https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Mon, 06 Apr 2026 23:09:30 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-we-buy-a-house#post-763748 Mon, 06 May 2013 14:11:04 +0000 lindseykaye 763748@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Just wanted to say thanks again for everyone's input and to update that DH and I are currently under contract on a house! We found a great 3/1 in our perfect neighborhood with a giant, lush yard. Our inspection is next week so there is a lot left to do before the house is officially ours but we are so excited and very thankful we jumped in when we did. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-we-buy-a-house#post-703844 Tue, 09 Apr 2013 20:31:17 +0000 looch 703844@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@lindseykaye: I wanted to reply about the credit scores going down because of too many inquiries...there's no formula out there that you will find because credit scoring agencies keep this info proprietary, but the main thing is that USUALLY when there are inquiries, it means you are applying for credit, whether it be a card, car loan, etc. I can tell you from personal experience that several inquires into my credit lowered my score, but not so materially that we wouldn't qualify for the loan.</p> <p>In the application process, credit was pulled by our bank at the time we were preapproved and again when our file was sent to underwriting. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-we-buy-a-house#post-703205 Tue, 09 Apr 2013 15:51:01 +0000 Mrs D 703205@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@lindseykaye: Also, when putting together your budget I think its important to figure the following things - </p> <p>1) Mortgage (principal and interest payments)<br /> 2) PMI (if you do an FHA you will have mortgage insurance, ours in $150/month)<br /> 3) Home owners insurance, ours is $100/mth<br /> 4) Utilities (you may not have these as a renter) water, gas and electric for starters (not to mention cable/internet)<br /> 5) Cost of setting up a new house (all the sudden you need things like a lawn mower, tree trimmer, ladders, tools, etc stuff you dont need if you rent a condo or apartment necessarily)<br /> 6) House Expense savings (within 1 year we had to replace several windows and our garage door - totalled $4K - we knew it going in but still was a tough pill to swallow) As a new home owner I would definitely take into consideration the age of certain major items (appliances, furnace, A/C, roof, etc) to get a feel for when you may need to replace them.</p> <p>Also, as someone else mentioned - definitely consider what you would do if either of you lost a job - we were adamant about buying within a budget that one of us could support on our own. That may not be the right answer for everyone but its worth considering.</p> <p>Lastly, as someone else mentioned, I think taking stock of why you really want to own is key. The reality is that interest rates aren't going anywhere for a few years and the housing market may be on a slight bubble right now (at least where I live) but I certainly wouldn't feel rushed. We bought our home before we were engaged - now with #1 on the way we are already thinking we'd like to upgrade! If we would have rented for 2 years we may be in a better position?!</p> <p>Best of luck to you! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-we-buy-a-house#post-703069 Tue, 09 Apr 2013 15:16:48 +0000 lindseykaye 703069@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: When you say "you can shop your bank loan all you want, just do it within 2 weeks before your credit score drops" what do you mean?</p> <p>I figure any inquiry into our credit will ultimately affect it - though I have such little experience with it I'm not sure how it affects it or to what result. Is there some kind of time limit from when we are pre-qualified to when we need to find a place? What would happen if we went to get pre-qualified and ended up not buying - would our credit scores go down just because of the inquiry? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-we-buy-a-house#post-703036 Tue, 09 Apr 2013 15:10:35 +0000 Bluebonnet 703036@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: Mortgage brokers are not for people who cannot get a bank loan. Mortgage brokers have access to multiple lenders (including big banks) and are able to get much better rates. Instead of calling multiple banks and applying for loans all over, a mortgage broker does all of that leg work for you. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-we-buy-a-house#post-703011 Tue, 09 Apr 2013 15:02:11 +0000 sunny 703011@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: we have a super high credit score and have used both a mortgage broker as well as a bank for our loans and refis. So brokers are not just for people with poorer credit!</p> <p>@evansjamie: yes there is definitely value in working with a bank you already have a relationship with, including a better rate! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-we-buy-a-house#post-702933 Tue, 09 Apr 2013 14:47:54 +0000 Mrs. Lemon-Lime 702933@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Bluebonnet: I have always heard mortgage brokers are for people who cannot get a bank loan. Our resltor kept digesting we go through his mortgage broker, but we went to our Credut Union and the bank DH had his other mortgage. In our case the seller picked us because we had a Chase loan eventhough the other iffer was $2k more. You can shop your bank loan all you want, just do it within a 2 weeks before your credit score drops from the initial inquiry. