About 17 months ago, I signed up at a local fitness center that had just opened up right on my way home from work, so it was convenient for me to get to on my bike. I pre-paid for a year’s membership because with that package they threw in an extra six months, and reduced the sign-up fee. It was a really good monthly rate compared to most places. It would have lasted until the middle of August without me making one more payment. I worked out there off and on, doing strength training a couple of times a week, and Yoga at least two times a week, plus the occassional spinning class, for about 5 months. Then I stopped going for a while… You know how it goes, sometimes… Life and laziness gets in the way of working out… and about a month later I tried to go back again and found that they had closed. Completely. Out of business. Poof, gone!
That was about a year ago, and other than the bike-riding I do every day just to get around, I haven’t worked out at all in the last year. I paid for my membership in advance, so my fitness budget was blown for a long time. World Gym bought the place and re-opened it a few months later, but their cheapest membership was three times what I paid before, and twice the fees at Pure Fitness, just a couple of miles out of my way. Plus their focus is boxing, and … I don’t really want to learn boxing.
So for the last year I’ve been glacially thinking about what/how/when I’m going to start working out again. I’ve been meaning to (but not taking the time to) do Yoga, since I have several Yoga DVDs and a Yoga mat. I[‘d really like to do resistance training, though. Increase muscle mass, lose weight. Get some muscle tone.
So instead of a new, new iMac, after about a year’s slow thought and some research into other people’s opinions and reviews on various gyms, fitness centers, home fitness equipment, workout and diet systems, etc… I have decided that I shall shift my $2200 desire from the new, new iMac to the Bowflex Ultimate.
Some people only rated Bowflex at 70% or 80%, but their complaints were with Customer Service, Cost, and their own inability to follow construction instructions, plus sometimes difficulty with the non-ultimate models’ add-on upgrades. Since I’m competent at following instructions, wouldn’t consider anything less than the top-of-the-line model (this is an investment, not a toy), and am quite skilled at working with even the least reasonable customer service reps, I don’t think I’ll have a problem, except for the same problem I was going to have getting the Mac; justifying the expense.
Actually, I’ve been looking at my finances lately, and as long as I don’t have any unexpected cost increases (and as long as I don’t have another close relative die and go on another spending spree), I should be able to afford the monthly payments on either $2300 purchase comfortably. That’s without monthly bonuses, which I seem to be able to earn pretty consistently at work, making things a little more comfortable all the time.
Well, that’s something else to look forward to, I suppose. Ordering and then using the Bowflex. I think I can put it in my back room, as long as I don’t build the cabinet I wanted to put in there.
If you got a bowflex could I come over and use it? We could work out together and keep each other on track.
If you got a bowflex could I come over and use it? We could work out together and keep each other on track.
If you got a bowflex could I come over and use it? We could work out together and keep each other on track.
If you got a bowflex could I come over and use it? We could work out together and keep each other on track.
Yes. Definitely.
I was taking some measurements, and unfolded the bowflex would take up almost that whole room (less the space we already made into a closet). I really need to find a house to buy soon. The amount of space my posessions take up is quickly outgrowing the amount of space I can afford to rent. I should do some calculations and fgure out how many square feet of house I need to be comfortable, then add a room, and shop for that. I bet if I allow myself to look in Mesa and southern Tempe I can find something big enough that I can afford.
Argh. More things to spend money on: exercise equipment, alcohol, house. What is my pocketbook coming to? Anyone know how far in advance I can shop for a house? What is the normal time for something like that? I don’t finish my lease here until next summer and I don’t want to end up trying to pay rent and home loan payments at the same time, but I don’t want to find myself without someplace to go when the lease is up because processing is taking too long. Maybe I should go too my bank and talk to them about how that process works. Sometime in the next six months.
Yes. Definitely.
I was taking some measurements, and unfolded the bowflex would take up almost that whole room (less the space we already made into a closet). I really need to find a house to buy soon. The amount of space my posessions take up is quickly outgrowing the amount of space I can afford to rent. I should do some calculations and fgure out how many square feet of house I need to be comfortable, then add a room, and shop for that. I bet if I allow myself to look in Mesa and southern Tempe I can find something big enough that I can afford.
Argh. More things to spend money on: exercise equipment, alcohol, house. What is my pocketbook coming to? Anyone know how far in advance I can shop for a house? What is the normal time for something like that? I don’t finish my lease here until next summer and I don’t want to end up trying to pay rent and home loan payments at the same time, but I don’t want to find myself without someplace to go when the lease is up because processing is taking too long. Maybe I should go too my bank and talk to them about how that process works. Sometime in the next six months.
Yeah, six months sounds about right. If you want plenty of time to find just the right house in just the right neighborhood, (which I am sure that you do) and to allow for any problems that might arise six months is a good time frame. The only problem with that is if you find a “fire sale” (one not do to actual fire, but a need to get out quick) you might miss out, but then again, if you weren’t looking for a house at all you would miss out on that deal anyway…
Yeah, six months sounds about right. If you want plenty of time to find just the right house in just the right neighborhood, (which I am sure that you do) and to allow for any problems that might arise six months is a good time frame. The only problem with that is if you find a “fire sale” (one not do to actual fire, but a need to get out quick) you might miss out, but then again, if you weren’t looking for a house at all you would miss out on that deal anyway…
Yeah, six months sounds about right. If you want plenty of time to find just the right house in just the right neighborhood, (which I am sure that you do) and to allow for any problems that might arise six months is a good time frame. The only problem with that is if you find a “fire sale” (one not do to actual fire, but a need to get out quick) you might miss out, but then again, if you weren’t looking for a house at all you would miss out on that deal anyway…
Is seven months too long? Five months too little? What would I do in these months? How much is “looking” for houses, and how much is actually buying it? What if I go out in six months and find a great place in a great neighborhood at a price I can get a loan for, right away? Do I just have to hope no one else buys it? How does stuff like that work?
What about a broker? What is a broker’s job? How about real estate agents? Is there a good, free, public way for me to find out how much houses cost in what areas, so I know where not to bother looking? I already have a good idea of how much of a loan a bank would be willing to give me no more than for a home, considering my income and lack of savings… but do I need to get “pre-approved” for a home loan before I can even really start looking? Or do I need to choose a home/cost before I can apply to be pre-approved, so they know how much to ask for? Since I don’t have any savings and I don’t have relatives who can help with closing costs and/or a down payment, I’d like to keep up-front expenses as low as possible; what do I need to do, and need to avoid to do so?
What other questions should I be asking? I know this may seem premature to some of you, but the rest of you realize that I’m pretty glacial (that is, I move very, very gradually in a direction, but once I get started, it’s nye impossible to stop my momentum), and that I’m just trying to become well-informed with enough lead time to get a clear picture of everything in my head. In Spring of 2001 I contacted … someone in the process of buying a house… I don’t know if it was a loan officer or a broker or … what… and so I got SOME information, and I tried to follow through so I wouldn’t end up renting again (that was before I ended up here), but I don’t know what it was, maybe that I didn’t have a house all picked out and ready to buy, or maybe because I don’t drive and couldn’t buy a house in the area her real-estate partner worked in, or what, but … they stopped returning my calls and I let it drop and decided to rent again.
I’m pretty frustrated that I haven’t got this worked out yet. Or that I didn’t work it out this last year, before I had to renew my lease.
Anyone know how to figure out the sqare footage of the house I’m in?
Is seven months too long? Five months too little? What would I do in these months? How much is “looking” for houses, and how much is actually buying it? What if I go out in six months and find a great place in a great neighborhood at a price I can get a loan for, right away? Do I just have to hope no one else buys it? How does stuff like that work?
What about a broker? What is a broker’s job? How about real estate agents? Is there a good, free, public way for me to find out how much houses cost in what areas, so I know where not to bother looking? I already have a good idea of how much of a loan a bank would be willing to give me no more than for a home, considering my income and lack of savings… but do I need to get “pre-approved” for a home loan before I can even really start looking? Or do I need to choose a home/cost before I can apply to be pre-approved, so they know how much to ask for? Since I don’t have any savings and I don’t have relatives who can help with closing costs and/or a down payment, I’d like to keep up-front expenses as low as possible; what do I need to do, and need to avoid to do so?
