First time home owners dos and don'ts???

[Indyrick]

I just bought a house and something I learned is that you have the seller pay all the closing costs. This will keep them from messing with you on the price negotiations if they are responsible for the costs.

Mind elaborating more on this one? I thought it was the norm that the seller pay all the closing cost regarding the house / banks lawyer fee and the buyer pays bank fees regarding the mortgage... didn't think the buyer had to any of the inspections or anything like that.

I got a government loan and it had costs associated with this so I had the seller pony up all the money for these fees that I would have to cover. I also had them put enough towards closing that I got a .25 percent lower interest rate because they put so much towards closing. In the end it I paid nothing out of pocket to move into the house. figure what is required for closing costs and go above that number and you can find creative ways to use their money to your advantage. In my case lower interest rate and all my escrow money back.

[handicapme]

Mind elaborating more on this one? I thought it was the norm that the seller pay all the closing cost regarding the house / banks lawyer fee and the buyer pays bank fees regarding the mortgage... didn't think the buyer had to any of the inspections or anything like that.

I got a government loan and it had costs associated with this so I had the seller pony up all the money for these fees that I would have to cover. I also had them put enough towards closing that I got a .25 percent lower interest rate because they put so much towards closing. In the end it I paid nothing out of pocket to move into the house. figure what is required for closing costs and go above that number and you can find creative ways to use their money to your advantage. In my case lower interest rate and all my escrow money back.

I'll remember this in a few months, thanks!

[MumblesBadly]

New York obv.
350-500 range.... under 400 will need work done on something like that, but since my pops retired I have a contractor now who works for fruits and cake.

20% or if over 500 15% and pay PMI for a year until my next bonus.

Do your diligence.

Real estate agents are not your friend.

Buy as a home first, and think about the investment part second.

ask yourself if the neighborhood is in a rise or a decline. never buy in decline unless its a flip

KNOW what the house is worth.

Don't fool yourself, trust your instincts.


Figure out your definition of your "bat cave" and don't settle, there are houses everywhere. Take your time

And even if you contract with them to represent you, they only care about making the sale.

Case in poiny: I hired one a number of years ago when I moved to a new area. And after a few times walking into houses to check them out, I noticed that immediately after he opened the door and walked through the door, he'd turn around to stare intently at my face as I walked in and got my first view of the interior. I later surmised that he was watching for whether my face would "light up" b/c I liked what I saw, so that he would have a good guess on how much to sell me on the place.

After that, I used him to see about 30 more houses until our contract period was up (6 months), then on my own started looking for sheriff sale properties to buy at auction. Which I did about 3 months later. And the day I closed on that house, I immediately had about $25k in equity after closing costs because of the discount that sheriff sale properties went for versus the retail market.