Bye Bye Apartment (hopefully)

[ctab5060X]

I just went through this in October:

1. Budget something you can afford on 1 income and stick to that price range..

From the Good Faith Estimate the bank provided, our monthly obligation (rent/mortgage) will actually go down. We were really expecting something close to what we pay now, but we will definitely not complain about paying less and having a place of our own.

2. For a first time buyer, the FHA program is nice. 3.5% down, good interest rates, and lower credt score requirements.

Yes it is. The house is also in a rural development area so it also qualifies for an up to 100% financed USDA Rural Development loan. It falls under similar criteria as FHA, so you still get the benefit of good interest rates and stuff, just don't have to put down a down payment if you don't want to.

3. Research the area.

We have done that as well. Looks to be a real quiet neighborhood. We actually back up to a vacant lot and the lots behind the row of houses we will be on is commercial property that is set back a bit from the back of the property lines. Makes the lot seem bigger than it is.

From what we can tell (and the data I have seen), most of the homes in the area are ownerships, not rentals... and most people are our age with younger children at home. It is also in a good school district as well.

4. Real Estate agents are snakes, on both sides. Stick to your guns and if something sounds fishy, it probably is.

Thankfully, our realtor is a referral from another realtor I work with at Pinnacle. He seems to be fairly knowledgeable about most items, and if he can't answer the question, he is not afraid to tell us that he doesn't know and will call someone for clarification. I am generally a pretty good judge of character in most situations, and he seems to be the up front and honest type person.

HUD offers free first time homebuyer weekend courses, I suggest you go.

Even though we have already found one, attending one of those sounds like a really good idea.

Congrats! Have any pics?

Just some stock photos that are from the listing. The inspector will be there Wednesday early, so I plan on getting some really good pics then before we move in.

I'll put the listing photos in a new post below this one.

 

[ctab5060X]

House description:

3 bedroom, split bedroom plan
2 bath
2 car garage
brick exterior
eat-in kitchen with bay window
great room with fireplace
carpet in bedrooms
hardwood floors in hallway and great room
linoleum in the kitchen

 

[Qgar]

How beautiful! So now that you have 3 bedrooms, you need to fill them up!

 

[sdfcvoh]

Congrats!

Doug: Time for a home improvement JC Forum?

 

[roundout]

Now comes the hard part. You will spend at least $1000 at Lowe's in the first month. I guarantee it.

Your house looks newer, so this may not apply, but here's what we have done in the month since we moved in to our 1950s (updated, but not everywhere) 3/2/2:

painted a hideous red room into white (3 gallons of primer!!)
new gas range
programmable thermostat
4 or 5 new light fixtures
R&R old 2 prong electric plugs with 3 prong plugs
new shower heads
resurface cabinets in kitchen
made and hung a gate

Home ownership is great! Our total monthly out of pocket, including utilities, is about $100 more than renting a 900sqft apartment. It is a great time to buy!

 

[thepedroid]

Now comes the hard part. You will spend at least $1000 at Lowe's in the first month. I guarantee it.

That sounds about right. You'll find a bunch of little things that need to be fixed.

I spent a few hundred dollars on pool supplies and chemicals to get my pool blue again.

Spent a few hundred dollars on paint and hired a painter for the living room because I have over 30ft ceilings.

• I need to put up a new block wall because my wooden fence is really wobbly and beat up.
• Need to finish painting 2 bedrooms downstairs.
• Need to repair sprinkler heads that are broken.
• Need to win the lottery....this is just the beginning of it!

Even though its A LOT more work it is SO worth it. My monthly "rent" went down $122 but my electricity/gas/water/trash is going up a couple hundred dollars. This month will be the first full month of utility bills.

 

[CoffeeIcePapers]

Every trip to HD or Lowes costs $80, at least. Congrats, it looks like a nice place! How many square feet?

 

[ctab5060X]

Yeah, the first $1000 is pretty much already taken care of, if not more than that. House needs one appliance (fridge) and we are building a fence pronto.

How many square feet?

approx 1300

 

[mjg407]

Nice house dude, nice house.

 

[ctab5060X]

Today was Home Inspection day!

Inspector said the house was in great condition, and a real bargain considering the price.