What other questions should I be asking? I know this may seem premature to some of you, but the rest of you realize that I’m pretty glacial (that is, I move very, very gradually in a direction, but once I get started, it’s nye impossible to stop my momentum), and that I’m just trying to become well-informed with enough lead time to get a clear picture of everything in my head. In Spring of 2001 I contacted … someone in the process of buying a house… I don’t know if it was a loan officer or a broker or … what… and so I got SOME information, and I tried to follow through so I wouldn’t end up renting again (that was before I ended up here), but I don’t know what it was, maybe that I didn’t have a house all picked out and ready to buy, or maybe because I don’t drive and couldn’t buy a house in the area her real-estate partner worked in, or what, but … they stopped returning my calls and I let it drop and decided to rent again.
I’m pretty frustrated that I haven’t got this worked out yet. Or that I didn’t work it out this last year, before I had to renew my lease.
Anyone know how to figure out the sqare footage of the house I’m in?
You need a real estate agent to do most of the house hunting for you. The crappy agent I had would set an appointment to look at houses with us and then run a list of homes for sale with the qualifications that we were looking for and then we would drive around for hours looking at dumps that he knew nothing about. This went on for a couple of months. We made a few offers on other houses, but they didn’t like the terms we asked for and denied the offer. So this is why it takes time. It takes time to look at a lot of houses, make offers, decide how much you want to barter for a certain home, then get the financing and paperwork to go through. You will get pre-qualified before you even go to look at houses so that the agent knows that they are not wasting thier time looking at houses that you will not qualify for. You can get the seller to pay some of the closing costs and some lenders will build some expenses into the loan. It was around $4000 in prepaids when we bought this house. It took about three or four months between beginning to look for a house and then actually moving into this one. It will vary in every circumstance though. You will be surprised what you can qualify for with no savings. We had none when we started looking. Once you find a home that you like you put in an offer. This offer says what you will pay for the home, what closing costs the seller needs to pay, and what repairs or upgrades need to be done before you will buy the house. Good Faith money is put up at this time. This money is to show that you are serious about the purchase of the house and you sign papers stating that you will not back out of the sale unless the inspection turns up a new set of circumstances. The Good Faith money will be lost unless you have a good reason for backing out of the deal. (Not that you just changed your mind.) This is when agents stop showing the house to other buyers and the sale is pending. The seller will then either accept the offer, submit a counter offer, or refuse the offer all together. Once an offer is accepted an inspection is ordered. If the inspection turns up unacceptable conditions you can ask that certain repairs be made or that the price of the house is lowered to accomodate those repairs. The seller than either agrees to your terms, presents another offer or refuses. If they refuse than you can back out and get your good faith money back. Once that deal is done the home loan papers are put through and then the lender comes up with thier terms. That’s when they say how much money you need to come up with and what kind of rates you can get and all of that. The lender can deny the loan for the price of the house and then negotiations on the price can start all over again too. When all of that is done (or nearly done) you do the final walk through to make sure that all repairs that were supposed to be done were done and that the house is in the same condition it was in when you first looked at it. Then more papers are signed and a couple of days later you get the keys to move in. Unfortunately it is all very iffy and overall a very scary and stressful experience. A good realtor will take care of most of the stress for you and keep the process as smooth as possible. The realtor should prescreen the houses that you look at so that you are not looking at dumps and they will know enough about the process to walk you through it all. It’s one of those things that you just have to take one day at a time and have enough time to devote. That is why I say six months is a good time frame. This gives you plenty of time to look and not be stressed about moving, just look for the best house to suit your needs. Then when the bartering process begins you can be level headed about it because you are in no hurry and do not have to take thier deal if you don’t like it. It also gives you time to change realtors if you don’t like the first one that you find. Oh, by the way, do not sign an agreement with a realtor that prohibits you from changing realtors. We did not know that this is a big red flag and we signed one. It said that we could not change realtors without giving him 30 days notice and the opportunity to resolve whatever problems we had with him. No good realtor will ask you to sign anything like that.
Good luck.
