Best advice for buying your first house?

• Con_Alma

  Are you buying it as a home??
• OneBuckeye

  

  Con_Alma;779846 wrote:Are you buying it as a home??

  Yes, but more than likely we would be there 3-5 years. Which is why if we do buy we want to get something that will not be hard to sell and at least get our money back out of it.
• dwccrew

  

  OneBuckeye;779795 wrote:We have some cash. I think we could go to a sherriff sale and buy there. One of the foreclosures we are looking at has a Zillow estimate of 120k and is listed by REMAX for 80k. The property is owned buy Bank of America, is it normal for reality companies to list foreclosures? I don't know much about this stuff.

  Zillow is not a reliable site as far as listing the value of houses. I own 9 houses that I am currently renting out. Most have been foreclosures. A bank will most likely want you to put money in excrow for any repairs if you are not paying cash. If you can, buy the house in cash and get the repairs done on your terms. I've paid cash for all 9 houses and you'd be surprised at how low the bank will go, they pretty much will give these houses away if you are paying cash.
  

  BR1986FB;779806 wrote:Out near where I live (Sebring). I usually only purchase them in a local/favorable (West Branch) school district so I can turn them quickly.
  
  I will say that I'll be going about my next flip A LOT differently. I got my girlfriend's brother to do all of the labor and he "promised" that it would be "done and on the market in no less than 6 months." That comment was made in 10/08. Mother fucking lazy ass loser.

  
  This is not a special case, unfortunately. Nearly every contractor I have used, except for one, seems to think they can work on their terms even though I am the one paying them. Luckily for me, I know a little about doing repairs and know a lot of contractors. So I'll fire a contractor if I feel they are taking too long.
  

  OneBuckeye;779818 wrote:Totally agree... obviously I would hope a home inspection would help point things like that out. How much does a good home inspection cost?

  
  Where I'm at (Toledo) a good home inspection is anywhere between $200-$450. If you are going thru a list property I strongly recommend a home inspection. It's worth a couple hundred bucks to have, it gives you a lot of bargaining power and could save you thousands on the purchase. If you are going thru an auction an inspection will be almost impossible to get done unless it is thru an auction company and they do an open house prior to the day of the auction. (some companies in NW OH do this).
• Con_Alma

  OneBuckeye;779850 wrote:Yes, but more than likely we would be there 3-5 years. Which is why if we do buy we want to get something that will not be hard to sell and at least get our money back out of it.

  
  
  I'll stay out of this conversation then.
  
  Best wishes to you. You never forget buying your first home.
• thavoice

  I bought my first house and we got the keys on Dec 31st 2010 actually.
  
  Your last comment was one thing I was going to suggest......you are not in a hurry and that is good. I know when we started to look the first couple ya fall in love with and ya wanna snatch it up right away. Be patient, very very patient as it is a buyers market. Dont be afraid to offer too low. Have a fixed number you want and dont go over it. Do research on the property, of who owned it before, how much they payed, how long it has been on the market etc etc etc.
  
  You can negotiate stuff into the sale price as I know they paid closing cost and the appraiser. The bank also needed an inspector of what we paid for, but he gave a 6 month warranty to come fix anything and low and behold he did....had a small pipe issue and the inspector fixed...for free. So look around.
  
  We did some studying and ours was on the market for a year, they had a place to move but had to sell the house. We first looked in the summer...didnt say much until the fall. They had lowered it already and we said fuck it, and offered about 85% of what they were asking. they countered and we stuck with our price knowing it had been on for a long while and they had a place all vacant and ready to move in.
  
  They accepted our offer and we went on our merry way.
  
  Be patient, be studious and start L O W. Not sure what rates are but look around. We ended up with 4.25 fixed after a few other places were alittle higher.
• dwccrew

  

  OneBuckeye;779850 wrote:Yes, but more than likely we would be there 3-5 years. Which is why if we do buy we want to get something that will not be hard to sell and at least get our money back out of it.

  
  Honestly, it may be difficult no matter what. IMO, the market is going to continue to decline. There is so many backlogged bank foreclosures that havent hit the market yet, which will make prices fall more. This is just my opinion and it also depends on what area you are in as well.
• imex99

  

  OneBuckeye;779818 wrote:Totally agree... obviously I would hope a home inspection would help point things like that out. How much does a good home inspection cost?

