Buying your first home in US. Headache or super fun time?

[MJ&RJ 7]

My husband is former military so we got a house through the VA and IFA (Iowa Finance Authority). We needed no down-payment, we don't pay mortgage protection (or something like that) and basically financially it's amazing (we bought a foreclosure house) because our mortgage is cheaper than rent!

Did I enjoy it? No. We were going to buy one house but that fell through because the owner wouldn't allow VA through the premises (the only explanation for this is the VA has strict guidelines about the quality of the property so there must have been lots wrong with it). We were living with Tony's parents because it wasn't suppose to take that long. It ended up taking 3-4 months to settle on the second house we picked but because the first house took a while to get the "no go" about the VA it was 6 months we were living with people... had we known that it would take that long we would have rented an apartment.

We had no choice of realtor because the property had a "sole right to sell" on it and this guy was a MORON! He was slow, he made offers that weren't what we told him, his spelling was atrocious and for some reason he found it appropriate to email YouTube clips to me and other people involved in the process (like the appraiser.. someone he didn't know). That's just the beginning. The banker hadn't done a lot of VA loans so he had to keep asking the experienced girl (the underwriter) questions so we would ask our banker a qn, he would ask her, and the next day we'd have our answers.

Anyway it was awful. I'm glad it's finally over. I honestly think living with the in-laws made it worse. There is a lot of family drama that ended in Tony and I being "kicked out" (it's in inverted commas because she didn't WANT us to move out, she wanted Tony to do what she wanted and he refused so we moved out) and he hasn't spoken to her since then, 31st May 2010. She texts him occasionally but she did and said some really awful stuff and until and unless she apologises he (we) won't speak to her. I've spoken to her occasionally when I've had no choice. I don't want to be outright rude when she's standing right there.

Ultimately though I really like that we own a house. I don't like that because I'm not on the mortgage I can't be on the title (that's a bank policy) and I couldn't be on the mortgage because I had zero credit history and I didn't want it to affect the interest rate. We're locked in at 4% so I'm pretty happy with that I like that US houses are MUCH cheaper than Aussie houses and I really think we got lucky because our house was built in the early 1900's (1920's maybe) and the insurer was apparently VERY impressed with it and the building quality in general... love that we can paint the walls and make changes however we want and there's no pet deposit . I smile every time we drive past a "leasing now" apartment because we don't need that anymore and that makes me happy

Right on I used my VA loan as well with no down payment. my first 2 choices fell through and i'm glad they did because the 3rd house is great. The bank i dealt with sold my mortgage to Wells Fargo and i have been happy ever since especially with the 4% interest. Like you my wifes name is not on mine as well but she knows she owns it too.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Right on I used my VA loan as well with no down payment. my first 2 choices fell through and i'm glad they did because the 3rd house is great. The bank i dealt with sold my mortgage to Wells Fargo and i have been happy ever since especially with the 4% interest. Like you my wifes name is not on mine as well but she knows she owns it too.

Agreed with happy the other/s fell through! The other house needed a bit of work but was more expensive. This house is at least $15K cheaper and needed no work. It has central air and the other didn't. The other didn't have a dishwasher, this does. This one has inbuilt smoke alarms so when one goes off they all do (great security measure). It has double windows for better heat/cool retention. Garbage disposal... yeah loads better So in the end it worked out, and I saw my mother-in-laws true colours.

[MJ&RJ 7]

Agreed with happy the other/s fell through! The other house needed a bit of work but was more expensive. This house is at least $15K cheaper and needed no work. It has central air and the other didn't. The other didn't have a dishwasher, this does. This one has inbuilt smoke alarms so when one goes off they all do (great security measure). It has double windows for better heat/cool retention. Garbage disposal... yeah loads better So in the end it worked out, and I saw my mother-in-laws true colours.

same with mine all the features, even came with a side by side refrigerator. Plus brick, fireplace and it appraised for more than i brought it for. I love not renting anymore and wife was dying to have a house of her own to do what she wants to and not answer to a landlord.

[silvana.toma 15]

We are meeting with the loan people next friday, and as soon as we get pre-quaalified we will get a realtor(my huby's friend had a freind who is a realtor), and hopefully we will have a better experience with buying a home.

I'm sorry to hear some of your stories, it's so sad...when this should be such a fun time for you, people make it a nightmare.