You need a real estate agent to do most of the house hunting for you. The crappy agent I had would set an appointment to look at houses with us and then run a list of homes for sale with the qualifications that we were looking for and then we would drive around for hours looking at dumps that he knew nothing about. This went on for a couple of months. We made a few offers on other houses, but they didn’t like the terms we asked for and denied the offer. So this is why it takes time. It takes time to look at a lot of houses, make offers, decide how much you want to barter for a certain home, then get the financing and paperwork to go through. You will get pre-qualified before you even go to look at houses so that the agent knows that they are not wasting thier time looking at houses that you will not qualify for. You can get the seller to pay some of the closing costs and some lenders will build some expenses into the loan. It was around $4000 in prepaids when we bought this house. It took about three or four months between beginning to look for a house and then actually moving into this one. It will vary in every circumstance though. You will be surprised what you can qualify for with no savings. We had none when we started looking. Once you find a home that you like you put in an offer. This offer says what you will pay for the home, what closing costs the seller needs to pay, and what repairs or upgrades need to be done before you will buy the house. Good Faith money is put up at this time. This money is to show that you are serious about the purchase of the house and you sign papers stating that you will not back out of the sale unless the inspection turns up a new set of circumstances. The Good Faith money will be lost unless you have a good reason for backing out of the deal. (Not that you just changed your mind.) This is when agents stop showing the house to other buyers and the sale is pending. The seller will then either accept the offer, submit a counter offer, or refuse the offer all together. Once an offer is accepted an inspection is ordered. If the inspection turns up unacceptable conditions you can ask that certain repairs be made or that the price of the house is lowered to accomodate those repairs. The seller than either agrees to your terms, presents another offer or refuses. If they refuse than you can back out and get your good faith money back. Once that deal is done the home loan papers are put through and then the lender comes up with thier terms. That’s when they say how much money you need to come up with and what kind of rates you can get and all of that. The lender can deny the loan for the price of the house and then negotiations on the price can start all over again too. When all of that is done (or nearly done) you do the final walk through to make sure that all repairs that were supposed to be done were done and that the house is in the same condition it was in when you first looked at it. Then more papers are signed and a couple of days later you get the keys to move in. Unfortunately it is all very iffy and overall a very scary and stressful experience. A good realtor will take care of most of the stress for you and keep the process as smooth as possible. The realtor should prescreen the houses that you look at so that you are not looking at dumps and they will know enough about the process to walk you through it all. It’s one of those things that you just have to take one day at a time and have enough time to devote. That is why I say six months is a good time frame. This gives you plenty of time to look and not be stressed about moving, just look for the best house to suit your needs. Then when the bartering process begins you can be level headed about it because you are in no hurry and do not have to take thier deal if you don’t like it. It also gives you time to change realtors if you don’t like the first one that you find. Oh, by the way, do not sign an agreement with a realtor that prohibits you from changing realtors. We did not know that this is a big red flag and we signed one. It said that we could not change realtors without giving him 30 days notice and the opportunity to resolve whatever problems we had with him. No good realtor will ask you to sign anything like that.
Good luck.
You need a real estate agent to do most of the house hunting for you. The crappy agent I had would set an appointment to look at houses with us and then run a list of homes for sale with the qualifications that we were looking for and then we would drive around for hours looking at dumps that he knew nothing about. This went on for a couple of months. We made a few offers on other houses, but they didn’t like the terms we asked for and denied the offer. So this is why it takes time. It takes time to look at a lot of houses, make offers, decide how much you want to barter for a certain home, then get the financing and paperwork to go through. You will get pre-qualified before you even go to look at houses so that the agent knows that they are not wasting thier time looking at houses that you will not qualify for. You can get the seller to pay some of the closing costs and some lenders will build some expenses into the loan. It was around $4000 in prepaids when we bought this house. It took about three or four months between beginning to look for a house and then actually moving into this one. It will vary in every circumstance though. You will be surprised what you can qualify for with no savings. We had none when we started looking. Once you find a home that you like you put in an offer. This offer says what you will pay for the home, what closing costs the seller needs to pay, and what repairs or upgrades need to be done before you will buy the house. Good Faith money is put up at this time. This money is to show that you are serious about the purchase of the house and you sign papers stating that you will not back out of the sale unless the inspection turns up a new set of circumstances. The Good Faith money will be lost unless you have a good reason for backing out of the deal. (Not that you just changed your mind.) This is when agents stop showing the house to other buyers and the sale is pending. The seller will then