First Home Buying Experience
 

My husband and I are looking at putting an offer in on our first ever house. I'm soooooooooo nervous! It's a lot of money and it's going to be a little tough to make ends meet. BUT, we got to start building some equity.

The best thing, it's a cute house with a HUGE fenced in yard. Trixie's going to be sooo excited!

What was your experience when you bought your first house? Did you have any jitters?

It's only natural to be a little nervous. I'm sure you've thought long and hard about this. As long as you're not in over your heads too much financially you should be fine. Congratulations on such an exciting purchase!

Congrats. What a huge step in your lives...Big step, but building equity is way better than paying off someone else's morgage!

it's normal to be nervous.

When we bought this house I was a little nervous too. It was more than we had been paying in rent. But... within just a few years, we were still paying the same house payment and rent in the area had climbed. Now no one can hardly believe we have such a low house payment on this house. Not only that but .... 3 1/2 years and it will be all ours!!!

Congratulations on your decision -- hope you find the perfect home!

we have been building one for MANY years out of pocket all i know about houses is everthing for them costs at least 2X what you think it would be if not more ex.granite countertops carpet and so on! i am so ready for it to be finished ! it would be awesome to have your own house i hope all goes well for you!!

You are right - it is stressful! But it is sooooo worth it! You will have to save a little nest egg for repairs and unexpected expenses - but hopefully you and your hubby can do most of them, and that will save you half of what it would cost someone else to do it.

The YTer who said that, in time, your payment will be lower than rent and new homes is exactly right. The sooner you take the plunge into home ownership, the better!

I know you are so excited - I'm an old timer, but I remember when we bought our first house, it cost - get ready - $19,000. It was about 1100 sq feet with 2 bedrooms and a huge yard. We sold it 3 years later for $35,000 - bought another one for $42,000 and sold it a few years later for $65,000.

It is just a wonderful feeling to own a home - but be sure to try to get that little savings account set up for repairs and a couple of mortgage payments, should you be out of work for a bit.

Congratulations!!! It is so exciting to buy your first home - ENJOY!!!

Thanks for the tips! I need them as me and my hubby's family are both not financial savvy.

We've been buying and rebuilding homes for 25 years and I love it! I've always been excited about finishing a project and moving on to the next one but I think I want to stay in this one forever. We just bought our cabin last spring and I love it...it feels like my first home all over again.
Check with your lending institution and see if you can pay a little extra towards 'PRINCIPAL ONLY' each month...you'd be surprised how much it will take off the term of your loan. If you look at your statement you'll see how much actually goes towards your principal...not much. So, if you pay that amount extra on principal only it's like making a double payment. Also, see if you can split your monthly payment, pay half every 2 weeks instead of once a month...we were told that will cut some of the interest you pay. Make sure you have no prepayment penalties...some loans still carry those and they can be a bunch. Good luck in your new home and remember...a red front door invites wealth and prosperity into your home...mine is getting painted in the spring!

I think the hardest part of owning a home is that we can't afford all the "extras." It took us a year to buy couches and now 2 years to finally get a coffee table and end tables. I still don't have a bedroom set or a decent kitchen table. So I think it's hard that we have this nice house and no pictures on the walls, no window treatments, nothing. But it is still better than living in an apartment in so many ways.

A few tips about mortgages: Unless you can put 20% down, try to get a 1st and 2nd mortgage. Usually the 1st will be a 30 year fixed lower rate for 80% of the purchase price. The 2nd is a 15 year higher rate for the difference between your down payment and the 80%. If you mortgage say, 95% of the total, you'll pay something called PMI which is a waste of money. If you do 2 mortgages you don't pay this and the interest is tax deductible. Ask for an 80/10 or an 80/15. Don't get an ARM unless you think you will outgrow the property or move within that period. I'd say if you are getting a 3+ bedroom and you aren't SURE that you will move soon, get a fixed rate. Otherwise your 6% loan could go up to 7%... then 8%....

Don't pay points. And don't let them charge you a lot of fees. Appraisal and title charges are OK. Broker's fees, origination fees, etc. are just profit going in the mortgage lender's pocket. Keep in mind they are already making money on your loan. And beware that closing costs are expensive!

Another thing is the escrow. Our taxes every month are like $400 on top of the mortgage payment. Make SURE you can afford this and either roll it into your mortgage payment (as escrow) or be diligent in saving it every month.

Good Luck Anne-Marie, hope you will get it, will keep my fingers crossed, how is Trixie doing ??? I am realy exited for you, let me know how it goes !

Thanks so much everybody for the well-wishes and the tips. You don't realize how much all of this helps!

Is anybody familiair with a VA loan by any chance? The lender is advising against using it because it's a lot stricter on certain stuff. But I think if the government wants to help us by letting us have a lower interest rate and pay the morgage insurance, it can only be a good thing!

If we get it, we'll have a nice fenced in yard and you can bring Rosie and Poli over :D

If only the rain would stop!!!

Hey they would realy love that :D No Leashes ! Dont sound like its going to stop anytime soon :(

Here's my advice: when you go to the closing they will show you a number (a dollar amount) of the sum total of all your mortgage payments until the house is paid off. DO NOT LOOK AT THIS NUMBER!! I did, and I had to run to the bathroom to throw up (this is really true). Of course, at the time, interest rates were 12.5%.

Enjoy your house, and congratulations.

I think yhe BIGGEST tip I can tell you is.... Whatever they (mortagage people) say you can spend......get something cheaper. I see so many people going upsidedown in houses by overspending because companies told them they could AFFORD to spend X amount of dollars. if you go to the top amount they allow you... this means you will always live off macaroni and spaghetti the next 30 years and never buy any new clothing or a car or even be able to go to McDonalds for a happy meal. don't dare have a child or pay for a field trip or even have to go to the doctor's either:eek:
Your best best is to try and stay about 20% lower then the top amount they say you can spend. Even lower is even better.

VA. Loans can be good and bad. YES yuo can usually get a bit better deal but YES they are stricter and some sellers don't want to deal with them because they would have to fix everylittle thing and why should they get nit picked when somebody else will pay the same price with a regular loan. You might try FHA loan which is like a VA... but not QUITE as strict and people feel more comfortable with. there are also things called Farmer loans and other SIMILAR loans. These are just loans that usually you can get in rural areas...LOL.. It doesn't mean you have to be a FARMER.

DON"T forget.... You can sometimes make out by offing closer to full price but askign for closing cost assistance. This is a common practice and the sellers feel good because mentally they feel they are getting full price or close for their house... but actually they are helping you pay the out of pocket money you need to buy the house. This helps ALOT if you are SHORT on actual cash or down payment.
ALSO About the PMI payments mentioned...... yes PMI is like wasting money but don't let that discourage you from buing a home. Like mentioned you might want to try getting the 80/ 20 mortgage to avoid this but those mortagages aren't always available to everybody. ALSO let's face it... if you are PLAiN SHORT on actual cash... and aren't planing on putting hardley any money down... this charge can't be AVOIDED. Just remember it's not the end of the world and you CAN refinance in a few years and get rid of this payment .

Thanks everybody for all the tips. We ended up not taking this house, after going through the house with a great friend, and home inspector. There was tooo much that needed to be fixed.

We learned so much in the last 2 weeks; about home buying, contracts and what we're looking for. We're going to keep looking!