STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

asf · Kate Spade

buying a house?

Elle · Hermes

Hmmm, a couple of random tips off the top of my head:

-Mortgage companies almost always approve you for more than you can comfortably afford.

-Have an inspector look at any houses you are really serious about before you make an offer.

-If you find a house your'e serious about, drive around the neighborhood as much as possible at different times of day.

-Find out what the property taxes on a house are and take it into consideration when you are determining a comfortable mortgage payment.

There are a couple of old topics discussing this in Home & Garden with some good advice too.

-- Edited by LMonet at 10:45, 2005-09-23

Tati · Chanel

ask people you know for a good realtor, a very good one matters so much! i've heard so many bad stories...........

txgal · BCBG

Get pre-approved for a loan. If you submit the letter of pre-approval to the seller (I wouldn't include the exact amount you are approved for) then it may help them select your offer over others in case they receive several. It saves the seller time and money if they know you can get the loan and they don't run the risk of accepting an offer from someone that can't get the loan in the first place.

Tati · Chanel

see, a good realtor will tell you everything the girls have said and then some

lynnie · Chanel

ok, this is sort of on the same topic- but how do you know what price house is in your price range? Is there some sort of formula- like (20% or 25% of your income * 30 years / interest accumulated or something) - down payment? I really don't know, i just remember the entourage where he wanted a house in the million dollar range but said yes to the 4 million dollar house, and i would like to know the price of a house i would comfortably be able to afford (not buying yet or anything, just curious.)

jj · Kate Spade

Hey Lynnie - Most people say your monthly housing costs (usually mortgage, taxes and insurance) should not exceed 30% of your gross monthly income. But it can also be influenced by other factors, like the amount of debt you have and what those monthly payments are and what you can afford for a downpayment.

Farrah · Marc Jacobs

When looking at houses do the following things:

Run the water

Flush the toilets

Look under all of the sinks

Ask if they have ever had insect problems

If you are looking at condos ask if the building ever had or is anticipating any special assessments

Ask what the monthly bills run on average

If it needs to be painted inside or out ask for the extra money for that at closing

Good luck!!

lynnie · Chanel

jj wrote:

Hey Lynnie - Most people say your monthly housing costs (usually mortgage, taxes and insurance) should not exceed 30% of your gross monthly income. But it can also be influenced by other factors, like the amount of debt you have and what those monthly payments are and what you can afford for a downpayment.

is there some sort of mortgage calculator-so that you know after 30 years of paying 30% of your income, you've paid for a certain price of house? it would be so much easier if there were no interest

Do people usually get 30 yr. mortgages? i know my family did, but not sure if its passe now.

Elle · Hermes

If you google 'mortgage calculator' it'll bring up a bunch of results. Most of the larger real-estate sites have calculators on them, too.

NCshopper · Hermes

Hey Lynnie,

Mortgage calculators are a great way of figuring out what your payment will be like on a variety of homes. I think Coldwell Banker has a mortgage calculator on their site. What I did was I went online and started looking at a bunch of different houses at different prices, typed in what my down payment would be, estimated the interest rate (I think about 5-6% is about average right now) and then you can take a look at what your mortgage payment would be. It's all trial and error, basically.

Do some research first though. Drive around, look at neighborhoods, and figure out what part of town you want to live in (I assume you probably already have an idea). Look at what housing costs in that area are: you can usually find out how much each house cost by going online to your city or county's website and looking at property values. By doing this, you can figure out if these areas are in your price range or not.

Definitely find a good real estate agent before you get much further into the process. Ask your family, friends, coworkers, boss, etc. if they have a good real estate agent they'd recommend.

That's the info I have so far. I'm sure I'll think of more later.

asf · Kate Spade

thanks for the advice so far.

so i may have a problem - a guy i work with recently got his realtor's license, and he's been on my ass to buy a house. that's not why i'm doing it, but he's pretty much "my" realtor already. i think i trust him (hell, i could probably have him fired if he f'd me!), but i don't know if he's "good." what makes a realtor good?

