First Time Home Buyers

[John]

Whats some of the things you learned/pitfalls you fell into when buying your first home?

For me, I covered pretty much all my bases. My credit was not the greatest, so that was one area where I had to suffer (7.5% on a 2yr arm). Another thing I grossly underestimated was things I would need for my house. When budgeting, look out for things you will need, like a lawn mower, edger, weed eater, vaccum, things like this. I didn't and couldnt afford a lawn mower for a month :whoa: my grass was 2ft tall.

[_Charles_]

I started clearing up my credit report about 6-8 months before I applied for a loan. I already knew about the lawn stuff (and riding mower was included with house ;)).

I think the biggest thing was just doing it. It's scary at first, but so worth it.

[TNathe]

haha, don't you hate that shit John. I was lucky enough to have access to my parents' mower and lawn tools until I bought my own. If you didnt live out in tampa or that way i would cut your grass for you. Just got a nice big hydrostatic mower. ITs got more power than my car. haha.

But, get people to by you house warming gifts for the small stuff like silverware and shit. for the big stuff like mowers and stuff, check the newspaper. There is always someone getting rid of something for next to nothing. Hell, TF is a good spot to buy shit. I got my mower from here.

[Just Dave]

I had a different experiance than most because my very first real estate transaction was for a piece of vacant land. Once that was paid off, my second transaction was building a home on that land. Since it was a smaller builder, I had to do a construction loan which rolled into conventional financing upon completion. It was different, but I wouldn't change it for the world. Going through that process was so confusing at first, but made me much more aware of the building process.

[_Charles_]

I had a different experiance than most because my very first real estate transaction was for a piece of vacant land. Once that was paid off, my second transaction was building a home on that land. Since it was a smaller builder, I had to do a construction loan which rolled into conventional financing upon completion. It was different, but I wouldn't change it for the world. Going through that process was so confusing at first, but made me much more aware of the building process.

I bought via VA LOAN, and couldn't use VA to secure a construction loan. I've spent the past year or 2 looking for vacant land to build on, but no luck (for a decent price). Maybe one day.

Charles

[Charles]

Whats some of the things you learned/pitfalls you fell into when buying your first home?



On new homes the builder will typically offer 3-4k toward closing costs if you use there lender. Only when I started going thru my 2nd home purchase did I learn that if you can beat there financing by 0.25% ? elsewhere, they are still required to fork over that 3-4k toward closing......something they obviously don't come right out and tell you.

Furniture can be costly if going from a smaller to a much larger place. Keep an eye on the classifieds on www.craigslist.com you can find great deals on barely used furniture,applicances and even better deals on lawn equipment.

Don't forget about that monthly $50-75 Home Depot bill that seems to show up every month :-D

[Just Dave]

I've heard that about VA loans. I didn't qualify for any first time buyer programs because of it being a construction loan, but the positives outweighed the negatives. The base price for our house when we purchased it was $117k. Now its $210k. Not sure what the land is worth now and I guess it doesn't matter since we don't intend to move, but I'm sure we wouldn't be hurting if we sold.

We lucked out on our land. Its right across the street from my parents (which has its ups and downs, mainly ups though). We knew the guy who owned it. He had a trashy mobile home on the land renting it out but the trailor was junk and they were bugging him to put something nicer on there when we came along. Since we were friends (and he's loaded, his family started Yellow Cab of Tampa), we skipped the appraisal and negoatiated a price leaning on a fence. Signed a contract in his living room and I secured the financing from my credit union. We paid $18k plus closing costs for a half acre of land with well and septic in Pasco county about 100 yards from the Hillsborough county line.

[Charles]

We paid $18k plus closing costs for a half acre of land with well and septic in Pasco county about 100 yards from the Hillsborough county line.

Sounds like a steal for sure :thumbup: if I recall correctly it's around 5k these days just to get a well put in??

[_Charles_]

We paid $18k plus closing costs for a half acre of land with well and septic in Pasco county about 100 yards from the Hillsborough county line.

Know of any other land for sle in your area cheap? I currently have .54 acre in a subdivision, and wouldn't want anything smaller.

BTW: which area? Sierra Pines?

Charles

[Just Dave]

There is one piece of land thats on a canal that leads to a good size lake. The canal may or may not be deep enough for a boat depending on water fall. The property is very long and narrow though so it would be a funky house to fit. They are asking over $300k for it. I'm about 5 minutes west of Sierra Pines near SR54 and Gunn Hwy (behind the old Renado's if you know where that is). All of my family and some friends live in Sierra Pines. How do you know about that area?

[Just Dave]

Sounds like a steal for sure :thumbup: if I recall correctly it's around 5k these days just to get a well put in??

