Uncle Buck Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 I was in the mortgage business for a decade and owned my own mortgage company for about 7 years. If anyone has any questions about financing, just let me know and I'll try to give you any advice I can. One big piece of advice I always gave my clients was about shopping for a home. I always advised people (particularly if they were first time home buyers) to force themselves to go out and look at a minimum of 10 houses before deciding to buy one. So often, people would fall in love with the first or second one they saw because, compared to the apartment they were currently living in, it seemed so great. But by looking at more houses, they would see things they liked and didn't like in each one. During the search, they would often decide that the house they thought they loved early on wasn't actually as good a fit for them as they first thought it was. Eventually, they would find a place that had everything they liked and they would know instantly that "this is the perfect house for us." 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theJ Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 6 hours ago, Uncle Buck said: I was in the mortgage business for a decade and owned my own mortgage company for about 7 years. If anyone has any questions about financing, just let me know and I'll try to give you any advice I can. One big piece of advice I always gave my clients was about shopping for a home. I always advised people (particularly if they were first time home buyers) to force themselves to go out and look at a minimum of 10 houses before deciding to buy one. So often, people would fall in love with the first or second one they saw because, compared to the apartment they were currently living in, it seemed so great. But by looking at more houses, they would see things they liked and didn't like in each one. During the search, they would often decide that the house they thought they loved early on wasn't actually as good a fit for them as they first thought it was. Eventually, they would find a place that had everything they liked and they would know instantly that "this is the perfect house for us." That's good advice. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scar988 Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 On 12/31/2018 at 9:06 AM, Uncle Buck said: I was in the mortgage business for a decade and owned my own mortgage company for about 7 years. If anyone has any questions about financing, just let me know and I'll try to give you any advice I can. One big piece of advice I always gave my clients was about shopping for a home. I always advised people (particularly if they were first time home buyers) to force themselves to go out and look at a minimum of 10 houses before deciding to buy one. So often, people would fall in love with the first or second one they saw because, compared to the apartment they were currently living in, it seemed so great. But by looking at more houses, they would see things they liked and didn't like in each one. During the search, they would often decide that the house they thought they loved early on wasn't actually as good a fit for them as they first thought it was. Eventually, they would find a place that had everything they liked and they would know instantly that "this is the perfect house for us." Great advice. My wife and I probably looked at 30 houses in a 2 month span but when we found the one we finally bought, it was perfect. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikesfan89 Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 On 12/31/2018 at 8:06 AM, Uncle Buck said: I was in the mortgage business for a decade and owned my own mortgage company for about 7 years. If anyone has any questions about financing, just let me know and I'll try to give you any advice I can. One big piece of advice I always gave my clients was about shopping for a home. I always advised people (particularly if they were first time home buyers) to force themselves to go out and look at a minimum of 10 houses before deciding to buy one. So often, people would fall in love with the first or second one they saw because, compared to the apartment they were currently living in, it seemed so great. But by looking at more houses, they would see things they liked and didn't like in each one. During the search, they would often decide that the house they thought they loved early on wasn't actually as good a fit for them as they first thought it was. Eventually, they would find a place that had everything they liked and they would know instantly that "this is the perfect house for us." The first house I looked at I was all ready to make an offer on. I'm sure glad I didn't do that. It was a nice house but way more than I needed and not nearly as good of a location 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skywindO2 Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 I think it's still in the winter downtime but nothing has come up that I even want to take a look at. It's pretty frustrating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theJ Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 1 hour ago, skywindO2 said: I think it's still in the winter downtime but nothing has come up that I even want to take a look at. It's pretty frustrating. i've been watching my market too, and it's basically 1 house or less per week that hits the market fitting my criteria. Still just the slow time i expect, though i don't expect this year to be as hot as last year. Things should pick up a little in March/April. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skywindO2 Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 How is an assessment usually paid? There's a unit I'm kind of interested in but it has an $8000 assessment, I think from building exterior improvements. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigjohnson2009 Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 3 hours ago, skywindO2 said: How is an assessment usually paid? There's a unit I'm kind of interested in but it has an $8000 assessment, I think from building exterior improvements. I think I homeowner's association will make an assessment for major improvements or issues if the reserves can't cover it. Are you talking about a condo? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKnight82 Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 7 hours ago, skywindO2 said: How is an assessment usually paid? There's a unit I'm kind of interested in but it has an $8000 assessment, I think from building exterior improvements. Can you define "assessment"? If you're talking about an assessed value, the local municipality will have a tax rate, typically in terms like $0.80 per $100 of assessed value, or something like that. That rate will set the real estate taxes you have to pay. If you have a mortgage, the RE taxes will be lumped in with your monthly payment as part of your escrow. If you're talking about Common Area Maintenance fees, or Homeowners Association dues, those can be paid to maintain certain exterior sections of a development. Everyone development is different, but the most common are money to pay for trash removal, snow removal, lawn maintenance, and even exterior maintenance of the buildings themselves. If you have these they are commonly paid monthly or quarterly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skywindO2 Posted March 21, 2019 Share Posted March 21, 2019 I still haven't bought anything but seeing a lot more come on and off the market so hopefully soon. The one I did put an offer on in December never came down to my price but it looks like sold, curious to see what it actually closed at and if they got their asking price. I keep telling myself I'm in the desirable position of not having a time limit with a lease coming to an end soon. My current roommate(who I'm renting from) isn't kicking me out and I'm sure she likes my rent checks. I'm definitely regretting not buying one of the first I looked at now that I have a better idea of what I'm looking for. Kind of mad at my realtor for scaring me away from another because of the special assessment on it. Hopefully soon though! Or maybe I'll just turn get the ambition to apply for new jobs out of state and see where that takes me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theJ Posted March 21, 2019 Share Posted March 21, 2019 8 minutes ago, skywindO2 said: I still haven't bought anything but seeing a lot more come on and off the market so hopefully soon. The one I did put an offer on in December never came down to my price but it looks like sold, curious to see what it actually closed at and if they got their asking price. I keep telling myself I'm in the desirable position of not having a time limit with a lease coming to an end soon. My current roommate(who I'm renting from) isn't kicking me out and I'm sure she likes my rent checks. I'm definitely regretting not buying one of the first I looked at now that I have a better idea of what I'm looking for. Kind of mad at my realtor for scaring me away from another because of the special assessment on it. Hopefully soon though! Or maybe I'll just turn get the ambition to apply for new jobs out of state and see where that takes me. You're doing the right thing. Being patient can be frustrating (especially in a sellers market like this), but it will pay for itself in the end. Hopefully your realtor isn't putting pressure on you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theJ Posted March 21, 2019 Share Posted March 21, 2019 So we're finally ready to start house hunting. Got my pre-approval done, and we interviewed three realtors over the last week. Have to decide tonight between two all-star candidates. After that is the fun part though - finally getting to see some houses! There was one we were interested that popped onto the market a few days ago. Gorgeous house and property. They dropped the price 25k yesterday (after only a week or so on the market). Might be gone before we're able to look at it tomorrow or Saturday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gnat Posted March 21, 2019 Share Posted March 21, 2019 3 hours ago, theJ said: There was one we were interested that popped onto the market a few days ago. Gorgeous house and property. They dropped the price 25k yesterday (after only a week or so on the market). Might be gone before we're able to look at it tomorrow or Saturday. Let your realtor know you're interested and would likely make an offer if you get to see the house, however, you can't see it until Friday/Saturday. If you have a good realtor, they will probably let the other realtor know that they have an interested client or find out, at least, find out if there is a time that the sellers will be considering offers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theJ Posted March 21, 2019 Share Posted March 21, 2019 3 minutes ago, The Gnat said: Let your realtor know you're interested and would likely make an offer if you get to see the house, however, you can't see it until Friday/Saturday. If you have a good realtor, they will probably let the other realtor know that they have an interested client or find out, at least, find out if there is a time that the sellers will be considering offers. Yeah, planning on doing that tonight. It scares me a bit to make an offer on the first house we look at. But then again, this isn't our first time either. I just keep preaching to myself that there will always be another house. No need to do something rash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skywindO2 Posted March 22, 2019 Share Posted March 22, 2019 (edited) Posting in this thread was timed nicely. Place went on the market at noon today and I almost fell in love with the pictures, took a look tonight and I'm going to make an offer. I'm concerned that it's listed a little higher than the rest of the homes in the association in the last year. I'm comfortable paying list price, it's a good amount lower than my max budget. I guess if I go list price and have the seller pay closing costs, it doesn't seem that bad. Edited March 22, 2019 by skywindO2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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