Current Events > I'm learning a lot about buying houses.

(+) Yeah! (+)

The first lesson is that pre-approvals mean sweet fuck all, and the real work doesn't happen until you put an offer in on a house. Oh, I'm pissed about that.

How old are you? Do you make much at your job?

I'm not as old as CyricZ, so there's your general answer to that. I don't make enough at my current job to afford a decent house by myself.

Alucard188 posted...

I'm not as old as CyricZ, so there's your general answer to that. I don't make enough at my current job to afford a decent house by myself.

If you don't me asking how much do you make and where do you live? (State)

You'll find a house, just be patient. Also don't get strong armed into not taking your time in picking.

I tried to book for 2 house tours in nyc and by the time they contwcted me, they said contracts have been signed and sre no longer offering tours.

zillow is failing me atm.

asdf8562 posted...

If you don't me asking how much do you make and where do you live? (State)

You'll find a house, just be patient. Also don't get strong armed into not taking your time in picking.

I've already found a house in the price range that I want. It's a real nice, relatively large house on a small lot, and it's $50k less than its original asking price. It's perfect for my lifestyle.

If your market isn't that competitive then take your time. Even if you're looking still after weeks or months.

This is one of the most important decisions of your live. So don't take it lightly. And if your realtor isn't treating it as such themselves then find a new one.

Also even if you make a offer don't be afraid to back off still if you get a bad feeling later. Or the numbers you made budget you had before doesn't pan out.

Prismsblade posted...

If your market isn't that competitive then take your time. Even if you're looking still after weeks or months.

This is one of the most important decisions of your live. So don't take it lightly. And if your realtor isn't treating it as such themselves then find a new one.

Also even if you make a offer don't be afraid to back off still if you get a bad feeling later. Or the numbers you made budget you had before doesn't pan out.

On the flip of this don't dismiss a house out of hand just because it's the first house you see. If you feel like that house is the house then put an offer in.

I put an offer on the first house I saw because I knew it was what I wanted. It got accepted and my house hunt took 3 days.

More important than the length of the search is knowing what is a need, what is a want, and what you can settle with. Because no house is perfect. There will be some things that you are gonna just have to settle on. As long as it isn't infrastructure. Like my house was filled with ugly wallpaper. Truly awful shit. But I knew that I could take down wallpaper and paint it. It would suck, it would take months, but I could deal with it. On the flip side my friend when buying a house basically had a no wallpaper clause. It just wasn't something she was gonna fuck with. Neither if us are right or wrong, Everyone has different pain points.

Never waive an inspection. That's the kinda pain that can financially ruin you. Or even if you do waive an inspection have one done anyway. If the report comes back dire, you can still bail. You'll lose your ernest money but that's small potatoes comparatively. Two of my friends had deal-breaking inspection reports come back when they were buying houses. One friend was able to get the seller to pay for repairs. The other just had to move on.

It's wild right now. I have a 100k saved for a 30% down payment and some clown swooped in with 100% payment and waives inspection. What the fuck >_> How do I even compete with that

Get a home inspection. Find your own inspector. Remember that your realtor is someone who wants to sell you and move on. They are not your buddy. Why would they recommend an inspector they know are tough? They want that sale to close, not for things to be found out and send the deal south thus forcing them to work with you further.

Unless the person actually is a friend first then you might be in luck.

Best of luck!

Have_A_Cigar posted...

Get a home inspection. Find your own inspector. Remember that your realtor is someone who wants to sell you and move on. They are not your buddy. Why would they recommend an inspector they know are tough? They want that sale to close, not for things to be found out and send the deal south thus forcing them to work with you further.

Unless the person actually is a friend first then you might be in luck.

Best of luck!

I don't think this is very fair. Don't get me wrong there are a lot of shit realtors out there, but there are good ones too. And those ones realize being good and choosey at their job will net them a lot more referrals and make more business than railroading someone through the process.

But that does make choosing your realtor more important. Talk to friends who used realtors. Research the them online. Set up meetings and talk to several. Ask them about there cancelation policy.

My realtor came highly recommended from several friends. He had a cancel anytime for any reason policy. He rocked. I recommended him and two of my other friends used him to buy their houses.

Alucard188 posted...

The first lesson is that pre-approvals mean sweet fuck all, and the real work doesn't happen until you put an offer in on a house. Oh, I'm pissed about that.

Yeah a pre approval is just something to show everyone how much house you can afford. Even then, you need to be careful cause while you technically can afford a house, you might be spending your entire paycheck on that mortgage.

Our pre approval showed we could afford a $450k house. When I told them that the max I would be willing to pay per month according to our budget is x, they said oh well look for something around $275k. Don't make yourself house poor.

megamanfreakXD posted...

I tried to book for 2 house tours in nyc and by the time they contwcted me, they said contracts have been signed and sre no longer offering tours.

zillow is failing me atm.

Get a realtor. Houses are put up for sale on their MLS site before anywhere else. By the time most listings are posted on Zillow, they are already in a sale pending state.

Also like some else mentioned, dont shoot down a house over little things. You will not find the perfect house. Walls can be painted, carpet can be removed, hell even certain walls can be knocked down. Look for a good layout, location, and inspection report so you don't have to worry about major issues down the line.

Pre approval can be important. If you put an offer to buy without one and someone puts forward the same offer with secured funding youre probably gonna get stepped over.

