Your First House

[FairyMagdelaine]

My husband and I have been looking or our first house for two years, and this week I’ve honed in on another one. We both have quirky standards and this house certainly doesn’t incorporate all of them, but I’m hoping enough will overlap so we can FINALLY buy a house.

I actually like the fact it’s small…easier to take care of, less taxes (BIG incentive for me) and it has a nice sized yard. But, the style is nothing either of us would choose. We enjoy old farmhouses, capes, New Englanders, etc, and this is a one-floor ranch on a busy street. Still, the location is convenient and the price is as close as to what we can afford.

Our mortgage payment will be much higher than our rent payment is now. Our apartment is about the same size as this house, for half the price. Would it be better for us to buy and start gaining equity and tax breaks, or should we save another year for a better house and risk an interest increase.

And finally…what was the experience with your first home? Was it a good one? Thanks.

 

[Finella]

I can’t offer any advice as to how to make your decision, but I can share my story…

My husband and I were looking at showhomes one weekend (before we were married) just for fun. I enjoy seeing how they decorate the rooms etc.

We had absolutely no plans of buying a home… but before we knew it, we were in over our heads! It was the “perfect” house in the “perfect” neighborhood… so on top of planning a wedding and preparing for my hubby’s deployment to Kosovo (which took place just 2 weeks after our wedding) we were in the process of buying our first home!

It was really bad timing and we made a lot of mistakes… but 5 years later we still live in our perfect home in the perfect neighborhood. And the funny thing is, with interest rates and the housing market now, if we had waited even a year to buy, we would not have been able to afford anything even close to what we have.

So I think you have a lot of thinking to do. Can you see yourselves being happy there? Are you in the financial position to put down a large downpayment and make more frequent mortgage payments? And don’t forget about all of those “extra” expenses that you don’t have to worry about when renting… repairs, maintenance, equipment…

Good luck with your decision! I wish you happiness no matter where you live!

Finella

 

[Grayton]

Our first house was purchased on a snap decision, and it was one of the best decisions we ever made. God was really looking out for us.

My fiancee and I were planning on renting a home. I moved into it three months before the wedding, and discovered what a disaster it was. One evening my fiancee was out with some of her friends, and one said, “You should come to the home next to ours. It’s a great home, going for a bargain. There’s an open house tomorrow.”

My fiancee persuaded me to take a look. We took an experienced homeowner (fix-it-upper) with us to give us a better idea of what the house was like. He raved about it, so - that day, we put in an offer, and it was accepted. Our family enjoyed over ten years in that home and we still think fondly of it.

I hope your experience turns out well. My advice is, if you are not experienced with homes, bring someone along who is. At a minimum, ask for an opportunity to have an inspector check out the home, and for an opportunity to get out of the contract if the inspector gives a report you are not satisfied with.

 

[mom2boyz]

Our first house (33 y/o) was one I loved, but we had to make compromises. We wanted a 2 car garage. We settled for a 1 car garage. The basement steps were in the garage instead of accessed from the house. The yard was overgrown and needed help, but it was large. We were on a dead end street that backed to a private drive. We had mostly older neighbors. The inside was immaculate and the structure was well cared for. It was in an area we wanted to live and in our price range. We thought we would live there 10 years, but got transferred in 3.

The smart things we did was to stay in our price range and get a house we both could live with in an area we wanted. Also we didn’t get a money pit which was very smart to start with.

Our second house was 3 y/o. We had to do a lot (painting, replace carpet, landscaping), but we bought it below market value and did the work ourselves. The structure was sound and it was in a highly prized area so it went quickly when we sold.

I am glad our first house was not the second. It took having some extra cash upfront to make it livable. With our first house I was in love with the inside of the house. With the second, I settled.

Do get the house inspected. Also look at tax records of houses around the area to see if this one is priced right for the neighborhood. These are usually accessed via the county or city and most are online. Also have your real estate agent pull info for houses that have sold in the neighborhood and especially on that street so you can see how long it might take to sell a house on a busy street. It maybe that being on a busy street would be a deterent. Also look at how long the house has been listed. If it’s been listed for a long time it might indicated that there is a problem with the house or location. Also look at info on the school district. Houses in good school districts have better resell value (ie. our second house and we didn’t have kids when we bought it)

Luckily we were able to build our third house, but that’s another thread. Good luck. It’s so nice to have your own house.

 

[CARose]

I’ve bought twice, both times I bought homes that had been on the market for a long time and were in serious need of cosmetic help. But structurally they were sound. I replaced carpets (and even the kitchen and bathroom floors in the second home), I had to remove smoke damage in both from the previous owners who were serious smokers, and the yards were in complete disarray.

But the house had a good lay-out, and they were both in great locations (great neighborhoods where I knew I would be extremely comfortable living for a long time, good schools, amenities, reasonable commute, etc.) If you’re not afraid of earning a bit of sweat equity, this is a great way to get more house than you can afford. In each case, I got the home well below market value. Even in hot markets, there are always a few properties that are “ugly” if you can imagine new carpets, repainted walls and a thorough cleaning. (Light fixtures are easy to change out, and appliances should never be a deciding factor when purchasing a home, although a bad heating system would make me pause.)

I wish you well, and concur with the advice above that suggests you only spend what you can afford to pay, although you might be willing to tighten your belt for a while.

Good luck and God Bless,

CARose

 

[BK80734]

If it is meant to be, it is meant to be…keep in mind that even if you put an offer on a house, you may not get it!

When we started looking for our house, we found a house that we loved, and put an offer on it. We are in a very small rural community, and houses in the price range we were looking don’t sell very quickly. We had to offer below what they were asking, but we figured that they would negotiate, as they were already out of the house and paying for two houses. No luck, they never responded to our offer, and it took them 6 more months to sell the house for the same price we would have gone up to.

The good news is that God had other plans for us. We had given up when my hubby got a call at work from an older lady in town who said she was thinking about selling her house, and that his grandma had mentioned we were looking.

We ended up doing a private sale for a house in wonderful condition, and I can’t even imagine living in the other house (it was right across the street from the church, so that was a big draw for us, and now we live about a mile away.)

So, if you think this house is the house, go for it.

However, since the mortgage is going to be so much higher than your rent, I would probably put it off for a year, and put the difference in savings for a larger downpayment. Home maintenece and repair is more expensive than you’d think!

-Lori

 

[SavedByHim]

My husband and I are actually going to be moving out of our first home in the next 2 weeks. It is a home that I am going to miss dearly.

Let me tell you our story. Like you, we found a house that was in our price range and with the interest rates as low as they are right now, we decided to go ahead and put our house up for sale. (We knew a home in this price range would be out of the question for us if interest rates ever went really high again.) But, still, I was very hesitant to move and I struggled with the decision for weeks. I didn’t know if it was the right thing to do or not. I think I even mentioned it on this board, asking for advice on what to do.

Ultimately, we decided to put our current house up for sale and then we gave the situation to God. We prayed that if we were went to move, that the house would sell in a timely fashion. If we were not meant to move, the house just wouldn’t sell for what we were asking for it. (we were not underpricing the house at all.) Well, we received 3 offers on the house within a week and it was sold a few days after that. We decided this was God telling us to move!

My advice to you would be the same thing: put it in God’s hands. If you and your husband have done sufficient research into the home and your finances, go ahead and make an offer. I firmly believe if God does not want you to move, it won’t happen. There will be so many stumbling blocks along the way, that you will know – it’s not meant to be.

I’ll be praying for you guys that it all works out according to His plan!