re: First time homebuyer... was told to come here

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I’d rather live with my parents than have a roommate. I bought a 2 bedroom condo and pay less a month mortgage than a comparable rental would be.

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Lol, why? You must choose some damn terrible roommates then.

People live with wives their whole lives, but a guy is completely different? I've never understood this. You can get two kinds of roommates or a combo of both, one is just a nice reliable person that you have little in common with that keeps quiet, cleans up, and pays the bills. The other is a friend that sucks as a roommate but you drink and watch football with, etc.

I've never understood the reason to live alone when you can share your bills and have more
Money. To each their own.

My point was simply that most rentals are pretty basic places, hard to get away from a roommate. Buying is different, you can buy some odd floor plans for a family but actually work out great for a roommate as you each get a separate space.

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Thoughts

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i think this is worthy of its own thread, since you are really talking about investment properties.

You may consider a USDA Rural Development guaranteed loan from a lender if you are under the income limit and home located in an eligible rural area. No down payment required

To start with, you do not need to find a realtor first. Finding a realtor is a separate process from finding a mortgage broker, which is what you need to do first. You need to determine what your budget is, which is what a broker can accomplish, along with giving you a pre-approval letter.

Said preapproval letter is almost a necessity to view any properties within your price range. Most sellers don't want to show homes to folks they don't know can belly up to the bar and pay for their drinks so to speak. Again though...don't let Realtors oversell or hyperventilate about why you need them first. Plenty of folks buy and sell homes without them. But only independently wealthy folks buy and sell homes without someone to help them through the mortgage process.

Find several well respected Brokers within your social circle (family, friends, coworkers, etc). DO NOT FEEL BEHOLDEN TO USE ANY OF THEM.

Tell them all you're going to talk to others up front. Ask to schedule a time to meet them for coffee or lunch, etc. Don't go looking for a free cup or lunch. Let them know your financial situation. Maybe bring you and the wife's check stubs and your W-2's. Have a solid idea about your assets and your monthly payments.

Tell them what you want...Tell them what you know...admit to them what you don't know...and tell them you want to learn. The average American spends 3-5 years in a mortgage before selling, refinancing, etc. You need to educate yourself about this stuff because chances are you're going to buy this house, refinance this house a time or two, sell this house, buy a new house, and then perhaps refinance it.

That's a significant # of real-estate transactions and developing a relationship with an established broker can create trust and a partner for each of these processes.

I'm suggesting a broker as opposed to a bank loan officer. Why? This is because a banker can only loan his bank's money. No matter how much he sells you on his flexibility, they will never be as flexible as a mortgage broker. A broker probably lends his own company's $, but also has access to a range of lenders who have multiple instruments or loans.

The advantage of the banker is that your closing costs may be slightly lower. The advantage of the broker is finding a more customized solution that fits you as a homeowner and a family for the long-term as opposed to a cookie-cutter, off-the-rack solution that the bank offers (which is often limited).

The $ difference in terms of closing costs can often be offset with tax deductibility of some costs, etc.

But whomever you feel most comfortable with and the person you feel educates you the most and the person who is the most up-front with you is the person you should give the first opportunity to. He may not be the guy or gal you go back to, but someone whose willing to throw the curtain back and make sure you understand the why of what's going on and bring you up to speed and integrate you is more than likely someone you're going to be able to work with moving forward.

Good luck.