  
  I have a really good home inspector, depending where you looking.... he's certified to do standard inspection, well inspection, septic instincts, etc.... don't need to hire multiple contractors for different jobs.
  
  Swyped from my HTC Evo with Eternal Prophecy 6.0 ROM.
• OneBuckeye

  

  Con_Alma;779856 wrote:I'll stay out of this conversation then.
  
  Best wishes to you. You never forget buying your first home.

  
  Why so?
• thavoice

  Think my wife paid 150 for the inspector. He usually charged 250 but gave us a military discount since he was formally in the navy.
  
  Also one thing you can do, which we did, is things that the inspector points out you can either have the owners repair it or deduct that cost in an offer to them. in our case the owners decided to fix themselves.
• Con_Alma

  OneBuckeye;779869 wrote:Why so?

  
  
  It seems you always remember that first purchase more vividly because there tends to be a more emotional investment when going through the process the first time.
• imex99

  

  thavoice;779870 wrote:Think my wife paid 150 for the inspector. He usually charged 250 but gave us a military discount since he was formally in the navy.
  
  Also one thing you can do, which we did, is things that the inspector points out you can either have the owners repair it or deduct that cost in an offer to them. in our case the owners decided to fix themselves.

  
  I just had home inspection yesterday.... my 2nd home purchase and 3rd inspector. This last inspector was VERY good.
  
  Swyped from my HTC Evo with Eternal Prophecy 6.0 ROM.
• Belly35

  

  I have purchase three homes in my life time .. and the idea of buying a "starter home" is bullshit...
  
  I will make this simple and direct.... Location, Location, Location ...curb appeal..
• OneBuckeye

  

  Belly35;779898 wrote:I have purchase three homes in my life time .. and the idea of buying a "starter home" is bullshit...

  Tell me how you really feel.
• BR1986FB

  thedynasty1998;779835 wrote:So 30k in materials and 25k in labor? Doesn't make sense to me. If you have a friend as the contractor their labor certainly shouldn't cost as much as materials.
  
  Can you explain further where you're getting 30k from? Are you going to use a Realtor? Do you anticipate paying 6% for Realtor fees and likely some of the buyers closing costs? How do you anticipate being taxed?

  
  House sells for $100k. I've put probably $30k (may be higher) into it....$70k left. No realtor...already have a buyer.
• se-alum

  

  BR1986FB;779806 wrote:Out near where I live (Sebring). I usually only purchase them in a local/favorable (West Branch) school district so I can turn them quickly.
  
  I will say that I'll be going about my next flip A LOT differently. I got my girlfriend's brother to do all of the labor and he "promised" that it would be "done and on the market in no less than 6 months." That comment was made in 10/08. Mother fucking lazy ass loser.

  That sucks! Alot of your profit has been eaten up by him. Are you actually paying him for each job or just a percentage of the net sale profits? We were lucky because my dad owned a commercial construction company, so he had MANY contractor ties, so all the houses we bought were remodeled within' a month or two, and 2 out of the 3 we had buyers for prior to finishing the remodel.
• BR1986FB

  se-alum;779906 wrote:That sucks! Alot of your profit has been eaten up by him. Are you actually paying him for each job or just a percentage of the net sale profits? We were lucky because my dad owned a commercial construction company, so he had MANY contractor ties, so all the houses we bought were remodeled within' a month or two, and 2 out of the 3 we had buyers for prior to finishing the remodel.

  
  Percentage of net sale profit. If I had the money to pay him out of pocket, per job, his lazy ass would've been fired LONG ago.
• se-alum

  

  BR1986FB;779911 wrote:Percentage of net sale profit. If I had the money to pay him out of pocket, per job, his lazy ass would've been fired LONG ago.

  I see, I didn't know if you just had a running tally for each job and were going to settle after the sale.
• BR1986FB

  se-alum;779915 wrote:I see, I didn't know if you just had a running tally for each job and were going to settle after the sale.

