EPTHere is a picture of the home. So my question is, does anyone have experience with buying a new home and have any advice to offer? Thanks everyone!!!
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/QTBDi.jpg)
Buying First Home
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darmousseh
United States3437 Posts
Here is a picture of the home. So my question is, does anyone have experience with buying a new home and have any advice to offer? Thanks everyone!!! | ||
infinitestory
United States4053 Posts
anyhow, congratulations on the deal! | ||
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relyt
United States1073 Posts
 ! | ||
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Crais
Canada2136 Posts
 so expensive bleh..Beautiful house though | ||
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EPO
Canada341 Posts
also- congratulations. | ||
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RedJustice
United States1004 Posts
Only thing is remember that home upkeep is a lot different from an apartment, so that extra money you are not paying each month may end up in things like repairs and landscaping, etc. Difference is this is a home, so it's more like a long term investment in the place you are staying than money out the window. | ||
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GertHeart
United States631 Posts
(Wow ended up remembering this.) Find out the rules in the neighborhood association too. Also check your water heater, A/C Heater, see if you have a heat pump. (If you do make sure it is set right.) Depending on your utility company inspections can be free for gas inspections. Also don't buy the extra "Coverage" use the 1 year standard coverage and ask it is not renewable, 1 year is common, but this usually costs you anywhere from 50 dollars a month to 300 dollars a month. Get house insurance, insurance that protects against house theft, if you do not have a security door installed, it's a good idea to invest into one, as you will be moving into this house and people will see all your belongings possibly, also new houses are popular targets to be broken into. Also I hope you checked the neighborhood, I don't remember the police site but sometimes your local ones show local crime rate, the Realtor and the sellers aren't allowed to tell you about the crime rate in the area. Sometimes there is a simple color chart ^.^ we got a place with low crime rate 10 crimes a year. There is a place here in Tucson that has 1.2 crimes a day though in the Northwest. We knew not to purchase there =P. If I remember anything else I'll try to help out | ||
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StorkHwaiting
United States3465 Posts
.Although I'd take into account that when you get a house, you have to pay home insurance, upkeep and maintenance, property taxes, yard work... etc. Really starts to pile up. But a home is still infinitely better than an apt, coz you know someone can't just boot you out of it . | ||
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Kaal
Djibouti2539 Posts
Another thing, getting your house insecticide is typically not that expensive and is awesome, I hate ants/bees/etc. Last thing, check your window seals. | ||
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whiterabb1t
Belgium681 Posts
I notice American homes are so different from European homes. | ||
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d_so
Korea (South)3262 Posts
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Primadog
United States4411 Posts
Getting $20k under asking is a steal, congrats! | ||
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GertHeart
United States631 Posts
On May 06 2011 13:00 Kaal wrote: As GetHeart said, have all the house appraised/inspected and all your appliances checked. Security services are actually fairly cheap and are great to have. Depending on where you live you may want go get a few different types of natural disaster insurance, I.E flood, fire, tornado etc, tornado insurance just saved my ass; my house was destroyed by a tornado two weeks ago. Another thing, getting your house insecticide is typically not that expensive and is awesome, I hate ants/bees/etc. Last thing, check your window seals. Why does everyone type my name as GetHeart? Almost everywhere I swear =/ It's Gert Heart | ||
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AirbladeOrange
United States2573 Posts
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micronesia
United States24741 Posts
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Zlasher
United States9129 Posts
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XiO
United States36 Posts
On May 06 2011 15:10 micronesia wrote: Was just discussing houses with a coworker yesterday.... she commented you want at least 20% of the total cost available to avoid having to get a certain type of insurance.... don't know the details but hopefully you have that. She said the magic number (at least near me) is 60,000 dollars but that will probably be much lower in some places in the USA. I don't have anywhere near 60,000 in cash right now so probably can't afford a house (even if I wanted one) for QUITE a while haha. You are thinking of mortgage insurance. If you don't get 20% down, you pay it until you get 20% of the mortgage value paid. To that point, if you can pay a bit more than the payment amount it will eat into your principle. This can shorten the life of your mortgage, as well as build better credit rating. Always find out how your payments contribute to your principle and interest. Most of the time your bank can tell you, though you may have to find the right person to get your information from. | ||
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darmousseh
United States3437 Posts
On May 06 2011 15:10 micronesia wrote: Was just discussing houses with a coworker yesterday.... she commented you want at least 20% of the total cost available to avoid having to get a certain type of insurance.... don't know the details but hopefully you have that. She said the magic number (at least near me) is 60,000 dollars but that will probably be much lower in some places in the USA. I don't have anywhere near 60,000 in cash right now so probably can't afford a house (even if I wanted one) for QUITE a while haha. Ya, normally there is PMI which is basically insurance against forclosing on a house, but fortunately the lender (wells fargo) said it won't be required. The town is the town i grew up in so I know the good parts. In general, it's one of the safest towns in all of california and it's in the newest part of town the is surrounded by only subdivisions built in the last 15 years. The lender said we had to get an inspection and appraisal so we are doing that soon. For those interested, the price was $204k, but we got it for $184k (2200 sq ft) so it was a really good deal. Since we were first time home buyers getting a government backed loan (FHA) and i have a good credit score we are only putting down 3.5% and getting a rate of 4.62% (possibly 4.5%) 30 year fixed. The town was at the center of the financial housing bubble and was purchased in 2006 for $450k, but the original owners foreclosed and it's been in bank hands ever since. The prices have dropped down to 1995 house prices so the odds of it going much lower are really slim (especially considering possible inflation soon), but the odds of it increasing are good. Man sorry kaal about ur house, that really sucks about the tornado. There are no natural disasters in the area. It's far enough from the fault lines in california that you would never feel a major earthquake, far enough from the coast for flooding, high enough above sea level for other types of flooding, and I've never heard of a tornado in the central valley of california. Thanks everyone for all the advice. I will probably do a inspection after the required inspector comes though. One of the bedrooms is missing carpet and the backyard is just dirt (no sprinklers either). Anyone have any advice on cheap carpeting and setting up a nice backyard? | ||
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