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Started By
Message
Looking at buying a house...tips?
Posted on 5/23/12 at 4:19 pm
Posted on 5/23/12 at 4:19 pm
cheers:
This post was edited on 4/10/13 at 1:11 pm
5
Posted on 5/23/12 at 4:40 pm to jmitc22
quote:
red flags when looking at a house?
The home inspection that your lender will have you get will catch serious issues (foundation, environmental, heating/cooling systems, etc). Get a knowledgable realtor. Ask friends for recommendations. And have a good understanding of what you want in a house before your realtor starts showing you houses.
quote:
Advice on entities to secure a loan from?
If your credit is good, you have a lot of options. Zillow has a feature that finds local mortgage brokers and lenders based on criteria that you feed it. You could also approach lenders yourself to get pre-approved before you start looking.
There are a couple of mortgage folks on here that can give a little better info.
quote:
Unexpected costs or things to look out for in the process/transaction?
Pay attention to exactly whats in the mortgage product you're committing to. Understand what you are paying in fees and points.
quote:
Mistakes to avoid?
Don't buy more house than you can afford. In fact, buy way less than that.
This sounds obvious, but you can ask all the people who bought as much as they got approved for in 05-07 what this feels like.
quote:
If I get an attorney friend to do the closing, etc...will it save a significant amount of money?
If I'm not mistaken, the seller usually chooses the closing Atty. I could be wrong about this though.
This post was edited on 5/23/12 at 4:42 pm
Posted on 5/23/12 at 4:42 pm to jmitc22
I just bought mine a few weeks ago. IMO have about $5,000 dollars left over after your down payment to buy shite to put in it. Unless you already have washer, dryer, fridge, blinds/shades etc. I've spent about $4,000 the past two weeks and I still feel like my house is empty. Home decor is expensive.
Posted on 5/23/12 at 4:45 pm to ZereauxSum
quote:
If I'm not mistaken, the seller usually chooses the closing Atty. I could be wrong about this though.
buyer chooses
Posted on 5/23/12 at 4:46 pm to jmitc22
quote:
Looking at buying a house...tips?
newer the better with insurance costs. hip vs gable roof as well can help. all brick vs mostly siding...
Posted on 5/23/12 at 4:49 pm to Chad504boy
The buyer can choose but I took the sellers title and atty b/c he threw in $4,000 to help my closing.
Posted on 5/23/12 at 4:56 pm to bagNdrag
(no message)
This post was edited on 4/10/13 at 1:15 pm
Posted on 5/23/12 at 4:58 pm to bagNdrag
quote:
The buyer can choose but I took the sellers title and atty b/c he threw in $4,000 to help my closing.
We bought our last house from a builder who paid most of the closing costs, so I think this is what happened to us. I was pretty sure that we didn't get a say in the closing atty.
So I guess the rule is whoever pays for it gets to choose.
Posted on 5/23/12 at 5:32 pm to jmitc22
go to a local lender or bank to get pre-approved it doesnt take long and you can do it over the phone. working with out of state lenders can be tricky.
Posted on 5/24/12 at 10:02 am to hawkeye007
Contrary to popular opinion here, if you arm yourself with a group of the following folks that you trust & have good recommendations on, your Realtor is somewhat obsolete & isn't necessary.
1.) Home Inspector - This guy could save you thousands of dollars. Find a reputable one with a large number of references. Seriously, its worth it to put in the time on this.
2.) Title Company - Find a real-estate attorney, Title Company or a Notary that you are extremely comfortable with up front. Do not be enticed by offers of money off for closing, etc for using the seller's partners. You have the right to choose this, & if you choose someone the seller recommends, who is giving you thousands of dollars in discounts, consider the WHY behind the discount being offered.
Its because the Title Company & RE Attorney/Notary is working for the seller's best interests, not yours. I'm not trying to scare you, mind you. Just trying to say that you need someone on YOUR team as part of the Title Insurance & Closing Paperwork process. The signing & closing will bamboozle you with dozens of documents and tons of paperwork that has to be signed in all blue or black ink & can be dizzying.
Having someone YOU choose to help shepherd you through this that you've spoken with before & explained your concerns & issues with will enable to you have someone at your side that can competently explain the documents as well as guide you through and help avoid potential issues.
3.) Appraiser - Nowadays most lenders will send someone from a service to do the appraisal. If at all possible, try to find your own. Put in the work to find someone who will work for YOUR best interests.
An appraiser that's obtained by the lender through a service can't be trusted. Oftentimes they are not area experts who know the lay of the land and understand the market in your particular area. I know a guy who was an expert in Livingston but moved to New Orleans. I fought to use him on every loan I closed.
