Ist time home buyer

[jhat01]

The wife and I plan on purchasing our first home when we move back to Vegas. I was just wondering if any of you had any advice you can give. I am thinking new, she is thinking existing. I don't know. This is obviously a major purchase, and I really haven't started researching anything yet.

[BlueDamsel]

Originally Posted by jhat01

The wife and I plan on purchasing our first home when we move back to Vegas. I was just wondering if any of you had any advice you can give. I am thinking new, she is thinking existing. I don't know. This is obviously a major purchase, and I really haven't started researching anything yet.

I don't know how the market is in Vegas, but it all depends on what you want for your family. Are you concerned about the issues of an older house? Do you want something customized for your own needs/tastes? What price range are you looking into? How far into the city do you want to live? What schools do you want to/need to be around (if that's important to you)? What kind of neighborhood All of these are questions that you need to ask yourselves before making a purchase. I would highly suggest calling a realtor & getting advice from them (they aren't *ALL* bad...I work in a real estate office ) and as a buyer you usually don't have to pay them (their commission is taken from the seller's total amount, in most cases). They can help you decide what would best suit you & your needs.

I don't know of any realtors out there that I know personally, but if you need a personal trainer I have a family friend out there

[jhat01]

It's all just preliminary stuff now. I kind of like the idea that I can pick the carpet/tile etc. and the layout before hand. We're not leaving for another six months so there is time to set up a new one. I have heard that it usually takes four to six months to build one, so I'm leaning towards that route. The good thing is, is that I know this city and I know what area I want to be in. From what I hear, the housing costs are fairly low, we can pick up something nice for around 150 I would think.

[Rock Chalk]

If you buy an older house, better be a handy man.

[BlueDamsel]

Well sometimes that's the case for newer houses too alec.
Make sure you get a builder that has community trust, not just a big name, if that's the route you go. My brother in law is a civil engineer & has to go out & inspect sites/blueplans/etc and he's seen some pretty cruddy "builders" with big names.

[jhat01]

Originally Posted by AlecRaenos

If you buy an older house, better be a handy man.

That's what I was thinkin'. There aren't many older houses in the area we are looking in though. I just need to study up on the financials. How the closing costs etc work.

[Rock Chalk]

Thats very important. Do A LOT of research on that or you may find a dilrod up your ass without the courtesy of a reacharound.

Its a good idea to be a handy man even if you are buying new. Ya never know.

[BlueDamsel]

Originally Posted by jhat01

That's what I was thinkin'. There aren't many older houses in the area we are looking in though. I just need to study up on the financials. How the closing costs etc work.

The best bet would be to contact a local realtor. Even if you go with a new build, they can help negotiate you a good deal & they should have an insight as to what companies to avoid. They can also help you figure out what the closing costs will be and all that jazz. If you get a good realtor, they can help break down all the legal mumbo jumbo that the builders might throw at you.

[Pezman]

Good god Jhat. 150? I'd be set for life if I could pay that for a house. I just layed the green down for a new house here in LaLa land for nearly 500k... I'll be house-poor forever if I'm not careful.

When the wife and I bought our first pad back in Longmont, we paid $122,00 and thought we were getting ripped off! To think how things have changed over the past few years.

As far as what to do with the house, If you have animals, don't go with a berber carpet as they will shred it up in a hurry. Also, if you are rough on floors, don't even think about a hardwood floor. Its just too hard to keep them maintained unless they are in a low traffic spot.

Make sure not to paint the house right away when you get there. I always say, live it love it for 6 months before trying to change it...
Not to mention that you should never paint until you have your fixtures set...

As far as outdoor work, well, you'll be in Vegas so it may limit you as to what you can really put down. Grass will be a high maintenence problematic thing so you might want to zeriscape the areas closest to the house..

Anyway, just some thoughts for starters... Good luck!

[Rock Chalk]

Pez, my parents own a 600K house in cali that would be at BEST a 160K house in Houston's exclusive neighborhoods.

This is why everyone in the rest of the country thinks the socialites out here have lost their ****ing minds.

[Pezman]

That's friggin what is wrong with cali bro! How first-time homeowners are expected to afford Cali is beyond me... I don't make enough scratch to get by without help from the wifey...

Even parts of Denver are becoming that way... and don't even get me started about Highlands Ranch (Aka California East)...

Pretty sad to say the least

[Rock Chalk]

The good news though is if you bought a house here in the 70s for 100K its worth about 600K now and you can sell it and move to Texas, buy 10 acres for about 40K, build a 200K house (basically a huge house) and still have 360K left over.

That's what they have done and that is one helluva investment.

[BlueDamsel]

Wow that was a cheap find up in Longmont. Prices in all of Boulder county have gone up sooooo high it's crazy. The same condo that you can find in Downtown Denver runs about 108k, whereas up in Boulder/Longmont it's low 200's/high 100's.

[alkemical]

where i live in PA houses are cheap, my mom got a fixer upper, that needed new siding, and a new furnace, but overall for $55k - it has 1acre of land, 3 bedrooms - it's a 1933 sears home kit -

i know vegas, seattle are very expensive markets for houses. My one friends mom lives in henderson - outrage for the price of a house there.

[Rock Chalk]

Someone want to explain to me why the most liberal states are the most expensive to live in?

I don't understand why, really. Im not being an ass here, just curious. California, new york and washington have some of the most expensive costs of living and are considered liberal states.

Does it have to do with the taxes? I wouldnt think taxes are THAT much higher.

[Meck77]

Originally Posted by jhat01

The wife and I plan on purchasing our first home when we move back to Vegas. I was just wondering if any of you had any advice you can give. I am thinking new, she is thinking existing. I don't know. This is obviously a major purchase, and I really haven't started researching anything yet.

Some good suggestions on here. Jhat I am a licensed realtor here in Colorado who has helped a ton of first time home buyers through the process. First thing I suggest to all my clients and not sure if you have done this as of yet but GET YOUR FINANCING IN ORDER!!!!!

So many pitfalls can arise during the pre-qualification phase in buying a home. It may take you time to clear up credit issues to get the best rate possible. Often there are dings on credit reports that don't even belong to the borrower. These things take time to clear up.

I see this mistake all the time. People get excited about a house and don't even know what they qualify for. Or they wait until they are ready to purchase only to lose the home to a qualified buyer who has complete the loan process.

Any agent can show you a home. A good agent will help you thru this process and can save you thousands of upfront costs and tens of thousands in interest over the long run. Whether you are purchasing new construction or re-sell you should start with the $$$$.

You asked about closing costs. Typically you can count on needing 2.25% of the purchase price of the home to be your closing costs just for the loan itself. It may be slightly or higher or lower in Vegas I can't say for sure.

Some lenders charge 1% origination fee. That is 1 % of your total loan amount in fees!!!!!! Borrower 150k and wammo you are out 1,500 bucks before you even get going. That fee can be avoided.

There are O down programs but the reality of it is you pay for it in the long run depending on how long you own your home. It's a good way to get into a home especially in an appreciating market like Vegas. It's almost safe to assume that no matter what you buy in Vegas as long as you don't overpay for that home upfront you will make money. Period.

However rule of them is you need 3% down. This is for an FHA loan which basically is one of the better programs out there for first time buyers. You will pay a slightly higher interest rate but not much.

Going 20% down has the advantages of not having MIP (Mortgage Insurance Premium) plus you will get the best interest rate from a bank. The MIP is a fee that is charged by the banks when you have less than a 20% equity position in your home.

I don't want to confuse you. To make a long story short you can count on needing about 5% down to bring to the closing table although it can be done with much less. I've help people buy a home that only had $1,000 bucks and they even got it back at closing. That is a true Zero Down deal which isn't always the case. There is too much advertising that overuses the term Zero Down.

People make such a big deal about buying the right home. The reality of it is buying any home especially for a first time home buyer with rates as low as they are is a solid choice.

I'm closing on a home this week for myself. Interest rate is 4.02%. With rates like this out there it is insane not to take advantage of it.

The home buying process is fun and shouldn't be thought of as a stressful process as long as you are working with experienced Agent.

Although you are moving to Vegas I would be happy to talk to you over the phone or via pm is you have other questions you need answered.

[alkemical]

Alec,

for one thing i know with seattle, it's a city and like all cities - usually the cost is alot more pricey. Like a house in seattle, isn't much more than a house in philly.

But - in eastern wash. state, it's pretty cheap overall -

same in colorado - pueblo is dirt cheap, but denver isn't THAT cheap -

[Rock Chalk]

You can get houses in Dallas and Houston and Austin for cheap though Josh and they are big cities too.

New Orleans, pretty cheap.

Id love to give more examples of republican cities but I dont know first hand any others.

I was just wondering why they are more expensive in liberal areas. It cant be because of taxes, they are THAT much higher.

[alkemical]

I don't know if i'd say philly is a 'liberal' town though alec - or even pittsburg -

now if you want to ask why it maybe more expensive - what about the initiatives passed in cali - that allows college to be cheaper - i know that there is tax money given to some thing to reduce college tuition (i learned this in seattle while i worked for wacitizen action group) - and i know seattle has alot of inititives passed that have gov't funded things - so that would probably factor into it -

another thing is - i don't know about texas- but i know in seattle, philly, nyc, baltimore, are pretty pricey, but portland isn't that pricey -

i know that parts of VA are very very pricey -

and others very very cheap -

PA is largley a middle of the line state - one year we have a D (rendell is scum, he's just as bad as Tom Ridge) - or tom ridge - most of it is due to a large (2nd or 3rd in USA) retired population -

[Rock Chalk]

Whats the deal with college? Its cheaper to go to college in Texas than in cali but they are passing initives to make it cheaper?

Something is going on here. Texas doesnt even have a state tax (though property taxes are outrageous). I dont think californias know how to budget their money well. Well, duh, obviously from the fiscal crisis but from the most populous state and the most wealthy they should be pulling in tons and tons of revenue to pay for everythign the need to pay for.

Dude, I mean, where the hell is all the money going? Smog checks, car registration (which is through the roof), state taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, export tarrifs, etc. should be MORE than enough money to go around. for the 5th largest economy in the world, Im not following what the problem is.

Im not trying to slam any political party, Im trying to get at the root of where the freakin money is going.

I mean, as much as I hate California, it IS part of this country and the problems here affect the rest of the country. There has to be a way to please the majority out here. Maybe they are trying to please EVERYONE, that could be part of the problem and it does seem like anyone with a complaint gets their way out here (though I suspect that is a "blanket" statement, it certainly appears that way).

[alkemical]

Now we are getting somewhere alec -

for a thousand that are hacking at the branches of evil, there is one who is striking at the root -

personally - the 'hot-button' issues - that we vote on for our canidates is nothing more than smoke and mirrors so they can continue to rob us. Honestly man, if you add up all the taxes, not just federal income tax, local income tax, state income tax - but all the taxes on goods that we don't see (gas for example) - to taxes on other goods (pasta) - to states passing outragous taxes on cigs (all in the name of balancing the budget, heh) - it's disgusting. Property taxes kinda drive me nuts, because it seems like back in the days of kings and lords with how prices are just being raised on a whim for property. We already work from jan-i think it's june just to pay taxes.

This is one reason that the gov't has a potential issue of collapsing on itself. What happens if we hit a recession or depression again, and there's not enough people to pay the taxes? I mean we are already moving towards bankruptcy as a nation, so what happens if unemployment is say... 20%?

Do you wonder what jobs or sector gets shipped off next? I do. First in the 80s it was assembly and manufacturing - now it's technical... i wonder (no sarcasm in this) - what sector is next. I'd like to have a good trend report so i know when i go back to school i can avoid going in for that area. (Right now i'm planning on going back for the goal of being a radiologist - i figure that job can't be sent to india.)

[Rock Chalk]

You are safe in teaching and health care and law Josh. All others are non-safe.

[alkemical]

teaching, you mean like school vouchers aren't a 'hot button' issue?