
Third, find a realtor. Ask friends and family for recommendations. Don't go with the random agent assigned to you by the real estate website. We did this for our first agent and it was bad news! She was terrible! Interview the agents and make sure they will be willing to work for you.
Maybe third part B, start looking at houses online in your area. Get an idea of what your money will buy you. Your agent should be able to help with this but having an idea of what kind of home you can buy will help. You'll set your max passed on the budget.
Fourth, talk to a lender. Of course, you have already done your budget and know what kind of down payment you have but making sure a lender agrees with you on what you can spend is best. Get pre-approved so that when you find that dream home, you can buy.
Fifth, have fun and enjoy the ride!
Our house building adventure (UPDATED 8/20/12)
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