He was what I called a profit partner from my perspective. But I also knew that if he couldn't appraise the house at a price that was accurate, he would not do it, & he would be frank with me. If he couldn't make it work, I trusted that no one could make it work. With new rules & regs nowadays, its difficult to find a relationship with a quality appraiser that you can use for your house.
I know realtors will jump on me in this thread or whatnot, but I'd respond by saying you can jump on LINK (Greater Baton Rouge Area Realtors) & select "Find A Home" at the bottom & search the same MLS listings they can to find a home based on price, area, square footage, bedroom, bath, ameneities, etc.
Better yet, you can take property lists you find on GBRAR, head over to Zillow or Realtor.com, & look at the price points & how they've moved either up or down over the short-and medium term during the course of the properties time on the market.
Heck, a good real-estate attorney will probably charge you far less than 3% that a Realtor would to do all of the legal work for your home & handle the closing paperwork & represent your best interests.
But again, in order the Inspector & RE Atty/Title Company are really important parts of the process. They watch your back. They protect you from overpaying for an investment, as well as protect you from the seller's attempts to maximize profit as well.
1.) Home Inspector - This guy could save you thousands of dollars. Find a reputable one with a large number of references. Seriously, its worth it to put in the time on this.
2.) Title Company - Find a real-estate attorney, Title Company or a Notary that you are extremely comfortable with up front. Do not be enticed by offers of money off for closing, etc for using the seller's partners. You have the right to choose this, & if you choose someone the seller recommends, who is giving you thousands of dollars in discounts, consider the WHY behind the discount being offered.
Its because the Title Company & RE Attorney/Notary is working for the seller's best interests, not yours. I'm not trying to scare you, mind you. Just trying to say that you need someone on YOUR team as part of the Title Insurance & Closing Paperwork process. The signing & closing will bamboozle you with dozens of documents and tons of paperwork that has to be signed in all blue or black ink & can be dizzying.
Having someone YOU choose to help shepherd you through this that you've spoken with before & explained your concerns & issues with will enable to you have someone at your side that can competently explain the documents as well as guide you through and help avoid potential issues.
3.) Appraiser - Nowadays most lenders will send someone from a service to do the appraisal. If at all possible, try to find your own. Put in the work to find someone who will work for YOUR best interests.
An appraiser that's obtained by the lender through a service can't be trusted. Oftentimes they are not area experts who know the lay of the land and understand the market in your particular area. I know a guy who was an expert in Livingston but moved to New Orleans. I fought to use him on every loan I closed.
He was what I called a profit partner from my perspective. But I also knew that if he couldn't appraise the house at a price that was accurate, he would not do it, & he would be frank with me. If he couldn't make it work, I trusted that no one could make it work. With new rules & regs nowadays, its difficult to find a relationship with a quality appraiser that you can use for your house.
I know realtors will jump on me in this thread or whatnot, but I'd respond by saying you can jump on LINK (Greater Baton Rouge Area Realtors) & select "Find A Home" at the bottom & search the same MLS listings they can to find a home based on price, area, square footage, bedroom, bath, ameneities, etc.
Better yet, you can take property lists you find on GBRAR, head over to Zillow or Realtor.com, & look at the price points & how they've moved either up or down over the short-and medium term during the course of the properties time on the market.
Heck, a good real-estate attorney will probably charge you far less than 3% that a Realtor would to do all of the legal work for your home & handle the closing paperwork & represent your best interests.
But again, in order the Inspector & RE Atty/Title Company are really important parts of the process. They watch your back. They protect you from overpaying for an investment, as well as protect you from the seller's attempts to maximize profit as well.
Posted on 5/24/12 at 2:48 pm to GFunk
quote:
GFunk
Thank you, sir. I'm going to start looking into finding a quality appraiser right now.
Posted on 5/24/12 at 2:53 pm to jmitc22
quote:
I'm going to start looking into finding a quality appraiser right now.
You should be more worried about a quality inspector. Your real estate agent should work on your behalf in "appraising the home" on top of the lender doing their own appraisal.
Posted on 5/24/12 at 2:57 pm to jmitc22
I'm closing on a home in two weeks. It's my first and I had a lot of help (real estate attorney in the family). I work in the financial service industry so I had already crunched numbers on how much I could afford and the previous posters are right, they will approve you for WAY more than you probably should be spending. I have a friend who works for a bank in BR but not the bank I'm getting my loan from and he recommended a home inspector who was very thorough. I can forward contact info for him if you post an email.
Posted on 5/24/12 at 3:53 pm to jmitc22
Here's a tip....there is a great town home off Old Perkins with a Home Theater. You should buy it. 
Posted on 5/24/12 at 11:21 pm to ParIV
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This post was edited on 4/10/13 at 1:10 pm
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