Came away with a few minor things (mostly cosmetic), and only one major item.

The HVAC needs a really good cleaning, but from what our realtor told us, the owner is more than willing to have that done. irate:

Took some better pictures today... soon as I get them off the camera, I will upload some.

 

[t-cart]

Very nice Mr. Ctab! Congratulatios!

 

[mavsfan31]

Congrats dude! That must be really exciting!

 

[ctab5060X]

Finally got a chance to get some pictures of the house uploaded. Pictures aren't the best quality, just threw the camera over in auto and snapped away.

Outside front of the house. Bushes need to be trimmed big time, but we knew that was going to be part of it. Front door is down the little opening between the garage and the front bedroom.

Back of the house. Nothing spectacular...yet. Building a fence as soon as we can.

The great room. Nice never been used fire place. Thought that was odd. House is 12 years old and no fires?

Looking from the great room into the eat in kitchen. Lots of windows on the back of the house. I love that.

Kitchen. Little small, but neither my wife and I are really big chefs so it will do just fine. It actually feels bigger when standing in it, so I don't have a problem with that. Plus, I like having opposing counters instead of one long counter.

 

[thepedroid]

thats a pretty sweet looking house. Congrats again!

 

[Bandit_Driver]

Congrats !!! Looks nice...

 

[thepedroid]

Here is a good tip. If you haven't closed yet, get the seller to throw in a home warranty. I paid for my warranty which was $450 with a $75 deductible and it just saved my ass! My A/C went out on Saturday and it was 130 degrees upstairs in my house. Called up the number, they sent a guy out today and it turns out that my fuses blew because my fan motor was dead.

What would have cost me $700 plus today (which I don't have) only cost me $75!!!:rawk:

The warranty is through Home Warranty of America, you should check it out.

 

[ctab5060X]

Here is a good tip. If you haven't closed yet, get the seller to throw in a home warranty. I paid for my warranty which was $450 with a $75 deductible and it just saved my ass! My A/C went out on Saturday and it was 130 degrees upstairs in my house. Called up the number, they sent a guy out today and it turns out that my fuses blew because my fan motor was dead.

What would have cost me $700 plus today (which I don't have) only cost me $75!!!:rawk:

The warranty is through Home Warranty of America, you should check it out.

Home warranty is already written in.

Closing is a week away! :nana2:

All we are waiting on now is the appraisal (don't know why it is taking so long)...

 

[thepedroid]

All we are waiting on now is the appraisal (don't know why it is taking so long)...

My appraisal took forever too. The underwriter for my mortgage was Plaza Home Mortgage and they are real sticklers about the appraisal. We had to get 2 appraisals because they didn't think the first one was up to snuff. I think it was about 10 days for them to finally approve the second appraisal. I googled them and it turns out I wasn't the only person having issues with appraisals and Plaza Home Mortgage.


That whole "time is of the essence" clause in my contract seemed to only apply to me!

 

[ctab5060X]

My appraisal took forever too. The underwriter for my mortgage was Plaza Home Mortgage and they are real sticklers about the appraisal. We had to get 2 appraisals because they didn't think the first one was up to snuff. I think it was about 10 days for them to finally approve the second appraisal. I googled them and it turns out I wasn't the only person having issues with appraisals and Plaza Home Mortgage.


That whole "time is of the essence" clause in my contract seemed to only apply to me!

The waiting is what is killing me. Thing is, they are required to provide me with a copy of the appraisal at least 3 days prior to closing. That means they have 4 days left. Hopefully someone can light a fire under somebody's rear end!

 

[ctab5060X]

Well....

Today was a good news, bad news, good news kind of day. anic:

Good news: Appraisal came back

Bad news: Appraisal came back

Good news: We have an awesome realtor (and the seller of the house is great too!)

Confused? :insane:


Try and make a long story short here... House was originally listed at $109,900. Not wanting to lose the house due to another offer that was to be submitted the same day as ours, we upped our offer from 107K to 109K. Deal. Appraisal came back today... house appraised for 107... before I even had a chance to return the phone call from my realtor, he had talked to the seller and they dropped the price to 107K! :nana2:

Looks like we are going to get the house for what we originally wanted to offer! :beer::beer: