t-15 firefighter

Hello all. We are about to start looking for a new house. I’m looking for some good advise from all of you knowledgeable people. This will be our first “new” house. The one we are living in right now was built in 1919 and it is just too small for our growing family. Right now we have only 2 bedrooms and 1 (that’s right 1) bathroom. Once the baby is here it will be way too small. It is only about 1300 sq ft. Here is a link to our house that we are in right now. Click Here

Here is a summary of what we are looking for so far in no particular order.

1. 2500 sq ft or more if possible
2. 1 story if at all possible
3. No more than $250,000 preferably around $200,000
4. 3-4 bedrooms and a minimum of 2 full baths
5. Corner lot if possible
6. Good school system
7. Quite neighborhood

These are just a few items. What are some of your suggestions? Also how about picking out a realtor and what do you look for in a mortgage co. besides the best rate?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Britt

dssimecek

First, what area or town do you want to live in? Find out as much as you can about the places that have what you want, the school system and quiet, security, crime rate, traffic, ease of getting to and from for work, school, shopping and enterament.
Ask every one you talk to about where they live. and how they like it.

Are you going to build new, or buy used. If used, how old a home, and has it been updated, wiring, plumbing, winddows, inulation, and siding.

Go on line and look at the different real estate companys and see what they have to offer in the area you are looking.

Drive around the area. both on weekends and at rush hour. Get an idea of the commute time. See what is for sale in the area. Go to the open house that are on the market, and go to the new developents. See what contractors are building what, how is the quality. You may fine contractors you like and others that cut corners.

Have the used house inspected by an independent inspector that you hire. If you build new, know what you want in it, what is available in flooring, carpet windows and othere things.
When our house was built in a development, my wife, who knows home construction, came out at least 3 times a week and checked on the progress and had things done the way we wanted them.

Shop for the morgage company that will work with you, explaine things to you, what it all loan terms mean. It is an education.

Your realestate agent, shop for that person also. they should help you every step of the way. This will be a big invest ment. Done correctly it will give you and your family a nice home that will increase in value.

Hope this helps. Feel free to pm me if you have more questions.

We will be selling our house in the near future, and my wife, being observent, noticed that homes that were listed by Remax were not on the market very long only a few days.

Happy home hunting, let us know what you find.

mestdagh

If you're not on city water, get a water test done for content. Ask the neighbors if they have any water shortage problems. The owner won't tell you if he primed the well for a flow test.

Make sure you have plenty of storage room. A basement is great for the kids to play on those rainy days. Make sure the garage is long and high enough for your truck.

Talk to the owner about anything you should know (after you buy the house). He won't discuss problems before hand, of course.

Hope this helps.

Wilson

I own a title company and have seen it all. If I were you I would call a local title company in your area and ask who they would recommend as far as a mortgage company and/or realtor. Since Title companies generally have many mortgage companies that they deal with and also many realtors, they should be able to tell you who is doing the best loans and what realtors actually do their job and are nice to work with. I also suggest you shop around for your loan, interest rates can be very decieving, find a good loan officer that will spend some time with you and educate you as to whats loans are available to you.

Good Luck

pogorules

All the above and this...... The real estate agent works for the SELLER, not you. They are not "on your side". Deal with the real estate agent just as if you were dealing with the seller in person, dont ever show your hand.

induchman

Use a "Buyers Agent". Negotiate a flat rate directly with that person. He/she will still receive a portion of the seller's commission anyway. The "Buyers Agent" works for you and you alone. They are not required to divulge information about you or your finances to anyone.

I've had much good experience over the years, and the "Buyers Agent" saved me a lot of headaches and turmoil. Buying a house is the single most depressing time in your life. It's wrought with tension and anxiety, singly and both at the same time.

Building a home is far easier, once you get the paperwork from the bank all in order. Getting the contractors to finish on time is another matter. If you're qualified, a building loan is a snap to convert to a mortgage.

t-15 firefighter

All good information so far. A lot of things I didn't think of. I knew you guys would be a valuable resource.

I guess I should give you a little more information. We are looking to buy new. We have already scoped out the community that we would like to live in and hopefully we can afford it. The school system is a good one and my child will not have to ride a bus. It is a close community ( 1st – 9th grade) school that she could walk to as she gets older and I wouldn’t worry about her. We thought about building a house but decided that would be more of a headache. There is major home construction going on in this community so it is pretty much a buyers market right now. I’m not saying that they are cheap but I think we could get a decent deal. Once the construction is over I believe that the houses in this area will only appreciate in value. The houses that were built in the same area some 10 years ago have appreciated substantially in value since they were built.

The whole real estate agent, mortgage, banks, lenders, commissions, blah blah blah is what is getting me. Since this is our first time actually buying a house it is pretty confusing. Believe it or not I actually went out and bought “Home Buying for Dummies” today. I guess I need all of the help I can get.

I am starting to learn that this might be more stressful then my wife giving birth.

Thanks again for all of your insightful responses!

Britt

Usta HaveA Hemi

Induchman things might be different in Wyonimg but I have never heard of a "buyers agent" The selling agent is representing the sellers and has a contract to recieve a commision at the completion of the sale. The money comes out to the equity of the house. No one writes a check for the commision. With that said the buyer has a choice. If you are not working with an agent you can use the sellers agent and that is considered to be dual agency or working for both the buyer and seller. This could be good or bad depending on how you look at it. First the bad side might be that all the agent wants to do is sale the house so she can get paid. The agent may or may not look out for either sides as long as it closes. That's just human nature. The good side is that the agent is under contract to recieve a commision, usually around 5-6 percent. If you use the sellers agent they will get the whole thing. If you use your own agent they have to split it. What I am getting at is that if you use the sellers agent I would try to get into thier pocket and see if they will reduce thier commision to get the house at a lower price. Sometimes this makes the difference between getting the house or not. My mother is the # 5 agent in her office in California and she cuts her comission all the time to make transactions work.

Good luck! Usta

MedicShawn

Drive thru bays for the Garage

The other good thing to do is talk to your friends and see who they recommend. Since you know the neighborhood drive by and talk to your new neighbors see what they liked/disliked about the neighborhood. Walk through a few houses under construction to see how they builder does things. Talk to people who recently bough or built houses to see what they would have done differently. Maybe you can get a bigger house and finish a couple of rooms yourself. I'm sure they guys from the station will come help they only work 10 days a month

I'll come help you myself if you let me drive the rear of the ladder truck.

t-15 firefighter

yeah.... now see, there's something i didn't think about. to tell you the truth, it is really hard to find a house with a garage that will fit my truck. it measured a little over 22' long (with the light bar) and 7 1/2' high (with the yakima rack).

britt

justcampin

Check out the HOA if the community has one .. they can be a real pain,make shure the garage is big enough for the Dodge and the panry is big enough for more then 3 cangoods,get ceramic tile where possible...I built my house 6 years ago andnow I realize what should have been changed

t-15 firefighter

oh yeah... something else i thought of. i would like to have hardwood floors. much easier to keep clean.

britt

Dodgezilla

Hardwood floors are not that much better than carpet. As a matter of fact you will probably have to sweep them EVERYDAY once the kids come around!! I like them though and have some in my house.
A friend of mine was buying a big townhouse and they told him he could not park his Ford dually outside of the garage or on the street. It wouldn't fit in the garage so he ended up selling it!! That's nuts!! His wife wanted that townhouse something bad I guess..
Man! around here you can't even buy a small condo for $200,000 anymore. My house has more than doubled in value since I bought it just 7 years ago and they sell very quickly in this neighborhood so I have a nice little nest egg I'm sitting on.
I definitely agree about finding a good mortgage company. I use a broker who always finds me the lowest rate and even if I lock a rate in she will give me a lower rate if it drops down. She also finds me the least expensive, but good, title company, appraiser, etc...
Owning a new house is great. No worries about if something is going to break or if the roof is going to start leaking or anything like that. Get brick if possible. Everytime we have high winds around here there is at least one house that loses some siding...

eswartz

T-7,
I saw your desire for hardwood floors. I would consider a laminate wood floor instead. The maintenance is much less, never needs refinishing and won't show wear like a traditional hardwood floor.

Something else, check the construction of the house. We moved from Minnesota 4 years ago to Missouri. They build houses here like my grandfather did in the early 1930's with rafters rather than trusses and joists rather than floor trusses. I would prefer floor & ceiling trusses with plywood subfloor rather than OSB or chipboard. Chipboard won't hold a screw/nail like plywood will. Also, a big difference from MN to MO was the 2X4 construction, even here in the midwest it gets cold enough in the winter and warm enough in the summer to justify 2X6 construction, it'll be more effecient in both seasons, warmer in the winter & cooler in the summer. Another big thing was the exterior siding, here in MO it's all wood exterior which requires painting , in MN vinyl, no maintenance siding was the best, also vinyl windows.

The HOA thing was new for us moving to MO. I'd shoot myself if I ever moved into another HOA. They say it's to protect the value of your home, bull!! All it does is give someone else the ability to gripe about you parking something in your drive that they don't like. As soon as someone else makes my mortgage payment, I'll live like they want me to. Our neighborhood in MN was 10X the place to live than the HOA we are in now.

Lots to consider and it can be overwhelming. Write things down and get things in writing otherwise you're going to forget some of the important things.

Good Luck & Keep us posted.

Eric

Usta HaveA Hemi

A brand new house is nice but you better have a little extra money in the bank if you go that way. It goes like this, window coverings,landscaping, ceiling fans,paint because all walls are white usually. That doesn't sound like much but it adds up fast. Kind of like owning a CTD

Good luck! Usta