https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sun, 03 May 2026 18:09:44 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/first-time-home-owners#post-2165259 Sun, 03 May 2015 00:09:30 +0000 mrschickpea 2165259@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We are waiting to close on our first home :grin: </p> <p>I agree with PPP that a great realtor is KEY! Ours was highly recommended by friends who just bought in December and he.is.amazing! It really makes the process smoother! The sellers agent not the other end is another story :meh: Without our agent, I imagine it would be 10x worse! I would make sure you also get good, recommended companies to do any inspections as well. We ended up finding our that the roof and septic needed replaced ($$$!) and we wouldn't have caught those things if we didn't decide to go all out on certain inspections. Luckily the seller will be paying for these things before we close! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/first-time-home-owners#post-2165191 Sat, 02 May 2015 21:57:51 +0000 winter_wonder 2165191@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>If we ever move again we'll definitely pay more attention to neighbors. As first time buyers we didn't pay too much attention to this. The house right next to us is a rental and the people living there are don't seem to be at all interested in keeping the property up, keeping the noise down, etc. Good luck with the home buying process! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/first-time-home-owners#post-2165124 Sat, 02 May 2015 20:31:12 +0000 Mae 2165124@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This seems dumb but is just something I never thought about and now annoys me often: Pay attention to what direction your home faces if you like to hang out outside. I really wanted a patio when we moved because I love doing dinner outside and bonfires and just hanging out in the evening. But we quickly realized that our back yard is SO sunny/hot all afternoon evening. So I feel like it isn't even worth it to put a patio in because I don't know that we'd use it. We have friends with a west-facing home and their backyard is shaded every afternoon and it is awesome. Next house will face west! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/first-time-home-owners#post-2165067 Sat, 02 May 2015 19:11:36 +0000 Amelieisme 2165067@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MenagerieMama: 5/3 bank still does the doctor loans without PMI if you have that bank<br /> in your area. They are less common now than they once were but still available with some banks. Also, there were no extra fees and my interest rate was pretty good for prime at the time. I'd definitely avoid PMI. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/first-time-home-owners#post-2165055 Sat, 02 May 2015 18:37:57 +0000 sunny 2165055@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Take some time to read up about how mortgages work. Understand which fees are negotiable (e.g. origination fee paid to the lender) and which are the same regardless of lender (e.g. county recording fees, your homeowners hazard insurance) -- even though these are on the quotes, they typically are just estimates. </p> <p>When you compare fees between lenders, understand that to make the best apples to apples comparison, you must try to compare on the same day and for the same rate. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/first-time-home-owners#post-2165032 Sat, 02 May 2015 18:10:31 +0000 Silva 2165032@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MenagerieMama: we went from deciding to buy to under contract in 2 weeks. My husband is in residency and we had planned to wait until he starts his job next July (he was offered and accepted a position in residency year two). However, the apartment we've been living in for 6 years is going to go up for sale, and the landlord is raising the rent so that he can make more on the sale. We didn't want to pay more, and didn't want to move twice...so we did it. We had a substantial savings (we put 20% down, and have that amount left over in savings), which makes it all easier.<br /> That said, I'm kind of glad we were on a tight timeline. We could have looked forever, and waited for ever. The perfect house will never come along, there will always be something you are compromising on. So we basically made a list of all the properties for sale that we were interested in, and looked at 8 of them in a week. We narrowed it down to two, one was in an ideal location but small, needed work, and was on a teeny tiny lot. The other is a bit of a longer commute and needs work, but has a large lot. We prefer historical homes, so both were almost 150 years old. In the end we went with the larger lot, and bigger house. We plan to sell in about 6 years to build our dream house, but we will not outgrow this house in the meantime.</p> <p>It's stressful, and scary, but I remind myself regularly that people in far tighter financial situations buy homes all the time. We started the process by getting pre approved, and then found an agent. It's all been quite smooth! </p> <p>I am not officially a homeowner yet, but I will say I'm glad we have extra money in the bank. The inspection turned up some repairs that will take more money than we had planned. We are also moving from a maybe 750 sq ft apartment to a 2200 sq foot house, so furniture, lawnmower, etc are all upfront costs to be considered. I Wouldn't want to spend all my cash on the deposit! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/first-time-home-owners#post-2165023 Sat, 02 May 2015 17:54:17 +0000 Mama Bird 2165023@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>If your market isn't too crazy you may not have to worry about this one, but... if you think you might need to sell the new house years down the road, consider how much it could realistically sell for, vs what you'll pay and the extra cost of the mortgage interest. </p> <p>When I bought our apartment I thought I'd live in it for years, and didn't consider having to sell it and buy a bigger place. Life had other plans and now this little apartment holds my whole family :happy: And it's a great place for a family, except we're running out of room! Factoring in what we've paid on the mortgage, we'll be lucky to break even - prices have gone up, but not enough to make it profitable. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/first-time-home-owners#post-2164984 Sat, 02 May 2015 17:08:44 +0000 mrsrain 2164984@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It's definitely possible. We first spoke to a realtor in January, found a house right away (We looked at around ten and ended up putting an offer on the very first house we saw), and closed on our house 60 days later on March 20th! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/first-time-home-owners#post-2164903 Sat, 02 May 2015 14:40:11 +0000 sapphire 2164903@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Avoid the doctors loans if you can. They come with high interest rates and fees and usually you can qualify based on income alone. PMI is not as bad as most think of it as. Once imyiuve paid to 20% of your principal or show that your equity gmgas increased to that, you can get rid of it. If you can get to 15% down you also can get a reduction in PMI. Definitely meet with a lender now to see what you qualify for. If you are starting a new job that could also play a role in the timeline. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/first-time-home-owners#post-2164866 Sat, 02 May 2015 12:53:20 +0000 MenagerieMama 2164866@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thanks everyone! I think I will try and make a list of lenders to meet with once I (hopefully) get this job offer so we can get approved and start from there.</p> <p>Unfortunately our landlords will not let us go month-to-month, we already extended our lease one extra month and they said it's a year renewal or nothing. We also have to give 90 days notice so that's hard to work with. I would feel better if we had friends/family in town we could crash with for any in between time but we don't. We also have a 2 week international trip in July, whoops! </p> <p>I think we can do it, I'm just worried about getting pressured into the wrong house with a tight timeline. Luckily I don't think the market is insane here. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/first-time-home-owners#post-2164864 Sat, 02 May 2015 12:45:29 +0000 Chuckles 2164864@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Having a good realtor is so important. We found ours through word of mouth who liked working with first time buyers. We met with him for the first time where he took over an hour (for no fee) to explain the whole home buying process to us, including info about different types of loans and mortgages. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/first-time-home-owners#post-2164818 Sat, 02 May 2015 11:41:31 +0000 MOMTOLITTLEB 2164818@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I am a first time home buyer and my husband is a second time buyer, first time together. We've been watching the market carefully for close to a year and have been looking aggressively for 6 months. It was only 2 weeks ago that we found a place and even that might fall through if the sellers won't make certain repairs. So my advice would be to get a backup plan so you don't feel pressured to commit to something that's not right. We've been living with my parents for months, but there are some apartments with short leases. We found one with a 2 month lease. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/first-time-home-owners#post-2164816 Sat, 02 May 2015 11:39:38 +0000 Little Misters Mom 2164816@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We just went under contract on our first home. We started looking 4 months ago, with zero background. I'd say the biggest thing is to get your financials in order. Get a recommendation for a good lender (your realtor may know someone), and sit down with them to understand what you can afford. The amount of closing costs may surprise you and how things like student loans and salary impact qualification can be complicated. Once we knew the money situation, it made things so much easier. I just trolled zillow and homesnap relentlessly and went to tons of open houses. It took 4 offers (in our insanely bananas hot market) but we are so excited with what we wound up with. At the outset, if feels scary and so complicated but think of the hundreds/thousands of people you know who have navigated the process. You'll be fine. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/first-time-home-owners#post-2164810 Sat, 02 May 2015 11:25:08 +0000 jedeve 2164810@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>First I would double check your lease to see is you can renew month to month after the initial lease period. All apartments I rented allowed that, which would take some pressure off. </p> <p>Second, get preapproves first. Our realtor wouldn't even work with us until we were. It makes it much easier to work with the sellers too. </p> <p>Third, make a list of your absolute needs. For us, I didn't want to live in a certain section of town (all sprawl, no services) and didn't even bother with the listings our realtor sent us from there. But we also realized that although our dream home was an arts and crafts bungalow, we weren't going to renovate one and would be much happier with an already renovated ranch.</p> <p>Fourth, get to know your town REALLY well. I thought I did, because we had lived there for a couple years. But now I realized kf we had bought a few blocks over, we would have had much better access to a trail system. Ask everyone you know what they like about living where they do, and where they would ideally live. </p> <p>Fifth, be realistic about things you can change in a home. Yes, fixtures and paint and countertops are just cosmetic and can be changed. But do you have time/cash on hand/will to do a lot of projects? </p> <p>Sixth, if you are on a time crunch, don't waste time! We were pretty quick looking at houses. It might take a bit to know if you want to live somewhere, but it doesn't take long to know that you don't. If you walk in, hate the layout and location, then there is no need to spend your whole lunch break measuring closets. Just move on!</p> <p>Last, watch a lot of HGtV and have fun! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/first-time-home-owners#post-2164788 Sat, 02 May 2015 10:23:03 +0000 Keybee 2164788@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>How fun! I love home buying. Having a good realtor helps. Having a good lender also helps, ask for recommendations, our realtor reccomendded out lender and he was really helpful.<br /> Get preapproved before you start looking.<br /> Our first house was a fixer upper and it was really fun to update things and mKe it our own. We sold it 2 years later for nearly doubled what we paid. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/first-time-home-owners#post-2164777 Sat, 02 May 2015 10:08:09 +0000 FaithFertility 2164777@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Remember paint/fixtures and things are little fixes,.fall in love with layout and neighborhood those things you can't change!!!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/first-time-home-owners#post-2164773 Sat, 02 May 2015 09:57:56 +0000 Corduroy 2164773@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Good luck with the process. I wish we had known the importance of having an excellent agent. We wasted a year with DH's boss's wife from the next town over. She's was experienced but totally ineffective in our hot market. We took a break and switched agents. It was like doors flew open for us. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/first-time-home-owners#post-2164764 Sat, 02 May 2015 09:44:58 +0000 MamaCate 2164764@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MenagerieMama: we bought on a similar timeline--I think we started looking in May and closed in July? We were able to put 20% down which meant a 30 day closing period. But when we were looking at other loans (like FHA) they had a 45 day closing period at time. So I would look at that first to make sure you can buy within your time frame.</p> <p>My best advice is to find a good experienced realtor. We are currently selling our first house to buy a new one and our realtor has been a godsend!</p> <p>Also, when looking, have a sense of must have, nice to have, deal breakers and location to make the process faster.</p> <p>Good luck!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/first-time-home-owners#post-2164738 Sat, 02 May 2015 08:51:37 +0000 MenagerieMama 2164738@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>What do you wish you had known before buying your first home? </p> <p>DH and I thought we'd be buying in a pricey housing market and not for a few years, and now we're staying in an area which is much cheaper so it seems to make more sense to buy at this point. Our lease is up in 3 months and we're wondering if we can go from knowing nothing about buying a home to closing on a place to move in to before the 3 months are up! We have no family/friends nearby to help with in between time.</p> <p>We have a healthy emergency fund, a down payment savings that will now go much further than we though (should be a minimum of 10% down at our maximum budget in this area) and hopefully I'll qualify for doctor's loans to avoid PMI (any other bees know anything about these? I'm hoping they aren't a myth).</p> <p>Thanks! This is all sort of a whirlwind for us and also hinges on me getting a job offer that I just interviewed for and am sooooo hoping for! </p>