re: What are the OT home buying tips?

Why would you buy right now? Avg home prices are just starting to come down. They were record soaring until end of 2022 and dropped like 9% in just 1 quarter from 4Q22 to 1Q23. It's going to keep dropping. Wait like a year, it'd be dumb not to. Buying now will hurt when in 1 year, your market value dropped another 10%. Check the link if you dont believe me.

LINK

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She doesn’t want to be far from Boston. We’re early 30s and want to go out frequently and NH is boring.

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Well, OK there's your problem.

You're marrying a girl that expects the high life, keeping up with the Joneses, etc.

Not saying you can't make it work with two good incomes but be careful because you're buying a house at one of the worst times as both the market price and interest rates have exploded as have things like maintenance, repairs and all of the fixups that new homeowners deal with. And little Ms. I need to be in a cool part of a big city might suddenly decide she doesn't like that two hour commute to the great job or declare that she is entitled to be a stay at home mommy.

There's a reason why people make sacrifices.

You're just going to have to make the commute or you'll be paying out the arse for things that won't go to equity if you live in Boston. Like tens of hundreds of thousands that won't go into any equity. I agree with other poster that your wife seems ungrateful that she "has" to be near Boston. You have to adjust to what your reality is. If you can't afford a 7 figure home, or can barely afford a 7 figure home to where you'll have very little leftover, you should look further out.

You have to put your foot down as a man and tell them too bad when they're getting too selfish/greedy.

I don’t think you guys have the right perception. We can afford a more expensive house, we just choose not to. We want a house we can comfortably afford and want to know what headaches to look for.

If we wanted to pay 2M for a brand new house with new everything, we could. It’s just we don’t want to put more than 20% of our after tax into a house.

We aren’t dumb we just don’t know what the pitfalls of buying a older house is

We’re putting down 20%

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We aren’t dumb we just don’t know what the pitfalls of buying a older house is

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With an older home, you're focusing on structural integrity and electrical/HVAC stuff. You're looking for termites, other wood-destroying insects, and rotting wood. If your home is pier and beam, make sure the inspector gets UNDER THE HOUSE and examines thoroughly. If you have a basement, you're looking for water intrusion, mold, etc.

An old home will likely have been updated several times with little record of what has been done. You may be dealing with old wiring for your electrical.

Also, make sure lead paint and asbestos have been removed.

Thanks will ask inspectors. The lead paint isn’t an issue since we are only looking at houses after 1978

Look, this is going to sound cliche, but buy the smallest house in the most expensive neighborhood you can afford. Look at your first home from the NEXT owner's point of view, when choosing upgrades/curb appeal, etc.. I've owned three homes in central Houston and have doubled my money on each, allowing me to keep purchasing more home. I ignored others around me telling me certain areas are overpriced. Money always seeks out money. In your position as a first time buyer, I might sit out another year or so to see what happens with the rates, and save up for the down payment so that you can be more competitive with offers. But if the right house comes along, you can lock in and refinance later (a mortgage broker can help you to determine when it is economically advantageous to do so) Our first home was at 7.24% back in the '90's and we felt lucky to have that.

Also, a few more things to consider when looking:

1) Age of roof
2)Age of HVAC
3)Health of Foundation
4) if in the south: Flooding

these are the most costly and stressful items to repair. Also consider the zoned school, even if you don't have children. The next guy who wants to buy it might.

Good point. Roof is 2008 not sure what their life is but it snows here a lot so maybe harms it more