Buying a house (The first-time homeowner's advice thread)

[stab]

About to sign a lease with two friends in a 4 bedroom 2-story house in the downtown area where I live. After talking to the owner/landlord I found out it was for sale at a very appealing price.  I think I have enough savings for a down-payment and would be able to work out a credit agreement somehow between the owner (seems like a good, honest dude) and my mom (as a cosigner? I dont want/need her financial assistance.

The place has some cosmetic work to be done but nothing crazy.  It might have a termite problem and I have a feeling it might be an asbestos house (built in 1920; other issues: plumbing? roof? ).  Both of those could potentially be deal-breakers so I'm trying to be cautious.

The cool thing about the place is that its a converted single family home that is now a duplex so I could live upstairs and rent out the bottom to some rich college kids or yuppies and let them essentially pay my mortgage. 

Does anyone have any experience or advice they could share with me. 

[Lance]

Have a home inspection done.  You'll have to for the bank to give you a mortgage regardless, you'll find out all the issues with the house through that for the most part.  Make them go through and be thorough with it.  that could end up helping you get the house for less, if your going to fix them yourself.  or make the homeowner have to have all issues resolved before you buy the house.

When i bought my house I had the homeowners go through and redo a bunch of electrical, and roofing shit that saved me time and money and headache down the road for the price we agreed on.  all the things you have listed are pretty easy fixes especially if you know somebody that works in those areas. Asbestos is the bitch, id try and get that taken care of before you commit, it can be really expensive to remove.

cosmetic shit you can do yourself and help add value to the house down the road.

Good Luck

[Beeda Weeda]

start watching home and gardening telivision, troll mls daily to get a good understanding of the current market values, make sure that hte house won't make you house poor, you deserve to have extra cash for yourself, equity is important, but quality of life is more important.
when looking at a house
look for water damage, potential water damage, grading around the foundations, smell the basement, get familiar with electrical codes, insulations, windows and different materials all around the house. LOOK can be deceiving. follow your gut, and don't ever fall in love with a house, you can make a stupid deciision this way.
water is the biggest enemy, roofs, windows doors should never be overlooked.

cosmetics is the easiest thing to fix, and can be the cheapest and most expensive at the same time.

good luck. Its a fun experience, and you will learn alot.

[police state]

its better to pay yourself than pay the landlord.  go through an agent if you aren't already, its free if your buying.  there's alot of costs that come up that you might not realize, like hiring a lawyer, (cost me $600).  I had sewage backup once, cost me another $80.  property taxes, school taxes, etc.

go on a budget plan for your heating and electricity, it just takes a simple call.  i bought my first house 2 and a half years ago, can't really remember everything I went through but it was mellow.  cutting the grass and shit.  If you're gonna have roomates have some kind of contract.    if the roof needs replacing/re shingling make sure its worked into the price.  where Im from it snows and people get burned when it comes to roofs.  they buy in the winter and the roof is shit. 

if i think of more stuff ill come back

[pugmaster]

Holy shit, about time for a good thread!  I am about 2-4 years away from being able to buy a home but think about this stuff often. 

Taxes seem like a good thing to consider as well as checking out the neighborhood at various times of day at various times of the week (to make sure you don't buy into a sketchy neighborhood). 

Speaking with neighbors (if they are available for discussion) to talk about their experiences there seems like a good idea.  I talk with my dad sometimes about the home buying process. 

He said "never put anything less than 20% down and always have at least 6 months worth of mortgage payment saved AND 10-20K in repair money lined up (didn't specify cash/credit)".

Many of the realty sites (trulia, etc) allow users to search for recently sold homes.  I assume that information is good when you want to justify a home offer.  ALWAYS search from low to high.  It is amazing what you will find that way, also, it makes you a better shopper.  Searching from HI-LOW seems like a good way to overpay for a house.


^I TOTALLY agree with the guy above who said to hire an inspector.  It is kind of like buying a car, you know, getting a mechanic to check it out.  But really, it is way more important when buying a home.  Not doing your homework on the front end can FUCK YOU in the long run. 

I don't think buying a 1 bathroom anything is a good idea, because they suck to live in.  Also, it is a good idea to think about the local schools and their ratings.  Re-selling will be much easier if the schools are good.


If a realtor isn't willing to suck/fuck to close the sale.... WALK.