Home Buying: What would you have done differently?

Wouldn't have purchased at near the the height of the real estate bubble in '05, had I known.
 
I just closed on a new house on Thursday…..now for the seemingly insurmountable task: trying to restore order from boxes scattered throughout.

:eek:

But it's all good……nothing like being back in my own home, instead of an apartment (well, guess it's the banks for a couple decades…o_O)
 
MikeOH58 said:
Closing was cake! Hand hurts a little from initials/signatures, but no surprises. Now the work begins.
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Congrats! What state are you in?

Best thing I did: purchase a termite bond. My house (in FL) became home to a colony, and the extermination company had to buy about $15K in construction costs.
 
I would recommend to negotiate with your real estate agent beforehand. Real estate agents get paid a lot for not much work. Mine agreed to work for 1% of the selling price. When I closed, she wrote me a check for 2%.
 
We'll I'm in a bit different boat than most when it comes to home ownership... I inherited my house after my father passed away last year. It was in slight disrepair because of his attention being on his deteriorating health and caring for my mom who is disabled. So a lot of things slipped by when it comes to maintaining the place. I've been spending the past several months repairing, updating, and improving many things and I will just say that a home is a Huge responsibility. Huge. But it is very rewarding coming home and staying in "my house".
 
MikeOH58 said:
Closing on my first house on Wednesday! Yahoo! Figured it might be useful, specifically for first time home buyers to start a thread and discuss the things you wish you would have done differently.

1- Request seller provide property survey if property lines are not precisely known. *I have an approximate idea of my line, but the 1-2 feet in question have a line of small pines. I'd like to know who these trees belong to, and not i'm going to have to end up paying for a survey in the neighbor objects to me taking the trees down.

2- Request seller remove kitchen cabinets. They removed appliances. I am putting in new cabinets. Not sure if this ever happens in RE, but would have saved me a days work removing the old.

What say you?
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The advice provided is good, but consider this...

Buying the biggest house you can afford puts you into a large house payment (assuming you don't pay cash.) The "biggest house" theory is great - the thinking being that you purchase your last house first, but it falls apart if it's not really your last house. That is, how likely are you to move? Further, a super big house with a huge mortgage is tougher to rent out at a profit. After all, if I can afford your mortgage, plus your profit, in the form of rent, why wouldn't I buy my own house?

So... congratulations! But think about if you might have to move, and how you might rent out the property, it'll make your upkeep decisions easier. Even if you take a small loss every month, isn't a hundred bucks a month a small price to pay for a house that's (hopefully) building equity?

Another thing to think about - do you really want to own houses in different states around the country? I have a couple in one state, but when I moved to the west coast, I sure didn't want to add the complications of California taxes EVERY YEAR to my life. I know I'm only going to be here for a limited time, so why buy this time?

People say they "don't want to be landlords," and that's a good point. You can hire out the hard work for not a lot of money to a management company, or just stay away from it altogether, if you choose. Understand it's a pretty good way to make a good income without much work. As an aside, we purchased out neighbors house a few years ago. Talk about a great situation! You get to choose your neighbors! And people that want to live next to their landlords are pretty self selective...!

Again, best wishes!
LC
 
Time to find a new market insider, our (realtor) friend closed yesterday; selling her homes and moving to Oahu as a time share agent. Maybe the Mrs. would like to study for the license??
 
pnwchief22 said:
Time to find a new market insider, our (realtor) friend closed yesterday; selling her homes and moving to Oahu as a time share agent. Maybe the Mrs. would like to study for the license??
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I have one.

For studying use: http://www.rockwellinstitute.com/ Closest thing real estate has to King Schools but not nearly as good haha. I got my license in about 2 months intermixed with work and a baby.
 
Being a landlord sucks big time. It might work out for some I'd rather watch the mortgage company take back the house and declare BK then deal with another tenant. All I can say is charge the cap rate for your area and not a penny less. There's a reason. Know the landlord/tenant laws like the back of your hand. I had one incident this past summer that erased 5 years of any kind of profit (really non existent in the first place). And there's nothing like being threatened with your life over rent that THEY owe. I highly advise treating your income properties like a business. Like a pawn shop in the ghetto kinda business.

Buy some tools and a handyman book. House work can be fun and DIY projects are rewarding when its your own......but please remember there are some things that a reputable professional should do even though you saw it on Bath Crashers last night. I work in insurance restorations and go into alot of homes and its unbelievable the kind of trouble homeowners get themselves into thinking they know better and try to get some of that "sweat equity".
 
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