What is your best advice for someone (me) who is looking to purchase their first home.?

Me and my fiance have been approved for about 290,000 of financing (we would never finance that much). We are looking for homes that are about 110-145k. We live in Wisconsin where the homes are much cheaper than out west or in the big city.


What is your best advice for a first time home buyer on real estate agencies, financing, or just general advice? Thanks for your input, it is appreciated!What is your best advice for someone (me) who is looking to purchase their first home.?
Don't even look at homes, until you have looked at your budget, and agreed on a house payment that you can easily afford. Give your self plenty of time. Make a list of features you HAVE to have, and those you would like, as well as those you don't want, and be flexible. For example when I bought my first home I HAD to have four bedrooms, but soon learned I could not afford it. There are alot of homes in my area that have sloped front yards, and steep drive ways, I hate this and would not budge on having a ';flat'; driveway. During any part of the process, if you are not comfortable with your agent, tell them, give them room to improve, and move on if need be. If a home you like has furniture you like you can have that written in to the contract, as well as the appliance. Bottom line is give your self plenty of time, and be prepared for LOTS of paper work!What is your best advice for someone (me) who is looking to purchase their first home.?
Pay to have a professional inspector go thru the home.





Get a survey of the property lines.





Get your own lawyer to review all contracts before you sign.





Make sure you have several thousand dollars set aside for all those deposits/installation/set up fees for utilities, phone, cable, etc.





Don't buy new furniture until after you move into the house. And actually use a tape measure on the space and the furniture.
1-pay off credit cards


2-check credit reports and make sure everything is clean - try and get your score up to 700+


3-prepare to put 5-20% downpayments and another 4-6% for closing costs





find a real estate agent you're comfortable with





4-get a fixed loan only


5-make sure you can comfortably afford the monthly payments including real estate taxes, homeowners insurance (50/mo), possibly PMI insurance (if you put less than 20% down - another $50/mo), higher utility bills than you're used to - (heating oil, gas for heat or cooking), (electric, water, sewer - could be 30-50/mo or more), put aside 1% of house price for annual maintenance,





make sure all major systems of house are in good condition before you agree to buy - roof, furnace, electrical, plumbing, septic/sewage
Find a home that you really like. Keep the mortgage in a range that you are very comfortable with, and can still save money. Unexpected costs pop up all of the time.





Having 20% down is great, and will save you on PMI.





Don't expect to be able to turn around and sell for a profit. buy a home not an investment.





Read all of your documents. Really read all of the fine print.





***Have a whole home inspection. It'll find problems before they are yours to deal with.***





Ask for copies of the utility bills. then you will have an idea of the month to month costs associated with the home.





Make sure you can trust your agent. Look into having a real estate attorney representing your interests. They add to your costs, but can take some stress off of you, and really look at your documents.





Honestly I doubt you could buy a condo for that amount where I live....on the East Coast and in a very rural area.
Find an agent that has time to work with you. Sometimes very busy agents don't have the time or the patience to work with first time home buyers. They want you to buy one of the first houses you looked at. Ask friends or family for recommendations. If they don't have any, go to open houses, talk to the agents (especially if they are not busy) and find someone you can build a rapport with.





Save save save! The more you can put down, the better off you will be. 20% down saves you from dreaded PMI.





You have obviously talked to a lender, so get a good faith estimate on closing costs. You may want to talk to a couple other lenders. Compare much more than interest rate. There are tons of things that could cost you money, transaction fees, pre-payment penalties, etc., etc.. Find out before you sign on the dotted line what the total package is.





Once you find a house you love, you will make an offer. Make sure you have contingencies in the contract that you obtain suitable financing and that you can approve a home inspection. Depending on the condition of the house, you may want to put in additional contingencies. The sellers will either accept, reject or counter your offer.





Even if it is a new or newer home, do not skip the home inspection. A good home inspector is worth their weight in gold! A recent home inspection I had on a newer home found a small flaw in the roofing that was allowing water to get into the attic. You don't want to buy surprises like that.





Home shopping should be fun, good luck!





P.S. About the guy offering to refer you to an agent, he gets paid if you use who he refers you to, so he isn't just being nice.
I am an insurance agent, so I what I look for in a house is not what everyone else is looking for. I have more Realtors mad at me because I find things wrong with a house.





First if you find a house, get you an independent inspector. Meet with him and tell him to pick it to death. That you want to know everything that is wrong with the house. (even the simple things) This does not mean that you will not buy the house with these problems, but it will tell you where you stand with repairs that you may be facing. Find out how old the water heater, and the heating and air conditioning unit is. Asked if there has been any updates in the wiring? Look under sinks and deep in the closets. Look at the water heater closet, look for leaks. Check the drawers of the cabinets. Are they in good shape or are they coming apart. How old is the roof? Check to see if there has been previous leaks, if there has where are they coming from. Also look at the up keep of the home. If the seller is not a good housekeeper and shows pride of ownership, then there might be things that he did not up keep about the home.


Check to see if there has been any claims though the sellers insurance company. If there has, have the repairs been done?


Do this even if you are buying a new home. You would be surprised how many people have bought new homes and have found themselves in trouble because the contractor did not do it right and people thought just because it was new it was done correctly.





Talk with the neighbors, Asked them if there has been problems with the home, I had one insured that moved in and three months later the wall started cracking. The house had been settling for over a year, but the seller had repaired all of the cracks in the walls before she put it on the market. They also had plumbing problems because of the settling.The neighbor told them that was the reason the lady had moved.





Also make the seller furnish you a home warrenty insurance.





Don't let me scare you, just take your time and look. Just don't look at the cosmetics of the home. Look deep.





This is probably not what you were asking about, but I talk with people everyday that did not think of these things, they just looked at the wall paper and if my couch was going to fit here.





Good luck
General advice: Don't rush into anything, take your time, don't feel pressured by your realtor. Look over the home in the day, night, and when it rains. This may be your largest purchase ever.


Check water pressure, foundation, possible mildew in basement, flush toilets and look behind them, know where gas and water cutoffs are, open and close window frames, get anything in writing that may concern you.
The best advice is to check your state for possible ';First Time Homebuyer Programs';





Arizona just recently received 400 million dollars to help first time homebuyers get into their homes.





5% free grant that never has to be paid back.





NO prepayment penalty and 6.55% interest rate.





Here are the details for Arizona homebuyer's





http://www.welcome2arizona.com/home/firs鈥?/a>





Terry S.





http://www.Welcome2Arizona.com