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-we-buy-a-house#post-702912 Tue, 09 Apr 2013 14:43:21 +0000 avivoca 702912@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@sunny: I understand where you are coming from, and personally I preferred dealing with my bank rather than a mortgage company, because I had an established relationship with them. It definitely is a personal preference, and that was just my two cents :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-we-buy-a-house#post-702875 Tue, 09 Apr 2013 14:37:55 +0000 sunny 702875@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@evansjamie: Please remember: The realtor cares about getting paid. He/she will ONLY get paid if the deal closes.</p> <p>Therefore any referral you get from a realtor will be someone who is reliable--not necessarily cost effective. While reliability is important, you also have to keep costs in mind since you are footing the bill!</p> <p>Therefore I don't really care who my realtor likes as a lender... I'm going to pick my own lender since I will be the one paying the mortgage for 15-30 years!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-we-buy-a-house#post-702857 Tue, 09 Apr 2013 14:35:45 +0000 Caly 702857@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My one recommendation is don't become house-poor. Just because you qualify for a high mortgage, doesn't mean you have to buy that high. Being saddled with a big mortgage can be daunting if something happens down the road. DH hasn't worked in 1.5 yrs for medical reasons and I thank my lucky stars our mortgage is manageable on one income. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-we-buy-a-house#post-702848 Tue, 09 Apr 2013 14:34:44 +0000 Bluebonnet 702848@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Everyone has great suggestions. I'd suggest working with a mortgage broker instead of a bank. Mortgage brokers can access lending programs from multiple lenders, which give you access to better rates.</p> <p>Ask family and friends for recommendations on mortgage brokers and realtors. Its important to work with someone knowledgeable and trustworthy. </p> <p>Spend a lot of time looking at houses (open houses, looking online) and figuring out what you must have in a house. If you are buying a "fixer uper" make sure you have a lot of room in your budget.</p> <p>Do not spend all of your savings on your downpayment. Homeownership is expensive and things will happen. Its crucial that you have a cushion in case something breaks or one of your becomes unemployed. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-we-buy-a-house#post-702795 Tue, 09 Apr 2013 14:25:23 +0000 avivoca 702795@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@lindseykaye: One thing a Realtor told us was that they prefer working with banks rather than mortgage companies. It also helps if you have an established relationship with the bank you are using with your mortgage.</p> <p>That being said, I wasn't really fond of our lending officer, but on a whole, working with our bank has been a positive experience. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-we-buy-a-house#post-702766 Tue, 09 Apr 2013 14:20:10 +0000 looch 702766@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I like to use zillow for real estate listings because it also shows you the estimated taxes on the property, which I found to be pretty spot on. </p> <p>I'd also add making a list of your non-negotiables so you can weed out properties. Go to open houses if you can, they're a great no pressure way to take a look at homes. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-we-buy-a-house#post-702762 Tue, 09 Apr 2013 14:19:38 +0000 lindseykaye 702762@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Jump Rope: Yes! I see this happen on HGTV all the time and I'm like... that doesn't seem right. Your thinking is exactly how I interperet things even if the industry calculates otherwise, and is how I intend to go forward with our finances and budget. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-we-buy-a-house#post-702759 Tue, 09 Apr 2013 14:19:09 +0000 Bao 702759@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would get pre-approved first so you don't go looking at houses you can't afford, or fall in love with something and it's gone before you can get the paperwork together for pre-approval. Houses go fast! Then start looking for a realtor, they should be able to help you with all sorts of questions you may have! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-we-buy-a-house#post-702746 Tue, 09 Apr 2013 14:16:25 +0000 MrsTiz 702746@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Ours was backwards, I was out with my mom looking at houses she planned to buy and then rent out, and loved our house. I called the bank from there and got started.</p> <p>Normally, we would have went to the bank first, they would have told us how much we were approved for and then we went from there! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-we-buy-a-house#post-702729 Tue, 09 Apr 2013 14:14:41 +0000 Mrs. Jump Rope 702729@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>One thing that confused me was how the realtor figured out what we could afford.</p> <p>Lets say the bank approved us for a 100,000 loan, and we had 10,000 saved for a down payment. The realtor said, "you can afford a 110,000 house!"</p> <p>While that may have TECHNICALLY been true, we planned on using that $10,000 as a down payment and wanted to look for a $100,000 house, put $10,000 down and have a $90,000 loan. Does that make sense? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-we-buy-a-house#post-702594 Tue, 09 Apr 2013 13:48:10 +0000 lindseykaye 702594@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Major thanks to all of you who so thoughtfully responded!</p> <p>@sunny: You are so right about weighing whether buying a house is a good investment in the first place! Thankfully DH and I are planning on making our current city home for the long haul so buying definitely comes out in our favor even though our rent right now is low. Our credit is also 'very good' so, besides having more money in general, I think we're great candidates to buy.</p> <p>Seems like the consensus is to:<br /> look at our finances and decide what we can *actually* afford<br /> get pre-approved by a bank (any bank)<br /> check out listings online in our area and pricepoint - decide where/what we want in a house<br /> find a real estate agent we trust<br /> go looking<br /> and then do the nitty gritty of getting formally approved/putting in an offer/etc.</p> <p>Again, thank you so much for your advice and perspective. It seems like such an overwhelming task to even know where to start - and now we do! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-we-buy-a-house#post-702522 Tue, 09 Apr 2013 13:30:07 +0000 yoursilverlining 702522@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>You first need to come up with your own budget - how much can *you* afford to pay each month for a mortgage, taxes, utilities, etc. What happens if one of you loses a job, or has to take a pay cut - how much can you afford then?</p> <p>How long do you plan to live there? If less than 5 years, is it really in your financial best interest to buy now? If more than 5 years; do you know where the best/better school districts are? Higher/lower taxed areas? Do you want an established neighborhood, or something up and coming? </p> <p>How large of a home do you want? What features are your "must have" features? Your "must NOT have" features? </p> <p>How much will you put down? How much will you have left in savings after doing that? If you borrow $ from your 401k you have to repay that amount within a certain amount of time (I think 5 years...?) - can you make extra payments towards your 401k and your new mortgage? </p> <p>You can view homes in your area on your local MLS website. It's a free service (some scams charge you for MLS access). Is there anything you like?</p> <p>A mortgage lender will want good credit scores, proof of income, length at jobs, bank account documents, your previous years taxes, etc.</p> <p>Once you figure out your own budget, then I would suggest going to the bank to get preapproved for a mortgage and talking to a few buyer's agents. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-we-buy-a-house#post-702324 Tue, 09 Apr 2013 12:36:04 +0000 honeybear 702324@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@sunny: I agree with this! One thing I would add is to consider how a downpayment would deplete your 'emergency' savings. I would make sure the downpayment/closing costs don't leave you with no reserves in the event of a disaster/income loss. Those savings should be enough to keep you going for at least 3 mos, but preferably 6. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-we-buy-a-house#post-702221 Tue, 09 Apr 2013 12:05:05 +0000 Chillybear 702221@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>The major change to the FHA loan coming in june is the PMI or mortgage insurance its a premium you pay on the loan. Previously once you had 20% equity on the loan you could drop the PMI charges with the changes you will pay the PMI for the life of the loan or unless you refinance to a conventional loan. </p> <p>Our PMI is $100/month we looked into refinancing in January for a lower interest rate and our PMI would have increased to $300/month which negated the savings on the interest rate. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-we-buy-a-house#post-702208 Tue, 09 Apr 2013 12:00:42 +0000 HLK208 702208@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>What we did:<br /> -went to our bank, they guided us to a lending office<br /> -met with lending officer, told her what we *think* we can afford per month<br /> -got pre-approved by bringing 2 months worth of pay stubs, 2 months worth of bank statements, and the past 2 years of W2's<br /> -for our first home, we were making about $70k then and got approved for $250k, we had one car payment, 2 credit cards and 1 personal loan (about 20k in debt with car)<br /> -found a home, called a real estate office in the area, made a offer and used 1% for earnest money ($2250)</p> <p>Our biggest mistake, was calling the real estate office and asking for ANY agent to show us the home. She made easy commission and she was very lazy. Use someone that a friend/family has used, liked and trusted!! Huge deal and a bigger deal when you go to sell your home!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-we-buy-a-house#post-702200 Tue, 09 Apr 2013 11:57:25 +0000 Mrs. Lemon-Lime 702200@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@sunny: Amen. My first home was DH's 3rd and he just turned 32. All that moving and selling did not fatten his pockets. Even with this house I regret buying it (really leasing it from the bank) because DH hates it here. Our home is great easily a forever home, but will likely be a less than 7 year s home. </p> <p>@lindseykaye: Start with how much you can afford. A general rule of thumb is 3 times your annual salary. So your max would be $180, 000. Depending on your credit score and financial health lenders will tell you you can borrow more. Remember your mortgage is composed of three things Mortgage, Taxes,and Insurance...it all adds up.</p> <p>Figure out what you want in a home and the neighborhood. You can go to Zillow.com and look at houses that are for sale. Lots of times the website is inaccurate. But, I found my realtor by calling him on a property I saw on Zillow. It was under contract, but we hit it off. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-we-buy-a-house#post-702193 Tue, 09 Apr 2013 11:56:08 +0000 Cole 702193@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Ditto to what everyone else has said. Our steps were:<br /> -Look at our finances and calculators<br /> -Pre-approval from bank (we did not wind up using that bank)<br /> -"Interviewed" realtors-- we know several people in real estate and we chatted with each casually to get a feel for who we wanted to work with.<br /> -Started going to open houses to get a feel for what we were looking for.<br /> -Worked with realtor, we went out with him 4-5 times? Two or three times were for specific houses, we also did a couple of drive around and go in tons of places trips.<br /> -Found a place, put in an offer and figured out financing (the part after the offer took forever!) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-we-buy-a-house#post-702116 Tue, 09 Apr 2013 11:22:41 +0000 Smurfette 702116@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>First is get pre-approved for a mortgage. They will tell you what you qualify for and how much you will be required to day payment wise. Once they tell you what you qualify for, you can figure out what the monthly payment would be. Then figure out what you are comfortable spending for a mortgage payment. </p> <p>Just make sure when you start looking you find a realtor that you will get along with. And if you aren't happy, don't waste time with them, move on to another. We wasted too much time with one that we weren't happy with. Ask friends and family for recommendations. Meet with them and go with the one that you click with the best. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-we-buy-a-house#post-702086 Tue, 09 Apr 2013 11:16:33 +0000 avivoca 702086@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>First, go to the bank and get pre-approved for a mortgage. We asked them to cap it at a certain amount (even though we qualify for more) because we weren't willing to pay more than $1500 a month on the mortgage. Then, look at houses in your price range. One thing I did was visit a lot of open houses to meet real estate agents. You can really get to know their personality by how they show the house or how they treat you. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-we-buy-a-house#post-702074 Tue, 09 Apr 2013 11:12:52 +0000 looch 702074@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@regberadaisy: to your point, there are also calculators that tell you if you are better of renting or buying. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-we-buy-a-house#post-702071 Tue, 09 Apr 2013 11:12:00 +0000 sunny 702071@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'd start with really understanding WHY you want to own a home. I feel like home ownership is so ingrained in American culture that people don't even know why they want one anymore. If you are planning to move within 7 years, you're probably better off renting due to the frictional costs of buying and selling a home. (e.g. you can only afford to buy a 1bdrm condo right now, but plan on having 3 kids in the next 7 years... or you might move because of job/family)</p> <p>Then I'd figure out the following:<br /> -your credit score<br /> -how much you think you can afford each month to spend on ALL home expenses...your mortgage is just one component! Think repairs, insurance, property tax, yearly maintenance (gutter cleaning, etc)<br /> -how much you are qualified to borrow (aka pre-qualification)</p> <p>If your credit scores are low, I'd work on getting those up before looking for a home. The difference in interest rate can have a huge impact on your monthly payment.</p> <p>You will also want to look for an agent that you trust. I interviewed 2 highly recommended ones before deciding upon whom to work with. Don't be afraid to fire your agent if you feel like its not working out.</p> <p>For us, this was our process:<br /> -go to open houses for months and check out homes at various price points<br /> -decide that we wanted a house with features x, y, z... In a particular school district, etc. Based on this plus our budget analysis, we determined a range for home prices we wanted to look at.<br /> -save up for a few more months in order to have a larger down payment and be able to afford the mortgage on 1 income<br /> -look for an agent<br /> -look for homes<br /> -get pre qualified with a lender<br /> -make offer and several counteroffers<br /> -get to acceptance<br /> -find a lender with better rates<br /> -close loan and sale! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-we-buy-a-house#post-702070 Tue, 09 Apr 2013 11:11:58 +0000 regberadaisy 702070@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think going to the bank is a good starting point but I would advise against looking at houses in the range of what you're preapproved for.<br /> I would look at your budget. Calculate up all your bills and living expenses (leaving out rent obviously) and all the extra money you spend. How much you make and subtract the expenses from that. What are you left with? Subtract another few hundred from that for unexpected homeowner expenses. That should be the number of your mortgage. Don't forget to account for property, school taxes. etc.</p> <p>There are bank calculators online if you punch in the monthly mortgage amount you can afford it will tell you how much house you can afford. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-we-buy-a-house#post-702058 Tue, 09 Apr 2013 11:09:40 +0000 looch 702058@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We went to the bank first, because we didn't want to be in a position where we made an offer and then not be able to get the committment. Our situation was a bit complex because we had documents in languages other than English, but a larger bank should be able to handle your request. </p>