Elle · Hermes

Experience and Thoroughness. Though IMO thoroughness can make up for lack of experience in some cases.

gruiz · Kenneth Cole

Make sure you get a lawyer. Between a good realtor and a good lawyer, they'll give you all the info you need.

This is sort of vague advice, but if a house doesn't "feel" right, go with that feeling. Even if it's perfect in every way, but you feel that something is off...trust yourself.

halleybird · Hermes

lynnie wrote:

is there some sort of mortgage calculator-so that you know after 30 years of paying 30% of your income, you've paid for a certain price of house? it would be so much easier if there were no interest Do people usually get 30 yr. mortgages? i know my family did, but not sure if its passe now.

I think most people do... at least people my age. I also know people (like my parents and their friends) who started w/30 years and then refinanced to a 15 year later on.

As for the total you will pay after 30 years of interest, when you buy a house, they have that figure on one of the loan docs you have to sign. Trust me, you don't want to know. It ain't pretty.

Cortney1982 · Chanel

asf wrote:

thanks for the advice so far. so i may have a problem - a guy i work with recently got his realtor's license, and he's been on my ass to buy a house. that's not why i'm doing it, but he's pretty much "my" realtor already. i think i trust him (hell, i could probably have him fired if he f'd me!), but i don't know if he's "good." what makes a realtor good?

Give the guy a chance, everybody has got to start somewhere. Though, if you don't think he's smart, doesn't know what he's doing, or isn't a hard worker, I would say hell no!

NCshopper · Hermes

Cortney1982 wrote:

asf wrote: thanks for the advice so far. so i may have a problem - a guy i work with recently got his realtor's license, and he's been on my ass to buy a house. that's not why i'm doing it, but he's pretty much "my" realtor already. i think i trust him (hell, i could probably have him fired if he f'd me!), but i don't know if he's "good." what makes a realtor good? Give the guy a chance, everybody has got to start somewhere. Though, if you don't think he's smart, doesn't know what he's doing, or isn't a hard worker, I would say hell no!

I say go with your gut on this one. If you feel like he's forced himself on you, then that seems a little strange to me. But, do what you think is right here. I would have two hesitations about it: 1) He might not have a whole lot of experience. 2) If things don't pan out the way you want with him as your realtor, it could make work awkward. If you end up feeling like you can't trust him as a realtor and feel like you need to find a new realtor, I could imagine it might lead to tension in the workplace.

I don't know this guy, or how experienced/inexperienced or good he is, but just food for thought!

As far as what makes a good realtor, someone who is thorough and experienced as LMonet said, but you also want someone who knows the area like the back of their hand. You want someone you feel comfortable with (this person will have a good idea of your financial situation and how much you'll be spending on a house, so this clearly isn't a person you want to feel like you have to impress, if that makes sense.)

Read up about your area first though to get some knowledge of your area. You'll want to know if bidding wars are common, or if houses usually sit on the market for a few weeks before they sell. Also, are people in your area offering above asking price, at asking price, or below asking price? In some areas of the country, like southern California, it's very common to offer above asking price, but in others it's not, and you don't want to be suckered into offering more than what they're asking if you don't need to, like one of my friends was. You can get this info by asking your coworker, other coworkers and friends, and poking around in the real estate section of your newspaper.

HTH! Feel free to PM me if you'd like. We bought our house about a year ago, so the experience is still fresh in my mind.

JMR · Dooney & Bourke

asf - I have a decent amount of experience in this area....and I have to say having a GREAT lawyer is way more important than having a good broker. Your lawyer is your last line of defense...so find someone really good - even if they are expensive.

Do a lot of research yourself on multiple listings, etc...You can always have your broker take you to the places - but if you depend soley on them you'll be waiting around forever.

Find an area or two you like and stalk it - Drive around - see if there are any houses for sale - do what you have to do - don't wait for them!!

I have worked with many brokers - good and bad - and I find even when they are good - they are just ok. Most of the properties I own (Actually now that I think of it - all of the properties we own) I found on my own and had the broker take me to see them.