251 replies to this topic

[DoctorShumway]

I know people on here have purchased houses. Going through it right now at an expedited rate due to our rental house being sold. Basically we have to close before the end of January. I'd be scared to do this two years from now. So yeah, I'm terrified. Any suggestions from those who have gone through it?

[hexaclopsclopsclops]

Get a home inspector as early in the process as you can. There are a lot of hidden problems with houses here (anywhere really).

Make sure whatever you find has copper pipes and copper wiring.

Mortgage rates are crazy low right now, so you won't regret buying right now. Just make sure whatever you get has some potential so you can change things up and you don't get sick of it.

[Tony]

Make sure whatever you find has copper pipes and copper wiring.

make sure whatever you find has NEW pipes and NEW wiring.

50 year old copper is worth a lot less than 5 year old PVC.

also, buy my house.

[matsunami]

I just took the first time homebuyer's class and it was definitely worth the $10. There's so much involved in it buying a house that you don't even realize so it's highly recommend that if you have time. Also, the $8000 tax credit has been extended to April so that's pretty tits.

- Local banks are great
- Get a good realtor
- Sign up on MLS.com for listings and updates
- Always put the money up for a termite inspection, any inspection for that matter
- Houses built before 1970's will have to be de-leaded because you have kids under 6 (this law is retarded because the kid literally has to be chewing the wall for this to effect them)
- You can negotiate up to 1000$ of repairs with the seller and they will have to pay. This is for major items only.

Hope this helps because I'm just spouting out random info from memory.

[hexaclopsclopsclops]

Make sure whatever you find has copper pipes and copper wiring.

make sure whatever you find has NEW pipes and NEW wiring.

50 year old copper is worth a lot less than 5 year old PVC.

also, buy my house.

Get a house with a basement! Then you can get at the water pipes when they fail (I just paid a fortune to have some guys jackhammer my floor to fix a pinhole leak in a copper hot water pipe). I suppose new pipes trump copper pipes....

My mom's a realtor. Hire her to help you buy Tony's house.

[capharnaum]

drink a lot
you'll need it when you realize you're on the hook
for 25+ years and hundreds of thousands of dollars.

[John MFer]

We found our house in early March 2003 and closed by the 28th the same month, closing in just over three weeks. That was expedited!! It can be done.

I can't recommend the home inspector enough. They'll find every little thing. For example, he discovered the toilet was loose an needed to be screwed down more.

Also, if you have any bad spots on your credit, as I did from some 6 years prior, you might have to get a letter from the bad spot people saying that you no longer have a bad spot. Do this now so you have it. They're very lazy about old stuff like that and you'll find yourself calling daily and feeling desperate that some old bullshit from so many years ago might cause the whole deal to fall through without some stupid piece of paper confirming that it's no longer an issue. That was the hardest part of our experience.

Have fun. I enjoyed looking at lots of different houses.

[Rial]

Have fun. I enjoyed looking at lots of different houses.

I miss looking at houses, it is fun, to see all the different features and quirks each house has to offer.


But yeah, I say stay away from short sales and forclosures, it was a waste of time for me.

[chadk]

i would hgighly suggest a 30 year fixed FHA loan.

[Jacki O.]

this is all great advice!

definitely get a very thorough and reputable home inspector. Can't recommend that enough. They should spend several hours inspecting the home and get you a full report on the goods, bads, and uglies. Then there will be no surprises.

Look at a lot of homes, think about what you want and what you don't and what you're willing to compromise on.

also think about how much work you want to put in your new home. Do you want a fixer-upper? Those are cheaper but require a lot of work and money down the line, if you want something that someone has already put the work into then you'll have to pay more.

I bought a fixer upper and i love working on it but it takes a lot of my time and money! And my roommates have always hated the state of disarray that the house has been in for the last 3 years.

defintely get a good real estate agent who knows the areas that you want to live in. the first one i got, recommended to me by my parents, only knew the north phoenix-scottsdale areas (which are way out of my price range) and would keep showing me properties far from downtown phx, i finally had to get a new one because she just wasn't listening to me.

[Rial]

this is all great advice!


defintely get a good real estate agent who knows the areas that you want to live in. the first one i got, recommended to me by my parents, only knew the north phoenix-scottsdale areas (which are way out of my price range) and would keep showing me properties far from downtown phx, i finally had to get a new one because she just wasn't listening to me.

word...get one that knows what you are talking about, I went thru three that kept showing me stucco track homes in north phoenix, after I said I don't want a stucco track home in North Phoenix.

And be patient...

does Dr. Shumway live in the valley?

[raubhimself]

Also, the $8000 tax credit has been extended to April so that's pretty tits.

This is grape news. I have been keeping an eye out for decently affordable houses but kind of gave up once October approached. I really have jack shit for a downpayment though, so I think I'm still dead in the water.

- Houses built before 1970's will have to be de-leaded because you have kids under 6 (this law is retarded because the kid literally has to be chewing the wall for this to effect them)

[Tony]

Also, the $8000 tax credit has been extended to April so that's pretty tits.

This is grape news. I have been keeping an eye out for decently affordable houses but kind of gave up once October approached. I really have jack shit for a downpayment though, so I think I'm still dead in the water.

- Houses built before 1970's will have to be de-leaded because you have kids under 6 (this law is retarded because the kid literally has to be chewing the wall for this to effect them)

if you qualify for an FHA loan, your downpayment can be significantly smaller - like i think 3%?? something like that. that could still turn into a lot of money, but it's a lot less than the conventional loans, which are like 10%.

[DoctorShumway]

i would hgighly suggest a 30 year fixed FHA loan.

Yeah this is what we got approved for. 3.5% down.

Thanks for the info everyone. Our realtor seems pretty on point. She's been really open and honest about things and genuinely seems to care (i.e. emailing us back immediately, regardless of time, multiple check-ins, no pressure to go to "her turf"). We're going to see a house today that looks awesome. Too awesome in fact, since we found out last night it's been sold 4 times since 2003. We'll see I guess. The biggest problem is that everything is fuck all expensive out here so we're really limited by our budget. The added time pressure of my wife pregnant and due at the end of February doesn't help matters.

Also I have no problem with a house that needs some work. However, most houses in our price range need more work than I am capable of*.

*NOTE: I could set a nail on fire trying to hammer it in. So the houses aren't complete shitholes, I'm just a moron.

[chadk]

word...get one that knows what you are talking about, I went thru three that kept showing me stucco track homes in north phoenix, after I said I don't want a stucco track home in North Phoenix

yea our first dude, we told him we want a historic home in downtown phoenix, so he shows us a condo in tempe? argh