https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Mon, 06 Apr 2026 09:55:39 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/home-buying-process-first-time-homebuyer#post-2684625 Sun, 22 Jan 2017 10:21:08 +0000 NCSUchick27 2684625@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We have started looking around at some different options. Yesterday we looked at several new construction communities. Looking at the model homes was fun, and gave us an idea of square footage and layouts the we like.. Not sure if we will go that route, but we did find one that is definitely a possibility. Bonus: I work for the homebuilder for the one we liked, and can get a pretty good discount.</p> <p>We are also open to buying a pre-existing home, but there isn't much on the market right now. We are going to a couple of open houses today. I don't think we will commit to anything until we see what comes on the market in the spring. We are pretty flexible with our moving timeline. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/home-buying-process-first-time-homebuyer#post-2681428 Tue, 17 Jan 2017 13:48:57 +0000 Anagram 2681428@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@NCSUchick27: PPs already gave good advice--but just some info regarding townhouses specifically. When you are with your realtor and looking at individual units, make sure to ask questions about the HOA. Ask about monthly fees, what it covers, who does front/back lawn maintenance, what HOA standards are for renovating/paint/landscaping, etc. Check out the HOAs financials and see how often they have HOA increases or one-time assessments. Find out if the HOA covers any of your insurance/property tax (probably not, but that happens occasionally).</p> <p>I owned both a condo and townhouse before marriage, and both times when I went through the buying process, I was surprised by how different each group of condos/townhouses were in terms of HOAs and what was covered. I looked at some Townhouses were the HOA fee was really expensive per month, but it covered more stuff--lawn maintenance, other common amenities, parking structures or auto-open gates/maintenance into the parking area, etc. And since you share walls (and sometimes roof line), you want to find out what happens if something happens to the structure that is shared. Does HOA insurance cover it? That kind of thing. Does the HOA have rules about how you can paint your unit or what window coverings can be used? Do you have to move your own lawn and if so, are there rules about grass length?</p> <p>I ended up buying a townhouse that didn't have great HOA financials, but also had very low fees and basically covered nothing except front lawn maintenance and auto-gate maintenance and clickers. So my home insurance had to be really comprehensive.</p> <p>Also, some townhomes are subject to different specific rules if you have an FHA loan--the HOAs have to apply for FHA approved status. A realtor can tell you about that.</p> <p>I loved my little townhouse and was able to sell it 4 years after buying for a nice little profit, just because the neighborhood had appreciated a bit. And I loved having someone else be responsible for grass mowing and I actually liked the perceived security of having neighbors sharing walls with me. Good luck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/home-buying-process-first-time-homebuyer#post-2681363 Tue, 17 Jan 2017 12:50:14 +0000 youboots 2681363@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Get prequalified and find a realtor. We looked at 50 houses in 2011, decided to take a break. We bought the only house we looked at 6 months later and closed Feb 12. I don't think it's ever too early to be looking or that you can look at too many houses- by doing a lot of showings the previous year we really knew what we wanted. It's also really hard to tell the feel of the home from photos- some real estate photographers are really talented and can make a icky place look awesome. And some poorly done photos can make a great house look bad. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/home-buying-process-first-time-homebuyer#post-2681313 Tue, 17 Jan 2017 11:23:09 +0000 808love 2681313@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Agreed- home inspection brings so much to the table. We also went on weekly drives with our realtor AND looked on our own at the same time. The house we eventually bought was through our own picking but our realtor was invaluable in heading us in the right direction, giving us food for thought and educating us on the process. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/home-buying-process-first-time-homebuyer#post-2680747 Mon, 16 Jan 2017 11:59:29 +0000 snarkybiochemist 2680747@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'll add to what others have said, find a realtor you like and trust but don't be afraid to look on your own and ask your realtor to set up showings for you. My husband and I were super proactive and found the listing that became our house all on our own. It was outside of our realtors normal area but in an area we thought would be good for our commutes.<br /> Once you are under a contract (down the line I know) get a home inspection. This will give you peace of mind and allow you to budget for future problems. We found out at our inspection that our washer/dryer were 20+ years old and would go in the not too distant future, they did go this year but we had budgeted and saved for that since we bought the house so it wasn't as awful. