Im starting to grow up...first time home buyer ( need advice)

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1

Can some of you guys give me some information on where to start. I have been reading and asking people for advice on what to do. So far thing I have done is talked to some one at first niagra and found out they have a federal savings rebate that they match 4:1 ratio if you save 187 dollars for 10 months they match that 4:1. Other people I talked to say dont go to your bank try to find someone at Hunt, century 21…

I would just like to know some steps that I should follow and things I should look out for. Im only looking to buy a starter home 80-100k range.

2

First Home Club is the thing through your bank. Start with that. Do you have good credit and stable employment/income?

3

yes and yes. I have had the same job for almost six years.

4

I think there’s some sort of tax break if you put down at least 20% of your house’s cost, someone clarify this

5

i am pretty sure you have to put down 20%

6

no. ^

---------- Post added at 06:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:36 PM ----------

If you HAD to put down 20% then banks would not charge you a pmi. Pmi exists for people that don’t put down 20%. Ergo it is possible to buy a house without putting down 20%

7

I put down 0 for my house, and financed it at 104 percent. I pay 24 dollars per month in PMI. They don’t do loans like this anymore…

8

I’m doing the first time home buyers club atm through First Niagara. Not really any problems except the lady Lisa Akers, who missed our appointment because she went to the doctor, took medicine and fell asleep. Never called or anything. Other than that I really haven’t done anything else.

P.S. I setup auto withdrawal from my checking to the First Niagara savings account which only works if you are taking money from a checking account and not a savings account (My ING account). Also their online banking sucks ass, terrible interface and log in.

9

I went through RealtyUSA, and used 1st Priority mortgage.

I just called up 1st Priority, told her what I wanted to do, told her my info… then whenever I’d like a house, I call her up with the price and she’d crunch the numbers for me in a min or two.
When I finally found a house I wanted to buy, I shopped around at 4 different places for a loan. My main problem was I switched jobs 1 1/2 years prior, and 2 of the places wouldn’t give me a loan for it. (Being punished for ditching a crappy retail job while in school, for a decent paying career after graduation? ouch.)

1st Priority was the one with the best rate anyway… When it came time to finalize the loan, I just gave her all my stuff, and then she did the rest.

Don’t forget… If you use a real estate agent, you don’t pay them AT ALL. Nothing. The seller of the house pays them.
So it doesn’t hurt at all to use a real estate agent.

I used Sandra Serafini @ RealtyUSA… She was pretty good and very nice!
Patti Ball from 1st Priority… AMAZING. Very nice, quick, got a hold of her 80% of the time I called her, and she would respond to my messages within 15-30 minutes if she didn’t answer… Works day/night.

and I used a recommendation of HomePro of WNY off the forums here.
I got a guy named Chuck, he was a doofus. Probably because my house was nearly falling apart and I planned on gutting it anyway… but he didn’t mention a lot of things that could’ve really screwed someone over… But I really didn’t care about. (like the poured concrete chimney about to fall down… being held together by silicone above the roofline, lol)

So I’d say def call up a realtor first.
Just call up HUNT, RealtyUSA, 21st century, or one of the smaller/local ones… and say YO, I WANT A HOUSE IN THE 80k RANGE IN SUCH AND SUCH, DO IT.
and they’ll hook you up.

P.S.
20% down required is completely false.
Some banks do require it no matter what, some require it if you have awful credit.
Minimum on a conventional loan is 5%, 3% with a FHA loan.

Don’t forget to figure in closing costs, they’re usually right around 10% or so of the total purchase price. That goes for fees for your attorney and other crap.
If you’re buying a house out in the sticks that uses propane/oil, you also have to pay for whatever fuel is remaining in their tank. This I didn’t know about honestly… I asked and I was told the tank would be taken off the property before I take ownership and I don’t have to worry about it (completely not true)
I ended up paying somewhere around $800 for all the propane in the tank, which I needed anyway, but it was an unexpected added expense to my closing cost that I wasn’t prepared for… Especially after they gave me my closing quote, then I get a few days later saying uhh yeah, readjusted it, blah blah blah blah.

10

Don’t do it, thats my advice. Get a nice apt and when anything goes wrong call the guy who fixes shit and enjoy your day. Fuck houses. Fuck working on houses. Fuck wasting your time doing shit around the fucking house when you could be doing something fun. Fuck putting up a fence. Fuck staining said fence. Fuck the whole closing process bullshit.

11

Thanks haas for the info. I really dont want an appt. Bc I dont see the point of paying 700 dollars when I could be paying for a house which has value. If I had a appt. I woyldnt be able to save money for a house.

12

That was my logic as well. $800 a month for 500 sq ft. or $800 for 1500 sq ft. Thanks to Cougarspeed for hooking me up with the info.

13

you need help

14

+1.

15

I just got set up with the first time home buyer program with first Niagara a few months ago. The guy I have been dealing with is super quick to respond and knowledgeable lmk if you want his contact info. Closing costs for a 80-100k house like you are looking for will probably be around 3-4k depending on the taxes and the area you buy. Any pre-approvals you get from a bank will tell you like 7k, they like to over estimate. So between the 7500 they match and whatever else you can save for a downpayment, you can get a pretty low mortgage payment. GL

16

Thanks. Sorry for the wrong section. i forgot we had a home section. Well I’m going to reality usa tomm morning too talk to a friend of the family.

17

Henry,

Do me a favor. Do yourself a favor. Go FHA (3.5% down and a 4.25% rate). Call up Diane Sovereign (716-633-3700 x3110) and tell her you know me and that you want to buy a house. She will send you a pre-approval and then you can start looking at houses. Simple as that. She will guide you through the whole process and IS THE BEST.

18

FHA is probably the easiest way to go :tup: