buying your first home

[dumadiscount]

i'm new to this. anyone bought here bought their first (or second or third home) recently. any words of wisdom? would like to avoid getting screwed.

[DaBestSpoona]

find a good lawyer

find a good inspector

find a mortgage broker

dont feel bad about using more than one broker

get home buying for dummies

I've looked at over 80 places and made offers on 3, went to contract on 2. Ask me anything.

[mike lowrey]

ask from people you know have purchased houses or apartments, its something worth doing the proper way. I'm sure you can find some guide or article to give tips, preferably a local one because legislation differs between countries.

apart from the obvious legal and financial issues, and in addition to inspecting the house properly, heres a few things about the place itself you should consider:

- heat: does the temperature seem ok? is it going to get hot/cold and if it is, is there proper heating / ac. when I moved to my current apartment, it was early spring and cold outside so I didn't realize that it was actually very warm inside even with the heating mostly off. so in the summer, its insanely hot and I had to buy new airconditioning equipment.

- noise: if its an apartment, spend more then 2 minutes inside to figure out hows the insulation on the walls or ceiling. I used to live in an apartment which drove me nuts, the walls were like paper and I could hear a couple arguing every single night. I could hear someones washing machine in my bedroom and a dog barking in the hallway 10 times a day. I woke up every time when the garbage was emptied below my window at 5 AM. when I checked out the place, I didnt realize to pay attention to this.

- space: think what you want to fit in the place. if you have blueprints or even a sketch, use it to draw some furniture. empty space can look both bigger and smaller then it is.

- storage: how much stuff do you have and can you fit it there? remember that you should have storage space for everything you own, so if theres not ebough, can you fit new cupboards, drawers etc. somewhere?

[dumadiscount]

thanks dbs and mike. good tips i hadnt really thought about. this should be fun.

[aziz]

Mike explained it all...good luck man

[captain5640]

I'm in the process too. One of the main things I would recommend is don't jump on something too quickly. I don't know what the market is like where you are, but where I am it's been steadily dropping for the last 4 months because prices were way too high for awhile. Get a good inspector and have them inspect everything. It may cost a little more at the time, but it's worth it if they find something that could cost you major $$$ down the line. Look at things that you can fix yourself if needed and look at things that you know you'll have to have a professional repair. If the house is older, see if the windows are single or double paned. If they're single you're going to have to replace them at some point. Also make sure the inspector looks for termite/bug damage.

[denimdestroyedmylife]

make sure you factor in property tax when you are trying to figure out what you can afford; it can be an extra $300/per month (for example) that you weren't expecting

[denimdestroyedmylife]

and talk to the neighbors

and walk around the neighborhood at your own leisure before buying

[Heroshima]

and

don't forget to ask about ghosts...

yeah they have to tell you, that was my biggiest concern when buying my townhouse. I grew up in a haunted house and it freaking sucked..

[Cue]

don't buy if you aren't sure

keep looking until you fall in love with a place - you'll know when it's right

I got to the point when I was so sick of looking I was tempted to buy one that was 90% there

I didn't in the end, held out and nailed it. so so glad I did.

As above - noise is a big one - it will drive you nuts and is something you can't change

actually - that reminds me - was told this advice:

'look at the things you can't change, and ask yourself if you can live with them'

ie - if it's dark, noisy, on a busy street, there is nothing you can do

crappy kitchen, no worries - rip the fucker out.

happy hunting fella

[DaBestSpoona]

oh yeah, new construction

factor 5% of the asking price for transfer taxes

if the seller offers to pay for transfer taxes, lawyer fees, throws in a brand new plasma watch out

[baskew]

me and my girlfriend were looking into these if we stay in florida. (minus ugly decor.)

[Pin]

Get the best survey/inspection you can. And, as a follow up to what has been said before pay a visit to the property at as many different times as you can muster; day time, night time, morning, weekend and weekdays.