I have a realtor I'm very comfortable with. She's going into the house as if she were purchasing for herself as well. She points out to the deficiencies, and how much she actually likes the place. I flat out told her that I'm not looking for a salesperson. I don't want her to sell me something. I want her to help me buy something. There's a distinct difference.

And yes, I am buying the first house I saw, because it's a really nice looking place on a small parcel of land, and it's a motivated seller. I'm more interested in the house than the land. It's an older house, but everything looks modern and updated. I'm excited.

Is she hot? I feel realtors are either hot young chicks or motherly older ladies. Literally no in between lol

DKBananaSlamma posted...

Is she hot? I feel realtors are either hot young chicks or motherly older ladies. Literally no in between lol

My realtor was a man so I'm not sure your theory holds water.

DKBananaSlamma posted...

Is she hot? I feel realtors are either hot young chicks or motherly older ladies. Literally no in between lol

I would peg her a solid 7. Happily girlfriend and wife material.

Compsognathus posted...

My realtor was a man so I'm not sure your theory holds water.

Thats the exception that proves the rule

Alucard188 posted...

I would peg her a solid 7. Happily girlfriend and wife material.

Nice!

Compsognathus posted...

I don't think this is very fair. Don't get me wrong there are a lot of shit realtors out there, but there are good ones too. And those ones realize being good and choosey at their job will net them a lot more referrals and make more business than railroading someone through the process.

But that does make choosing your realtor more important. Talk to friends who used realtors. Research the them online. Set up meetings and talk to several. Ask them about there cancelation policy.

My realtor came highly recommended from several friends. He had a cancel anytime for any reason policy. He rocked. I recommended him and two of my other friends used him to buy their houses.

Regarding the inspector - To each their own and we can agree to disagree. An inspection is far too important for me to leave in the hands of a commissioned salesperson who wants nothing more than my deal to close. There's an obvious conflict of interest here.

Regarding getting a recommended realtor - totally agree. Word of mouth is strong. But even in this instance, research your own inspector. Maybe you do use theirs. You can trust... but you need to verify on your own.

I strongly suggest learning about buying luxury condos instead

No_U_L7 posted...

I strongly suggest learning about buying luxury condos instead

Everything you have to say has absolutely zero bearing on anything I will do.

Its much more of a pain in the ass to buy a place now than it was in 2010 when I bought my first house. It was a bit of a pain then, but it seems like literally 2-3 times the paperwork now.

Alucard188 posted...

Everything you have to say has absolutely zero bearing on anything I will do.

rekt

megamanfreakXD posted...

I tried to book for 2 house tours in nyc and by the time they contwcted me, they said contracts have been signed and sre no longer offering tours.

zillow is failing me atm.

Yeah, nah. Realtor aggregate sites aren't as effective as an actual realtor.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Bump for truth. Such was my experience when we bought our house last year.

Even beyond that, realtors know each other. They talk. So don't be surprised if you don't even get a viewing despite having a realtor. It's like a clique.

So if you don't even have a realtor at all, then you ain't trying.

Just heard back from my mortgage broker. I got an approval. Will find out the particulars tomorrow. Pretty excited about this.

Honestly, it seems like youre pretty good at this. If you want to get some extra practice, you can buy a house for me.

But in all honesty, how bad was the competition? Im competing against dozens of people just to rent.

BlazinBlue88 posted...

Our pre approval showed we could afford a $450k house. When I told them that the max I would be willing to pay per month according to our budget is x, they said oh well look for something around $275k. Don't make yourself house poor.

Absolutely. My manager at work said the same thing. Owning a house is nice, but don't make yourself destitute over it. The house is $160k. That's it. I feel like my roommate and I can cover that mortgage pretty easily on our relatively modest paycheques, and I'm putting 15% down on it.

Honestly, it seems like youre pretty good at this. If you want to get some extra practice, you can buy a house for me.

But in all honesty, how bad was the competition? Im competing against dozens of people just to rent.

No idea what the competition is because I wasn't really competing with anyone. I'm shopping below the typical range for housing. Most good houses are $250k and up, with some nicer ones around $190k. Mine started at $210k, but no one wanted to buy at that price because of the location and size of the lot. I don't have a problem with either of those things. Motivated buyer meets motivated seller.

Payzmaykr posted...

Honestly, it seems like youre pretty good at this. If you want to get some extra practice, you can buy a house for me.

But in all honesty, how bad was the competition? Im competing against dozens of people just to rent.

I'm guessing it depends where you live.

Without dropping my exact location, I'm a Marylander who lives in a populated location. I purchased my home just last year and I didn't have to go through a lot of competition to get it.

The only downside I went through was I had no negotiation power in making the owner pay closing costs. I ln particular I remember there was some kind of $20 charge for something (can't remember the specifics) and my agent was like the seller demands I pay it or no deal. I just remember being like, "over 20 f***ing dollars they are willing to not sell? Whatever...."

Was some kind of charge that they had to make some kind of addendum that I'd cover the $20. Anyway I was hoping to save a few thousand on closing, ended up covering about 20k in closing, so wasn't too thrilled about that.

Can't wait to read this.

I got an approval today, and they are only asking 5% down plus closing costs. That's great. Less than I expected it to be. So, your boy is going to be a first time homeowner. Never thought I'd get here, though I haven't exactly been trying.