Thursday, June 16, 2016

Things You Should Know Before Buying A House

Buying a house can be an exciting time. It can also be rather stressful. We just bought our first house and learned some things along the way.










--There's a lot of waiting involved. We started the process at the end of April and just got in our house last week. Sometimes it takes even longer, but our credit was great, so everything went smoothly.



--There a stage called the underwriting stage.



--During the underwriting stage, you'll be requested to send in MORE documents. Or maybe it was just us, because we used a VA loan. We thought we were good to go but nope, then we were told the underwriters needed MORE things filled out.


--The closing date can change at the last minute. Read our story about that here.


--The people who lived in the home previously might leave nails in the walls. If you want them out, state so in the contract. We just assumed they'd do this.





--If you have a HOA, be prepared for lots of rules. We have one. We just have to remember not to paint our house an offensive color. Oh, and mow the lawn. You'll get a nasty gram if you don't mow your lawn.


--You might find things wrong with the house AFTER you close. We discovered that the kitchen faucet can pop off. You have to push it down just right, otherwise water will drip. My tip would be to test all the faucets during the walk through.


--When you close on the house, the amount of times you sign your name is insane. This is the stack of paper we signed or initialed.



--We were pre-approved for a $400,000 loan but try not to ever go near the high amount. We went wayy below because we wanted to be comfortable after the mortgage payment and bills.


--Pay for an inspection to be done on the house. We paid about $300 for ours. It's expensive, but worth it. If there's something majorly wrong with the house, you want to know. We were lucky and didn't have anything crazy.


--Don't go overboard with square footage. Remember, you have to clean it. Or, if you're rich like Jay Z, maybe not. But for us regular people, we have to clean on our own. Our house is a little over 2000 square feet which I feel is a perfect size for our family of four. It won't be too overwhelming to clean.




It can be a lot of information at once, but in the end it's a thrilling thought to know that you own a home.


Have you bought a house?


66 comments:

  1. We haven't yet, but we plan on it when we move to our next duty station. It'll be our first time too!

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  2. Haha cleaning a big house is the worst! Totally agree with that. Ask how old the water heater is and when the last time the drains were cleaned, etc. I have a "daddy" (who's been plumbing all his life) but if I didn't, I'd bring in a plumber before I bought. Plumbing issues are major. Even leasing we've run into that!

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  3. We just bought our first house and we close on Monday! So excited. :)

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  4. An offensive color?! Lol, do people actually get offended by colors?! So silly. Also, I totally agree with how many times you have to sign your name... I thought my hand was going to fall off when we were signing all of our documents... and my signature was definitely not legible by the end of the process!

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  5. We bought a house and a car at the same time. The paperwork for the car was worse, somehow!
    Offensive colors.. haha!

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  6. YES!!! People don't seem to realize how much work it is to buy a house! I bought our house using a POA and I wanted to rip my hand off afterwards haha.

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  7. don't forget the independent House inspector, that is a big must.

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    1. Yes, that's a great one! I might have to add it in. We paid for one.

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  8. Maybe one day... Buying a house scares the sh*t out of me. I know I can always rent it out, but it feels like way too much commitment and I think I am a commitment phobe...! HA

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  9. Oh my gosh the closing paperwork is enough to make you rethink the whole process. You kind of feel like you are signing your life away!!

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  10. We didn't have underwriter issues that may be specific to a VA loan.
    Inspection is crucial. If your home was built in an area without gas or electric heating-- or if it' isn't relatively new, contact the town for any changes made to the land-- a lot of homes have buried oil tanks which should be removed at the seller's cost or you should walk away.

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  11. I had underwriting issues too. Nothing too awful but they did ask for more stuff. My agent told me that may happen so I was prepared. I was in my house in about a month and a half after I put in my offer. I didn't go anywhere near what I was approved for either. I just didn't feel comfortable. The previous owner was really sweet and installed 2 new windows for me I didn't even ask for them.

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  12. 2000 square feet would be huge to clean for me! Anyway congratulations!

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  13. Offensive color like what btw? Poop brown? Lol!

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  14. Offensive colors! Lol seems to be the ongoing favorite part of this post! Love it! This is great advice and info. Thank you!

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  15. My son and his wife are about to have a new home built. They have already purchased the lot and the build should start soon. They attended their first HOA meeting and when they were telling me what all was discussed, I just laughed and laughed. I can't even!

