Home buying advice - The Drunken stepFORUM - A place to discuss your worthless opinions

Randal Graves · #1 05-03-2008, 09:23 PM

Anyone have any home buying tips for me? I'm about to buy my first home and it's a little hard on my nerves. This is a big investment so I'm a little worried about fucking things up. I've put in a ton of research already, but I'm just hoping someone has some of that: "If I'd only known before..." advice.

HedinAss · #2 05-03-2008, 10:02 PM

Being an auctioneer who handles about 125-150 foreclosure auctions a week....my advice to you is: get pre-approved with a reputable mortgage company and know what you can afford (remember mortgage people are just salespeople), watch the local "legal" paper for foreclosure ads, have the deposit check made out to yourself, do your homework concerning recent sales in the area, etc. If you want...pm me, i let you know what i know....

sportster · #3 05-03-2008, 10:16 PM

Just remember.... Everyone who was ever foreclosed on a house was originally approved for the loan. Just because a person is approved for $XXX loan, doesn't mean they can afford it. Only you know your budget.
I advise staying away from adjustable rate mortgages.
If it's an older house and you have the option of a short term warranty, seriously consider getting it.

Randal Graves · #4 05-03-2008, 10:23 PM

Yeah, I'm not even going to consider doing this with anything less than a fixed rate mortgage under 6%. I'm shooting for under 5.5%, but we'll see. I'm also pretty confident in my ability to afford it because I work in sales and I can only qualify based on my base salary which is no more than 1/2 of my yearly income. Based on the #s I've seen to this point I won't be paying all that much more than I pay in rent in my crummy apartment. Actually it's probably going to be about $500 more a month, but whatever.

binary_jester · #5 05-04-2008, 12:27 AM

I used to do mortgages for Wells Fargo, so if you have any questions, let me know.

idahotransplant · #6 05-04-2008, 04:03 AM

I just bought a house last year. Don't forget to add property tax and homeowners insurance when you look at the mortgage payment. And your gas and electric bills will probably be a little (or a lot) higher than in an apartment. I wish someone had told me I'd have a $300 heating bill before I moved in.

Randal Graves · #7 05-04-2008, 08:16 AM

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I'm not really sure. I know I'm going to do an FHA mortgage, but I'm not really sure other than that. Do lenders negotiate rates, fees, etc. or do I just shop around and find the one I like the most?

Stl · #8 05-04-2008, 09:11 AM

I strongly suggest getting pe approved at least you know how much you have to spend. We were approved for 150,000 but we bouht a house for 89,000. Saves alot of time looking at a house more than you have.

If this is the first house you have ever had your name on you would be able to get a first time home buyers thing. The goverment will pay for you closing cost, and down payment.

Do not go with Wells Fargo they suck ass!!!!!!!! Sorry Binary_Jester I respect you

They send the bill and it is due on the first. They say on the bill if not recived by the 16th you owe a late fee of such and such. They will call every fucking day 2-3 times after the first asking where the money is.

They always tell us it's late if we send it on the 10th and we will have a late fee. 2 years now and no late fee's and no marks on our credit. The claim they dont have a grace period.

I would love for them to sell my account so I didnt have to have them anymore

Randal Graves · #9 05-04-2008, 09:49 AM

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Yeah, I already got pre-approved. I asked for & was approved for 140k because that will put my payment in the $1200 or less range. That's a monthly payment I'm comfortable so I don't have my realtor showing me anything with an asking price over 140k. Considering the housing market I'm not planning to offer more than 90-95% of asking price.

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They are quickly taking themselves out of consideration. They give several incentives through my employer, but I requested to meet with a mortgage officer and haven't had a call back in a week. Shitty, shitty customer service which doesn't surprise me considering I bank with them now and I'm familiar with how they operate. If anything I'll try to shop their offer in hopes of getting something comparable elsewhere.

Stl · #10 05-04-2008, 10:49 AM

When we bought ou current house the other house was sitting vacant for about 1.5 yrs. Our realtor finnally found someone to buy it. The person was approved through wells fargo. I allready knew it was gonna be bad.

We had to change the closing date 3 times becasue they couldnt get his paper work together.

The 2nd time they didnt send the check with his paper work so we didnt get to close they tried telling me it would be there at the end of the week and to sign and they would get me the check. I said fuck you and walked out.

finally 3rd closing date they had all the paper work we were closing at 9am enede up waliking out of the title place around 5pm they sent the paperwork and check too the wrong title company ( title place has 4 locations here)

They didnt tell no one till 4pm that it went the wrong place after several phone calls from the title place. Te title place was pissed andsaid they didnt wanna deal with wells fargo again

Any ways hope buying a house for you is pain less and enjoyable.
I heard on the news that now buying a house you can haggle to keep major appliances and furniture in the house when you buy one.