STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

carmenb513 · Coach

1st time home buyers

rosie_the_riveter · Gucci

There's actually an article in this month's Glamour (towards the end) about homebuying and such. They had the following websites:

Housing.com for info. on various types of mortgages

Realestatejournal.com

Trulia.com

valenciana · Dooney & Bourke

here are a few links i've come across that have some specific info on first-time home buying

http://www.ourfamilyplace.com/homebuyer/first.html

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/real-estate/BuyerGuide2004/buyers-guide-home.asp

http://homebuying.about.com/od/buyingahome/bb/shopping1sttime.htm

http://www.fanniemae.com/homebuyers/findamortgage/becoming/index.jhtml;jsessionid=J5TSX5VVECGJJJ2FECHSFGI?p=Find+a+Mortgage&s=Becoming+a+Homeowner

I also bought the "Idiot's Guide to Buying & Selling a Home" and "Homebuying for Dummies" but I haven't read them yet. They seem pretty comprehensive though, especially if you know *nothing* about this (like me). I flipped through these at the bookstore too, and thought they looked pretty good as well:

How To Buy Your First Home, Second Edition (DB Summers)
10 Steps to Home Ownership: A Workbook for First-Time Buyers (IR Glink)
100 Questions Every First-Time Home Buyer Should Ask (IR Glink)

PrincessPink · BCBG

Valenciana! that's so funny! I actually used the 100 Questions for first time homebuyers book - as my BIBLE when I bought my place. It had been given to me by a friend who simply said "when you are done with it, simply pass it on to someone else in need". So, its made the rounds among my friends! I highly recommend it.

greendiamond · Marc Jacobs

The housebuying for dummies book was good, and I usually hate the dummies books, but I fewlt like such a dummy it was as insulting.

That and a kick-ass realtor should suffice.

-gd

e_doli · Dooney & Bourke

greendiamond wrote:

That and a kick-ass realtor should suffice.

-gd

i haven't seen any of the books, but i totally agree a great realtor is key. also, a good mortgage person. we found this out the hard way -- our mortgage person (so's "friend") sucked a**. after comparing our experience with a friend's and my sister's, they had really good people while ours took the commission (or whatever they get) and passed us on to some random person we could never get in touch with.

luckyclover · Dooney & Bourke

e_doli wrote:

greendiamond wrote:

That and a kick-ass realtor should suffice.

-gd

i haven't seen any of the books, but i totally agree a great realtor is key. also, a good mortgage person. we found this out the hard way -- our mortgage person (so's "friend") sucked a**. after comparing our experience with a friend's and my sister's, they had really good people while ours took the commission (or whatever they get) and passed us on to some random person we could never get in touch with.

I'll 3rd this here lol. We just bought a house as well as some friends of ours. They had a sucky realtor and had all kinds of problems at the last minute.

AllieGurl · Marc Jacobs

I actually went to a my local credit union before buying a house and meet with a financial planner. She explained alot of the details , process and what we should do to get our finances in order before we bought our house.

All the other steps everyone recomended are great- so I would take advantage of every available resourse to help you prepare.

And as everyone else said, a good mortgage broker, and real estate agent are VERY important!

Good luck!

carmenb513 · Coach

thanx everyone for your suggestions.............I not looking to buy for at least 1.5 more years but I want to get all my ducks on a row.........I'm going to order a few of these books from Amazon.

NCshopper · Hermes

One thing you can do right now before you buy a place is to start getting your credit in good order, if it's not already. Having a good credit score will allow you to get a larger mortgage and better terms.

BargainQueen · Marc Jacobs

NCshopper wrote:

One thing you can do right now before you buy a place is to start getting your credit in good order, if it's not already. Having a good credit score will allow you to get a larger mortgage and better terms.

I agree, we're going thru this right now, we're only a few points away from getting the best rates. Check out the forums at www.creditboards.com, I know I sound like a broken record, but w/o this board, we couldnt have started off so quickly otherwise. HTHs!