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  16. This is the second house we have bought. There were definitely a lot of problems with it and we are slowly working through all of them. The one thing I am very happy about is that it was not in an HOA! We learned from the first House that we do not like having other people tell us but we can do with our house LOL.

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  17. It is great to find the house of your dreams but remember it needs painting and upkeep. We love our older home's charm but we it comes with a price we did not realize until much later. I would not shange anything though and we want to be here forever.

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  18. Yes and we are thinking of purchasing another. We have a couple of friends who are realtors and brokers so we have been calling on them for advice as we consider another purchase. I'm fine where we are but hubby wants more land. Congratulations to you and your family.

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  19. Super informative! We're in the process of trying to get rid of our house now, owning can definitely come with its cons. Some HOAs are seriously outrageous with the rules, and it's super important to know all about them before buying into one. What even is an offensive color?! LMAO

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  20. It's really important to have the house inspected or if you can, inspect it yourself. I agree about things going wrong the moment you move in. These are pretty good pointers for people planning to buy a house in the future.

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  21. Cleaning always a challenge, overtime i clean i find more mess lol. Great tips!

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  22. It's been a long time since we bought a home. I think these are factors you have to consider doing if you're planning to buy a home. It's such a huge investment after all.

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  23. Buying our first house was such a crazy stressful process. It's such a huge investment and we were so happy that we got our house inspected!

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  24. I do remember all the signing when we bought our house. House buying can be a pain but it is well worth it.

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  25. I've only ever rented, but I would love to buy one day but then I think about all the things that come with us and I can't even imagine managing to cope with it.

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  26. The paperwork is insane isn't it? And ah yes the nails in the walls. It's amazing what can be hidden by furniture and wall hangings. Looking carefully at everything via inspection is a good idea.

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  27. We did the same thing as yours because we went thru VA. The amount of paper you have to sign is crazy!

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  28. this is really great information. as someone who's thinking of purchasing a home, it's tips like these that are so helpful to know.

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  29. We were planning to buy a house down the road before and it was a little sad that we didn't get it. A lot of signing definitely comes to buying a house. And so many documents that you need to submit. I think it's all worth it once you move in though!

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  30. Wish we had this info when we bought a house. We came to find out our house had special additional taxes.

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  31. I was given the house I grew up with by my parents when they decided they needed something smaller. Even though I didn't buy it, owning a house is a great feeling!

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  32. These are great tips. Thank you so much for this information. That is so helpful.

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  33. these are all such important points and information we should think about before we decide to buy a house. thank you so much for your insight.

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  34. We also went way below are approved mortgage to keep our budget balanced. The previous owners did end up taking the backyard Gates and the bathroom mirror... Very weird.

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  35. Such great tips on what to know before buying a house! Thanks girl :) xo, Suzanne

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  36. An inspection definitely sounds like it's worth the money. You want to really have a solid idea of everything that works and doesn't works before you decide to buy a place. My dad recently sold my childhood home to move to a smaller one and he went through the other end of all of this.

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  37. I purchased my first home almost 7 years ago! Super stressful but worth it! I think my closing date got pushed back three times? That was the worst!!

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  38. It can be so scary buying your first home. These tips are great and I will be sharing this with my mom who is a real estate agent. This will be helpful for her first time home buyers!

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  39. We are not quite yet in the position to purchase a home yet. These are definitely must haves for sure when buying a house and we will certainly refer to them when we are ready.

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  40. We bought our house, from my parents. It probably wouldn't have been my first choice now, almost 15 years later. But at the time we were young, and to own a home at our age was unheard of.

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  41. I have been so surprised about the entire process of buying a house! It can be such a long process.

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  42. I remember the stress of buying our first home. And as crazy as it was, I can't wait to do it again!

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  43. Oh goodness, I remember this stress oh too well. I am dreading the next move.

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  44. Great post. These were very real tips! Documents. Documents. Documents. Thanks for sharing!

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  45. I cant wait to become a homeowner! This is great advice I will keep this in mind.

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  46. wow! thanks for great advice. It is great to find the house of your dreams but remember it needs painting and upkeep. Many people still want to learn about how to buy a house in right way. Here is the helpful post for them.
    Reference:
    things to consider when buying a house - HOMEiA

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