We had to have a new well and septic put in for the new house (due to sizing and locations) and the well was about $6k and the septic was about the same I think.

Oh, we also didn't have to pay the impact fees on the property since it already had a mobile home on it. That saved us about $5k as well.

[_Charles_]

All of my family and some friends live in Sierra Pines. How do you know about that area?

Like I said...been looking for land for quite some time now. We almost got a lot on Woodfield Ct, but somebody beat us to it (For sale by owner). We still poke around in there from time to time looking.

Sierra Pines is definetly hidden to those who do not know ;).

and yes, $300k is too much for me.

Charles

[Amortized]

I see a lot of FTHB trying to save up down payments. Some might ask how that might be a mistake. Well in this hot housing market, chances are home prices are going up faster than you're saving.

FTHB also tend to use the listing agent as their buyers agent. This creates a conflict of interest in terms of negotiating a price as the listing agent is paid by the seller.

[Just Dave]

Like I said...been looking for land for quite some time now. We almost got a lot on Woodfield Ct, but somebody beat us to it (For sale by owner). We still poke around in there from time to time looking.

Sierra Pines is definetly hidden to those who do not know ;).

and yes, $300k is too much for me.

Charles

That place is just crazy. Not much comes up for sale in there but when it does its expensive because its at least an acre and in a great neighborhood. The only problem is that area is VERY prone to flooding. In fact, a friend of mine lives on Driftwood Lane and he has to carry flood insurance as do many in that neighborhood.

[Trish]

I learned that painting is hard work. I learned that after you're done painting, you won't feel like putting up crown moldings for awhile.

[TNathe]

Charles, how much are you willing to spend on a half acre lot, how much for an acre lot?

[_Charles_]

Charles, how much are you willing to spend on a half acre lot, how much for an acre lot?
It's not 'How much' only...it's also 'location'.

I live in N Hillsborough county, and I am looking for something in N Hills/S Pasco between

East border: N Dale Mabry
West border: Gunn Hwy
South border: Ehrlich Rd
North border: SR 54

I might just wait though, Centex bought 400+ acres from the Geraci's, and are going to build a development just N of Cheval (general area). Maybe I'll be able to pick an oversized lot.

The Lot in Sierra Pines we almost got was $85,000 for 1 acre.

Charles

[TNathe]

so you wouldnt be interested in anyting out in the San Ann area? Cause I could def find you an acre lot for less than the $85,000. It would be w/in 2 minutes of I75.

[_Charles_]

so you wouldnt be interested in anyting out in the San Ann area? Cause I could def find you an acre lot for less than the $85,000. It would be w/in 2 minutes of I75.

I f I bought in the San Antonio area, it would be for retirement...I work in St Pete... San Ann to St Pete during morning and evening traffic = death

Charles

[TNathe]

:lol: this is true. /offtopic discussion. sorry.

[Rdline1]

i just turned 20 and will be buying HOPEFULLY this summer, but our experience with seriously looking over the past 3 months has been absolutely insane. prices are skyrocketing, and places that SHOULD be $130k are closer to $170k. im looking for a 3/2 townhouse, and those are definetly pulling a premium these days. i want a townhouse to not have to deal with lawn and all that, and i like the idea and security that a gated community offers. hopefully we'll find something soon, i cant wait to move out!!!

[_Charles_]

i just turned 20 and will be buying HOPEFULLY this summer, but our experience with seriously looking over the past 3 months has been absolutely insane. prices are skyrocketing, and places that SHOULD be $130k are closer to $170k. im looking for a 3/2 townhouse, and those are definetly pulling a premium these days. i want a townhouse to not have to deal with lawn and all that, and i like the idea and security that a gated community offers. hopefully we'll find something soon, i cant wait to move out!!!

First thing you need to understand:
places that SHOULD be $130k are closer to $170k

This should read "places that WERE $130k are closer to $170k.

I say this because if you go out there with the mind set of 'Jeez, this place SHOULD be only $130k', than you will never be happy with your decision. Just face it, it's worth more, and you will have to pay more.

Charles

[Alan]

Purchased my first home with my girlfriend about 6-months ago. Not a bad experience.

We experienced the usual anxiety between putting an offer to the seller & waiting for a reply. Then of course the time between the contract & close was fairly stressfull as well. I had been unemployed for 6-months & just started my new job about 3-4 months before we applied for the loan, so I honestly thought at times I would be the cause of us losing the house. Amsouth made the finance portion fairly easy on us after I finally found all my financial info. We ended up in a first-time home buyer program w/the lowest avail interest rate, only 3% down, and no PMI. :)

Of course our friend/realtor (Scott) helped the home finding process go as smoothly as possible. Without him I think we would have given up after a couple weeks. :tard: