First time home buyer looking for advise?

Don’t use an fha if you want to buy right now...you’ll be at a competitive disadvantage against cash buyers and conventional mortgage buyers. Too much of a sellers market, in almost every region of the country.

Getting a Realtor to be your buyer-agent ( seller pays his fee at closing) would work you through almost all of the advice youre getting here
Property valuation, tax history, lenders, insurance, regulations and zoning issues, known plans for future development, school reports (schoolx have a big impact on property value): housing inspections and issues of concern, If you go FHA or VA they may make the seller fix a lot of issues you’ve been living with…lead, asbestos, even peeling paint. Contract issues. Etc etc etc

Talk with several Realtors that specialize in buyer-agency. Get references. They will negotiate with the seller on your behalf, factually.

Lots of great advice on this thread.

Thinking outside of the box, would your landlord be willing to sell to you? Sounds like you'd have a built in rental opportunity to help offset costs. Plus, you'd be saving 6-7% off the top by not needing a realtor. You already know the property and maintenance history.

FHA does have some downpayment assistance programs available, some are grants while others are deferred loans that need to be paid back when the house is paid off. Here is a link to the grants: [link to www.fha.com (secure)]

Rural Development is a great opportunity if you're buying in a qualifying area. You can put in the desired address to see if it qualifies: [link to www.rd.usda.gov (secure)]

I'd stay away from quicken loans, had some great transactions with them and some not so great transactions. Loans are assigned to brokers so you don't know what you're getting.

I'm sure there are local lenders in your area that are good, ask around. Once you find a lender you like, he/she will guide you through the process. You'll need bank records and a couple of years of tax returns to get the ball rolling.

Don't do something silly like buy a car or anything else on credit until you get the house deal closed.

Good luck!

Don’t purchase a home with a HOA & CCRs. The yearly increases and special assessments are a killer to finances. It will price you out and you’ll be unable to age in place come later retirement/last stage of life years.

Whatever the bank preapproves you for, buy at least 10-25% below that. Save the difference for home upgrades, repairs, and routine maintenance.

Accept no home is perfect. Look for good bones and disregard cosmetic blemishes. Research property owners. How many times was it sold. Stay away from rental homes now being placed on the market. Definitely stay away for quick flips.

The only rule you TRULY need: AVOID blaks AT ANY COST!!!!!!!

Wait a year for housing bubble to pop

thank you so much

Don’t ever get a loan where the rate changes. Mortgage rates will change but your rate shouldn’t.

If people are paying 3-4 times asking, I think you are years too late. The good thing is in a couple of years those people will want to back out and the market will collapse, that’s when you buy.

Don’t be excited until you realize the expense in repairs needed. Time flies and shit falls apart

You have cheap rent. Save your money and wait a few years to buy. When house prices are sky high, it is the worst time to buy.

OP, the fact you are getting this many cautionary comments means a lot of people get screwed or have regrets about buying houses. Take your time.

Hey friend, check out on YouTube a guy whose videos are under Reventure he has excellent analysis of places all over the country for investors where the job market is great cost of living is low housing is affordable you might have to watch a few but you'll see the pattern developing of the best areas of the country to move. Not just for investing but to live. He's very thorough and analytical.
Best of luck.

i dont have time is the fact been renting here for 14 years 350 a month i was told there selling this house on the river so there 14 year olds has a place to fish i offered to buy it but no

thanks brother will look

I don't understand finance in 1995 the house i am looking at sold for 25 grand now it is 147 grand taxes are a 200 perecent so if i buy in at a interest rate of 3.5 and next year it jumps up to 8% on a 30 year loan
in this market is better to pay higher rent than buy into the housing market i know nobody knows the trends but i know for a fact my grandfather made 16 a hour in the 50s and paid 5100 $ for a new home

Van, river, move down by.

I agree! It will be a buyers’ market.

Keep renting for 345$!!

keep saving your money for later, house prices will come down in a few years.

Please no H O A ! Or what name they changed it to ...
How tall your fence or colour of house or how high you grass is ' what friends you have over and their cars
How many cars can park what business you do at home.....
Can make life very bad !
When you get insurance need a few things ( rides)
"Guarantee replacement" ( most will give you100$ for a 2,000$
TV because it is 3 years old and average life is 5
But if you have that rider you will get 2,000$ or more to replace what was lost damaged

Also( code up grade) say you have damage and the insurance
States you need the wire to go through pipe now but you do not have that rider policy you are out of pocket for 10,000$ because the new codes need to have this ....
Just examples , I have had over the years !
Next how close are the houses to each other
Can you yell with out someone calling c p s
Finding the right house for yourself can make a lot of happy years:
Enjoying the sun , garden, view , the peace and quiet! .

Keep renting. Thats less that half of what you would actually pay after mortgage, insurance, tax etc. On a 110k mortgage.

Also upkeep on the new home would be a grand or more per year.

A collapse or bubble in real estate is drawing very near. Housing prices will fall drastically, so new buyers will go negative after home values collapse.

OP seems dead set on buying a house at the worst possible time in U.S. history rather than finding a new place to rent for a while so that he can make a well thought out decision without being under pressure.

find some rural land, get one of those portable buildings - they make nice large sizes and enclose it - find a private place to put it - nice land with tress and preferable near water - and away from big city - rural

no SIR or MAMA when does one buy into a market? its like me asking you about bitcion right ?

good advice.... last time 2008-2009 prices dropped by more than 1/2 in just a couple months... so, just watch and wait 'til January or February 2022...

I like to talk to people face to face. With that in mind, I would stay with a local credit union or small local bank.

It sounds like you need help understanding the financing. As someone already suggested, get a fixed interest rate not one that fluctuates. Interest rates are the lowest they have been since you grandfather bought that house.

3.6% interest on 100,000 = $3600/ yr or $300/mn interst.
12.0% interest on 100,000 = $12,000/yr or 1000/mn

See the importance of interest rates?

You do pay a small amount of principal(the amount you borrowed) each month, so gradually less of your payment goes towards interest and more towards principal. So, the most extra you can pay towards principal in the first years of your mortgage, the better off you will be in the long run.

If you file taxes long form, the interest and taxes are deductible. Now, the standard deductible has been raised so high that, unless you live where there is high property tax or you interest is real high, most don't have enough in deductions to file longform.

Most of the payment on a 30 year loan is the interest payment up until about year 20. You get better interest rates on shorter term loans which is less risk for the bank but you have to pay a higher principal amount to pay it back quicker.

Make sure that there are no penalties if you pay the loan off early.

What I do is get a 30 year loan eventhough the interest is a bit higher and pay extra towards the principal as I can. That will cut back on the number of years on the loan. Then, I have a lower payment due if I get strapped for cash. Many may disagree with this. Decide what is best for you.

With a fixed interest rate loan, the only thing that would cause the payment to fluctuate would be a change in property taxes or your homeowners policy. They shouldn't change that much. I also recommend flood insurance. It is not that expensive in a prefered zone, uh, unless you are in the desert then you shouldn't need it. Homeowners will not pay for any water damage due to flooding.

I also use escrow. Many recommend against this. Escrow is when the bank takes extra money, besides the principal and interest, to cover the property taxes and homeowners insurance. Again, it protects them. It is easier for me to let them make those payments for me. Back when you could get interest on your money, homeowners would prefer to save the money and earn interest on it then make the yearly payment. You do not earn interest on the money the bank holds in escrow.

Talk to several banks/agents about the loan. Most are very helpful in explaining it.

Have at least a 20% downpayment otherwise a bank will charge PMI insurance to protect themselves if you default. That is money thrown away.

I wouldn't buy anywhere with an HOA (homeowners association) which is most condominiums and some subdivisions unless you like other people spending your money and telling you what to do.

You have a great deal where you are. Stay there as long as you can. Do you have a lease? Unless you landlord is a really, really good person and likes you a lot, they want you out!


Hopes this makes sense and it helps.

Last Edited by LameDame on 11/29/2021 02:04 AM

Don't be slave to the fking grass

Hi, you have to get out in a hurry, try a piece of land with no history of floods and get a little prefab and you can build onto it.DONT get a basement, they are all dark and damp and moldy and housing for mice and spiders, i dont care how cute they look on tv. The pricing for prefabs is fairly stable but make sure local laws let you put one up. NO house trailors: hot as heck in the summer and freezing in winter; they do not appreciate in value and are death traps in high winds, tornadoes or fires. Bears around here walk right up to the smaller ones and rock them till they tip over then rip them apart.

Trees are nice but if too big and too old, a good wind can land them on your house, if near basement, roots can push the wall in and if near your sewerpipes, nothing but trouble. AVOID septic tanks at all costs. Dont be too close to the next house or on a street where some houses look junky and run down.

I dont recall seeing this mentioned but whatever you do, get a home inspector to go over the house. They can save you from paying for a new foundation, new roof, avoiding black mold, etc. Start watching all the HGTV shows you'll her Holmes ask a crying homeowner,"didnt you have a home inspection" and they reply (crying), NO.we saved money not to.

We bought our 100 yr old small home 15yrs ago for 30k, it wasnt much to look at but all solid built Amish style wood and brick.And two bdrm, two bath. Inspecter said foundation not much. OK, but its lasted 100yrs, I thought, if it folds, Ill move the furnace and electric up into the where the stairs area is and fill the rest with sand and gravel, it was two story so the foot print to do that wasnt much. We added a front porch first year and every year, did one project,the roof, next the windows and so on, just a really cute place with a double lot and the trees we dug up here and there for free are great now.Planted all perrenials and lots of wild berries.

Dont get bogged down with imaginary scenarios.My car was only 12k slightly used when I bought it, and now it would have cost 22k so what. The fact is look for a good deal, tax sales, or estate sales. Ours, the kids out of state wanted to unload the property fast when an uncle died and left it to them.Drive around and watch for sale by owner.

We both worked and I got a 40 yr mortgage from our credit union and it let me pay off on the principal without penalty so I made my payment and all the money I made on my paintings or bakesales etc or that he made, we paid down on the principle and in 12 years we owned it free and clear and we retired.

Good advice. People saying to wait have no clue. Blackrock and the like are buying up property like crazy and driving regular folks out of the market. Interest rates are great right now and guaranteed to go up big time soon.

Lock in a low rate and nickel and dime repairs.

If you can acquire some acreage with a slab that use to have a mobile home attached, for a decent price, then that's what I would do. They typically already have a well drilled and septic hookups already, along with power and phone available sometimes.

Then you can slap your own mobile unit on it and hook it up.

A 60-90k, *2-10 acre parcel with those options, plus a 10k mobile unit and approximately 3-5k moving cost will net you not only a house but some acreage also if you can find something like that. In total might cost you 110k or so.

I came across several some years back that fit the bill for such a scenario. You might get lucky and find one. Shop around. Look at every listing carefully.

I know folks who have been saying that for 2 years


It is not going to crash