  
  Considering how long he's dicked around with this I should probably go that route. A-Hole screwed around so much that we missed out on Obama's tax break(s). Fortunately we have somebody lined up.
• fan_from_texas

  We bought our first place in mid-2008, so we went through this semi-recently. A few thoughts:
  
  (1) Get preapproved for your mortgaged. It's easier to shop around when you know how much money you're working with, and it gives you the chance to act quickly if you find the place you like.
  
  (2) Shop around for your mortgage. We talked to 5-6 different lenders, and we ended up negotiating a rate that was 7/8% lower than what we were initially offered. They will compete for your business if you are creditworthy.
  
  (3) Get a good inspector. There is a difference between stuff that requires minor expense to repair, and things that are dealbreakers. You want to make sure your inspector is thorough and alerts you to things that may cost a lot of money to fix. You can always ask the homeowner to fix those before you move in--the worst they can do is say no.
  
  (4) Work on your timetable. You don't need to rush. There are many houses for sale right now, and you'd be happy in any number of them. It's better to be thorough, take your time, and not get rushed into something that isn't the best fit for you.
• thedynasty1998

  

  BR1986FB;779904 wrote:House sells for $100k. I've put probably $30k (may be higher) into it....$70k left. No realtor...already have a buyer.

  
  So 20k in materials? Buyer already lined up? They are okay with you not having a time table? Your contractor really is shit if it's taking him almost 3 years to do 20k worth of materials in renovations. I'll be interested to hear how this ends up for you because there seems to be a lot of questions.
• BR1986FB

  thedynasty1998;779925 wrote:So 20k in materials? Buyer already lined up? They are okay with you not having a time table? Your contractor really is shit if it's taking him almost 3 years to do 20k worth of materials in renovations. I'll be interested to hear how this ends up for you because there seems to be a lot of questions.

  
  There was never a question, from my first post, that he is shit. I have dreams at night about whether I can put my fist through his skull up to my elbow. Get my frustration with the asshole?
  
  The timetable is supposed to be first week in June. All that's left is to paint a few rooms, install a counter top in the kitchen and have the carpet installers lay the carpet.
  
  If I purchase this other place for $8900, I'll just have Lowe's/Home Depot come out and install new windows/siding and do some cosmetic work on the inside and sell it myself. The roof looks brand new.
• se-alum

  

  BR1986FB;779930 wrote:There was never a question, from my first post, that he is shit. I have dreams at night about whether I can put my fist through his skull up to my elbow. Get my frustration with the asshole?
  
  The timetable is supposed to be first week in June. All that's left is to paint a few rooms, install a counter top in the kitchen and have the carpet installers lay the carpet.
  
  If I purchase this other place for $8900, I'll just have Lowe's/Home Depot come out and install new windows/siding and do some cosmetic work on the inside and sell it myself. The roof looks brand new.

  If you are interested in pursuing house flipping long term, I would suggest starting to network with local contractors. There are good ones out there. You can usually get lower prices out of them because of the opportunity for repeat business.
• BR1986FB

  se-alum;779954 wrote:If you are interested in pursuing house flipping long term, I would suggest starting to network with local contractors. There are good ones out there. You can usually get lower prices out of them because of the opportunity for repeat business.

  
  Already researching...this won't happen again. Learned the hard way.
  
  BTW...OneBuckeye, sorry for sidetracking this thread.
• OneBuckeye

  

  fan_from_texas;779919 wrote: (2) Shop around for your mortgage. We talked to 5-6 different lenders, and we ended up negotiating a rate that was 7/8% lower than what we were initially offered. They will compete for your business if you are creditworthy.

  
  Did this cost $?
• j_crazy

  

  i'm looking at buying a house right now for 30k less than it was sold for last year. its in the best school districts in katy and one of the best subdivisions too. the reason it's less than the others, buyers don't want a house that's been lived in when there is a brand new one on the same street.
  
  to me this is assinine, the house is 1 year old and i'm getting a 10% discount on it. the builder puts a 3 year warranty on most things so i'm covered there and i'll have it inspected so i'll know of any real issues before moving in.
  
  i guess what i'm trying to say is, don't be stupid. unless you're never going to move out of this house, don't worry about it being your dream home and treat it like an apartment you'll be paying rent on over the next 5 years.
  
  and like fft said, do not rush. the market right now is saturated with homes for sale and few people lining up to buy them.