Buying a house

[Urge]

Use the State Equalized Value (public information) of the home as leverage when discussing price. This has 2 advantages - it lets the seller know that you know how much it is worth, and it also lets him know you are a serious buyer.

Any idea where I could find that info? I searched the state and county web sites and couldn't find any reference to it.

[Cornbread Maxwell]

Urge - my bad - apparantly thats a Michigan based evaluation.

I did some digging, and thought maybe this site could help answer some of your questions:

http://www.ppic.org/main/home.asp

or maybe here:

http://www.usfreeappraisals.com/

http://www.homegain.com/local_real_esta ... ornia.html


This one also is pretty helpful to see what homes around the one you are looking at sold for:

http://www.homevaluehunt.com/

good luck!

[Cleveland Steamers]

Looks like I am making the plunge and purchasing a house...just went under contract today. Wondering if anyone had any tips since this is my first house (23 YO)...

[RugbyD]

try to find information on subprime lending activity in your target area over the past few years. if there's a lot, hold off buying.

[suppasonic]

Congrats on the house!

Any tips? Do you mean like tips about purchasing and paying for a house? Or tips about living in them?

[TheRock]

Why do we keep digging up 2-3 year old topics?

But anyway, no way I would buy real estate on a hunk of land that we all know is going to fall off into the ocean.

[chadlincoln]

It's still a good investment. Why pay rent and lose everything when your mortgage can help you build equity?

[Cleveland Steamers]

Hah, I am buying in Missouri so I don't have much risk of falling into the ocean. I was just wondering if anyone had any sort of tips on the actual purchase. I have gone under contract and now have to get an inspection, insurance quotes, work up contigencies for the contract after the inspection, etc.

[Yoda]

Hah, I am buying in Missouri so I don't have much risk of falling into the ocean. I was just wondering if anyone had any sort of tips on the actual purchase. I have gone under contract and now have to get an inspection, insurance quotes, work up contigencies for the contract after the inspection, etc.

Work the seller on everything you can possibly find wrong with the house to get some credit. Try to get an appraisal that will come in higher than what you are purchasing it to get a higher loan (less down pay is good). Plus if you need an equity line down the road, the extra value you got on the appraisal will help.

Hopefully no one is getting interest only or negative am loans nowadays. If you do, then you are a fool.

What is the market like in Missouri? San Diego is rough right now.

[ironman]

My tips for someone buying their first home.

-Get a whole house inspection. They're worth every penny. We were able to back out on a bid we had accepted on a house because the inspection turned up all sorts of issues with the place. Without it, we'd have been stuck in a real money pit. I've seen other people get hosed too. My friend was talked out of the inspection by his wife and family, and after they'd moved in discovered that the lady the bought from had let her dogs piss all over the house (she had some serious air fresheners going when they looked before). It was so bad that majority of the carpet had to be replaced and it was beginning to damage the floors underneath.

-Expect buyer's remorse. You just took out a gigantic loan for your first home, and even if you love it at first, you're going to feel like you may have made a mistake at some point and regret your decision. It's no big deal, it happens to a lot of people.

-Budget well for all the extras. Obviously if the house doesn't come with the appliances that's a big thing to consider, but it's all the little things that really start to add up. Cleaning supplies, light bulbs, curtains/blinds, lawn and garden tools (long-time apartment dwellers sometimes forget they may need a lawn mower) and other things that you didn't think about until move-in day. I've bought two houses and in both I dropped about $300-400 on crap at Lowe's, Target and such that I didn't think about at first.

-How long do you plan on sticking around? I've heard that it's best to stay in a house for at least 5 years in order to for sure get a decent return on your investment. My first house we were forced to move and lucked out by a hot market that we came away with a nice profit after only a year and a half. If you're not sure you'll be living somewhere for more than a year or so, just stick to renting.