This is something off topic for vanessa and tony:

Vanessa(or tony, whoever is writting here on VJ) speaking of true colors..I have to make a comment and let you know you are not alone as far as your relationship with your in law's. My husband's mother(as i will never call her mother in law) actually kicked him out, she had the suit cases ready for him at the door. Of course she kept a 3 grand watch, and other valuables...It's so sad when they behave like you are 5, and try to control your life, and they think they know better what's good for you. We do not comunicate with her since last april, and i don't see any further comunication in the near future either...so as you can see you are not alone.

i can only pray that when i have kids i will never be so narrow minded, selfish, and manipulative as those atributes will only bring me misery.

i will keep you guys posted in regards to my bumpy(or not) ride to the process of buying our first home.

again, thank you for every input, it is really valuable and i really appreciated it

[Mononoke28 135]

Everyone's experience is different. Ours was pretty fun and amazing. Last year we knew we wanted to buy a house but only had about 5% to put down. Many people told us to save up to 20% but that would've taken years to do so. What we did was go to several open houses in the neighborhood we were interested in and talked to each realtor who was showing the house. As soon as we felt comfortable with one of them he gave us his card and told us to contact him if we were interested, not pushy at all. He then recommended 3 lenders he works with and we picked the one we liked the best, mainly based on the interest rate he gave us. We were approved for an FHA loan because we were first time buyers with less than 20% to put down, we got a very low fixed interest rate and only needed to put down 3%. The realtor's fees were paid by the seller and we also asked for the seller to pay for all closing costs, which this day and age it's pretty much the standard. We went to see at least 20 houses each weekend and after 2 months of searching we found the one. The extra money we had saved for the downpayment was used for the extra things each house needs, light fixtures, paint, dimmers, decorations, etc. Best decision we ever made.

Now, you don't have to buy a house if your budget doesn't allow. You can start with a nice condo and as soon as the market is doing well again, and it will, you can sell it and then use the equity to buy a house. Also compare prices, many times a condo or a townhome have very high HOA fees for grounds maintenance and such and that may be equal to a mortgage for a single family home.

And last but not least, make sure your credit is good and don't have any huge debt. That's key to get a really good interest rate. We cleaned up ours really well and were above 750 when we bought our house and every single lender was fighting for us to choose them by giving us really nice options to choose from. It's a definite plus.

Good luck and have fun with it!!

Diana

[웃 910]

The realtor's fees were paid by the seller and we also asked for the seller to pay for all closing costs, which this day and age it's pretty much the standard.

Damn, I guess that is the perk of getting a more expensive house.

I bought a $19,500 house on FHA with supposedly the 3% down payment....Well, we paid nearly $4500 at closing and it doesn't count one dime towards the $19,500....$4500 is about 1/4th of the total cost of the house so it kind of pisses me off

[Mononoke28 135]

Damn, I guess that is the perk of getting a more expensive house.

I bought a $19,500 house on FHA with supposedly the 3% down payment....Well, we paid nearly $4500 at closing and it doesn't count one dime towards the $19,500....$4500 is about 1/4th of the total cost of the house so it kind of pisses me off

Oh that suuuucks! I wonder if it depends on the state. My realtor told us from the very beginning that he would ask any seller to pay for closing costs as part of the deal and that is pretty much how things are done here in Denver. We put it down in our initial offer and they agreed to that right away since they were expecting us to request it.

I just wish our house had cost us $19,500, so you got that going for you.

Diana

[silvana.toma 15]

I actually looked at condo's first. But they are 180k!!!This is insane!!I have to say I can not wait to start house hunting. Can you guys give me an ideea of a median home mortgage here in us? Some people say is 1,300 is that true? What is the procentage from your salary that you should spend on the house mortgage every month?

[웃 910]

It was easy for us, we saw an ad in the paper for new homes for $100 seed money, went to the office, picked out the house we wanted and gave the $100 cheque to the guy and then 4 months later, we moved into the house.

That's how they do it in Texas?

In Michigan you pay $4500 closing costs for a house that costs $20,000

[Fandango 1,439]

I actually looked at condo's first. But they are 180k!!!This is insane!!I have to say I can not wait to start house hunting. Can you guys give me an ideea of a median home mortgage here in us? Some people say is 1,300 is that true? What is the procentage from your salary that you should spend on the house mortgage every month?

There is no way to be able to accurately say what a median home cost is for the entire US. Look at Lord Infamous - $20k house. That couldn't get you a shoebox here.

I think your mtg should be no more than 40% of your income

[silvana.toma 15]

I was doing some research online and some people are saying it's good to actually get a buyer's realtor, just to make sure he has your best interests at heart. We are meeting with the bank people on friday to get a pre-aproval..by the way...does anyone know how long it takes to get pre-aproved? I listen to your advice and we are geting pre-aproved first and then look for a realtor.

It's true, and i am very aware of housing costs that vary depending on the state. We originally wanted to move to michigan where the housing market was amazing...also florida has amazing deals too...

I will let you know of our process, and i hope no bumpy rides..

Thanks again guys for all the info, and tips. I really appreciate them.

[TracyTN 237]

I'm sure the time a pre approval takes varies from lender to lender. Just be sure and ask when you submit your application.

[웃 910]

does anyone know how long it takes to get pre-aproved?

It takes roughly 20 seconds. The loan officer plugs in some numbers and the computer reads back your pre-approval amount.

[LaL 418]

It takes roughly 20 seconds. The loan officer plugs in some numbers and the computer reads back your pre-approval amount.

I think you are talking about pre-qualification, no? Pre-approval is a bit more work.

[silvana.toma 15]

sweet!!