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/home-buying-process-first-time-homebuyer#post-2680725 Mon, 16 Jan 2017 11:07:34 +0000 bubblegum 2680725@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We just purchased our first home this summer so while it's fresh in my mind I can totally help.</p> <p>You mentioned that your lease is up in July and you would like to move in June of July...I would really suggest checking if your lease can be extended on a month to month basis orrrrr if leases can be broke with proof of home ownership. The only reason I suggest this is because we weren't able to do month to month but we were able to break our lease without any extra charges. We settled in late June and had to clear out our apartment on July 5th. I thought it would be enough time to paint and get everything ready without taking time off of work and I was super wrong soooo just a thought. </p> <p>I did get a realtor first only because she had different banks that offered different mortgages and we were able to pick the best deal. </p> <p>We started the process in May and settled in June, which was a lot quicker than I expected so I was super happy about that. </p> <p>One major suggestion I would make is don't be afraid to jump on a house if you know it's the one. Our house was one of the first houses we saw, day one of house hunting and we just knew. </p> <p>Our must have list; 3 bedroom, eat in kitchen, backyard, and family neighborhood. We were able to get all 4. </p> <p>Best of luck to you throughout the process! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/home-buying-process-first-time-homebuyer#post-2680716 Mon, 16 Jan 2017 10:50:31 +0000 ShootingStar 2680716@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>How long do you plan to live there? I owned a townhouse for 4 years. Just an FYI, but townhomes do not appreciate as fast as single family homes do. Also, you may not get back all money you put into improvements. As an example, if most townhouses go for $250-300k in your area (just example numbers) and you buy at $280 and put in $50k of improvements, it may be hard to sell at $320k since all your competition is cheaper. </p> <p>I'd also be caution to be sure that the size you end up with is going to be enough for your family. I bought my townhouse when I was single and then over the span of a few years got in a relationship, got married and had a baby. And the house I thought was so big to start was way too small and badly laid out for a family. I ended up selling it for right around what I originally paid. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/home-buying-process-first-time-homebuyer#post-2680709 Mon, 16 Jan 2017 10:38:50 +0000 Eko 2680709@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our lease was up end of August. In January we got in touch with a mortgage broker for a pre-approval and started going to open houses. We randomly found a real estate agent in march, who was a customer of DH's. The first weekend we looked at homes, we put an offer in.. that was April. It ended up being a short sale. Things went bad and we backed out in July. We started looking again and found a new home in August. We were able to ask our landlord to go on a month to month lease so long as we gave them a two months notice. We closed end of October.</p> <p>While sticking with your budget and knowing what you can buy is obviously super important (and seems you have figured out), I would recommend going to some open houses first. We thought we knew what we wanted when we were talking about buying a house, but when you start looking through them you get a better sense of space and what you really are looking for. It made the process easier when we were officially looking at homes. </p> <p>We live in an expensive state and we were really flexible with our needs/wants. Non-negotiables were wanting a single family home, space, and 3 bedrooms. We are handy and were willing to do some fixing up. I also wanted a garage and fireplace. Looking through homes we realized that my wants really weren't necessary and didn't realize how important house flow is. Not that we need open concept or something, but there are some funky layout homes. Also, anything that needed a total gut job we decided was too much. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/home-buying-process-first-time-homebuyer#post-2680674 Mon, 16 Jan 2017 10:01:04 +0000 NCSUchick27 2680674@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We know the area that we want to buy in. We have lived here for the last 4 years so we are familiar with it. We have looked a lot of online listings and we are pretty sure of our budget.</p> <p>So far we have decided our must haves are:<br /> 3 bedrooms<br /> 2 bathrooms<br /> A garage - DH would like a 2 car garage, and I am ok with a 1 car. 2 car garages are harder to find in townhouses.<br /> No bedrooms in the basement. We would prefer to have them all on the same level.<br /> Decent sized kitchen<br /> Bonus room or loft<br /> A deck</p> <p>We don't really care too much about finishes as long as they are in good shape. I am fine with carpet, laminate countertops, and vinyl flooring. We know we can change those things eventually if we want to. I am also fine with painting and removing wallpaper. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/home-buying-process-first-time-homebuyer#post-2680596 Mon, 16 Jan 2017 07:54:58 +0000 muffinsmuffins 2680596@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We interviewed realtors and the one we chose had us get pre-approved right away. As others have mentioned, determine your own budget not what the bank says you can afford. Our realtor set us up with automatic listings that got emailed to us and it went pretty fast. I would also start looking now, then you can be prepared for the spring rush. We got in a bidding war for our first home, lost the house, then the other buyers financing fell through so we got the house in the end! We also bought a town house and I would say don't get sucked into spending more than your budget if the market is competitive. There are ALWAYS more town houses that have a similar look if you get outbid or into a bidding war (thankfully DW didn't let us blow the budget!) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/home-buying-process-first-time-homebuyer#post-2680588 Mon, 16 Jan 2017 07:16:53 +0000 looch 2680588@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Get a map. Learn where the railroads are, the highways, etc. Narrow down your exact area of focus. Townhomes are pretty much the same in my area in terms of layout, you're mostly going to find 2 bed, 2 bath formats, so there isn't much choice to be had. If you're looking for more bedrooms than that, you really need to be fast in terms of your offer.</p> <p>Get pre approved..the reason we did it is to make sure we had our financial docs in place. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/home-buying-process-first-time-homebuyer#post-2680580 Mon, 16 Jan 2017 06:54:37 +0000 Pancakes 2680580@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@NCSUchick27: I would start looking now. We just moved from the NoVa area and close friends of ours who wanted to buy ended up taking a year to find a house because they kept getting outbid by offers above what the homes appraised for--I think they were outbid 5 times! That was 3 years ago but I don't know that the market has changed that much.</p> <p>We bought our first home last spring. We started looking in Jan, and got preapproved through our realtor's mortgage lender (we ultimately found a better deal with an online lender, but didn't find them until we were ready to put an offer in). Since we were moving a couple hours away we could only see houses on the weekend, which means that we missed a couple houses in our preferred neighborhood. But we put in an offer at the end of Feb and closed at the end of April. In our area inventory was pretty low in Jan/Feb, and started picking up in March/April. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/home-buying-process-first-time-homebuyer#post-2680501 Sun, 15 Jan 2017 20:42:06 +0000 T.H.O.U. 2680501@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Start looking. </p> <p>I would start a pro con list for any house that interests you. Start figuring out what you can and can't live without. Watching the market it seems clear what price points will get you. </p> <p>I would start soon. I would rather pay an extra month rent and have overlap in moving time versus a month delay and be homeless </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/home-buying-process-first-time-homebuyer#post-2680500 Sun, 15 Jan 2017 20:36:35 +0000 808love 2680500@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Agree on above points to buy what is comfortable, not what you qualify for because that number might be much higher. Also if you see something you like, get ready to jump on it quickly. We got ours under list because we swiped it off the market the first weekend of its open house. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/home-buying-process-first-time-homebuyer#post-2680495 Sun, 15 Jan 2017 20:31:11 +0000 snowjewelz 2680495@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We got engaged in August and started looking right away; closed in March and moved in May (did a total gut job). Had an acquaintance that's a realtor that we used. We mostly sent him listings we wanted to see concentrated in one town. We did not get pre-approved; I have excellent credit but we borrowed money from family. We knew we couldn't afford any new or renovated/move in ready houses... So we looked at mostly fixer uppers and focused on whether the structure/layout was good. Helped that DH is handy and so was his dad. We also knew what contractor we would use so we did s walk through with him before signing contracts to get his opinion on whether what we envision for the house is doable. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/home-buying-process-first-time-homebuyer#post-2680479 Sun, 15 Jan 2017 19:48:13 +0000 yoursilverlining 2680479@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Determine your own budget first, and don't let what you get preapproved for change that budget. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/home-buying-process-first-time-homebuyer#post-2680478 Sun, 15 Jan 2017 19:38:20 +0000 winter_wonder 2680478@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Definitely ask friends for recs on realtors. A great realtor makes the process far less stressful! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/home-buying-process-first-time-homebuyer#post-2680472 Sun, 15 Jan 2017 19:15:21 +0000 MrsRoo 2680472@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Definitely get pre approved first! And since you have a highly recommended realtor, I'd set up a meeting with her as well. She will know the pace of the market in your area and will be able to help advise you with timing. We just celebrated a year in our first home, must-haves were a yard, at least one fist floor bedroom, and schools.</p> <p>A couple things we learned through the process was to trust our own financial instincts, and to be flexible. The bank approved us for a significant amount more that what we thought we wanted to spend and initially we looked at a few homes in that range. We quickly downshifted to the range we felt most comfortable and I'm so glad we did!! Like mentioned above, sometimes the markets move so quickly, you'll have to be prepared to make offers same day. That was tough for us to swallow at first, but once we saw how fast the houses we were interested in we're selling, it got easier!<br /> Good luck!! It's an exciting process! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/home-buying-process-first-time-homebuyer#post-2680456 Sun, 15 Jan 2017 18:35:35 +0000 Mrs. Pen 2680456@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We're going through this right now! Our lease is up in July. We started with getting some financial advice, got preapproved, then found a realtor.<br /> We've been looking at homes now, but there's not a lot on the market at this time, so we're just being patient. Our realtor said the market is hot usually in the spring, so you're probably getting started at the right time! Just be aware it'll make for a more competitive market, so you sometimes have to be flexible to see a new listing the day it's listed and submit an offer right away. I'm nervous about that, because I'm not impulsive at all and need to sleep on big decisions. </p> <p>Since I'm a first time homebuyer, I also looked into the first time home buyer programs and eligibility. </p> <p>Good luck! It's exciting and stressful at the same time haha. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/home-buying-process-first-time-homebuyer#post-2680455 Sun, 15 Jan 2017 18:26:57 +0000 808love 2680455@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We went on a rather fast timeline with a move in date of June 1. Feb: Secured Realtor we trusted (personal friend/award winning) and pre-approval with loan officer of his choice. Feb/Mar: Looked at homes constantly (weekend going to open houses) and put in two bids. April: Easter Sunday offer accepted. Followed through on financing process and home inspection based on realtor's referral. Closed last week of May.<br /> Our must-haves are likely very different than yours because we bought a house. But affordable-within budget- and NOT in xyz area were our main priorities. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/home-buying-process-first-time-homebuyer#post-2680452 Sun, 15 Jan 2017 18:23:51 +0000 fancyfunction 2680452@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I know it's hard but maybe she can at least take you out to get a feel for what you like/pricing, etc. Our friend did that for us when we were buying our co-op and it was super helpful. When we bought our house (diff realtor) we started looking in Sept and after having a hold up with our buyer, didn't buy our house til June and moved in end of Aug. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/home-buying-process-first-time-homebuyer#post-2680451 Sun, 15 Jan 2017 18:19:37 +0000 NCSUchick27 2680451@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We have a recommendation for a realtor from 3 of my DH's coworkers. They have all used and liked her. We may try to meet with her, but I don't know when would be a good time since we don't want to move until the summer. Timing everything just right seems impossible. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/home-buying-process-first-time-homebuyer#post-2680446 Sun, 15 Jan 2017 18:11:58 +0000 fancyfunction 2680446@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>You should definitely get pre-approved first, that will make the process go a lot smoother. And yes, find a reputable realtor at the same time - often they can recommend mortgage lenders and help you along with any questions. Check out schools in the areas you're targeting. Good luck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/home-buying-process-first-time-homebuyer#post-2680444 Sun, 15 Jan 2017 18:06:51 +0000 NCSUchick27 2680444@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DH and I are considering buying a house soon, but we have no idea what we should do first or how long it will take.</p> <p>We are currently living in an apartment, and our lease runs out in mid-July. We will probably try to move in June or July. We have a little time, but I know the process can sometimes take a while.</p> <p>What were the steps you took when buying your first house? Did you find a realtor or get pre-approved for a mortgage first? Or did you find your house first?</p> <p>How long of a process was it?</p> <p>Do you have any tips for a first-time homebuyer?</p> <p>What was on your must-have list for a house?</p> <p>We live in a high cost-of-living area so we will be looking at townhomes. Single family homes in our area are out of our price range. </p>