either accept the offer, submit a counter offer, or refuse the offer all together. Once an offer is accepted an inspection is ordered. If the inspection turns up unacceptable conditions you can ask that certain repairs be made or that the price of the house is lowered to accomodate those repairs. The seller than either agrees to your terms, presents another offer or refuses. If they refuse than you can back out and get your good faith money back. Once that deal is done the home loan papers are put through and then the lender comes up with thier terms. That’s when they say how much money you need to come up with and what kind of rates you can get and all of that. The lender can deny the loan for the price of the house and then negotiations on the price can start all over again too. When all of that is done (or nearly done) you do the final walk through to make sure that all repairs that were supposed to be done were done and that the house is in the same condition it was in when you first looked at it. Then more papers are signed and a couple of days later you get the keys to move in. Unfortunately it is all very iffy and overall a very scary and stressful experience. A good realtor will take care of most of the stress for you and keep the process as smooth as possible. The realtor should prescreen the houses that you look at so that you are not looking at dumps and they will know enough about the process to walk you through it all. It’s one of those things that you just have to take one day at a time and have enough time to devote. That is why I say six months is a good time frame. This gives you plenty of time to look and not be stressed about moving, just look for the best house to suit your needs. Then when the bartering process begins you can be level headed about it because you are in no hurry and do not have to take thier deal if you don’t like it. It also gives you time to change realtors if you don’t like the first one that you find. Oh, by the way, do not sign an agreement with a realtor that prohibits you from changing realtors. We did not know that this is a big red flag and we signed one. It said that we could not change realtors without giving him 30 days notice and the opportunity to resolve whatever problems we had with him. No good realtor will ask you to sign anything like that.
Good luck.
You need a real estate agent to do most of the house hunting for you. The crappy agent I had would set an appointment to look at houses with us and then run a list of homes for sale with the qualifications that we were looking for and then we would drive around for hours looking at dumps that he knew nothing about. This went on for a couple of months. We made a few offers on other houses, but they didn’t like the terms we asked for and denied the offer. So this is why it takes time. It takes time to look at a lot of houses, make offers, decide how much you want to barter for a certain home, then get the financing and paperwork to go through. You will get pre-qualified before you even go to look at houses so that the agent knows that they are not wasting thier time looking at houses that you will not qualify for. You can get the seller to pay some of the closing costs and some lenders will build some expenses into the loan. It was around $4000 in prepaids when we bought this house. It took about three or four months between beginning to look for a house and then actually moving into this one. It will vary in every circumstance though. You will be surprised what you can qualify for with no savings. We had none when we started looking. Once you find a home that you like you put in an offer. This offer says what you will pay for the home, what closing costs the seller needs to pay, and what repairs or upgrades need to be done before you will buy the house. Good Faith money is put up at this time. This money is to show that you are serious about the purchase of the house and you sign papers stating that you will not back out of the sale unless the inspection turns up a new set of circumstances. The Good Faith money will be lost unless you have a good reason for backing out of the deal. (Not that you just changed your mind.) This is when agents stop showing the house to other buyers and the sale is pending. The seller will then either accept the offer, submit a counter offer, or refuse the offer all together. Once an offer is accepted an inspection is ordered. If the inspection turns up unacceptable conditions you can ask that certain repairs be made or that the price of the house is lowered to accomodate those repairs. The seller than either agrees to your terms, presents another offer or refuses. If they refuse than you can back out and get your good faith money back. Once that deal is done the home loan papers are put through and then the lender comes up with thier terms. That’s when they say how much money you need to come up with and what kind of rates you can get and all of that. The lender can deny the loan for the price of the house and then negotiations on the price can start all over again too. When all of that is done (or nearly done) you do the final walk through to make sure that all repairs that were supposed to be done were done and that the house is in the same condition it was in when you first looked at it. Then more papers are signed and a couple of days later you get the keys to move in. Unfortunately it is all very iffy and overall a very scary and stressful experience. A good realtor will take care of most of the stress for you and keep the process as smooth as possible. The realtor should prescreen the houses that you look at so that you are not looking at dumps and they will know enough about the process to walk you through it all. It’s one of those things that you just have to take one day at a time and have enough time to devote. That is why I say six months is a good time frame. This gives you plenty of time to look and not be stressed about moving, just look for the best house to suit your needs. Then when the bartering process begins you can be level headed about it because you are in no hurry and do not have to take thier deal if you don’t like it. It also gives you time to change realtors if you don’t like the first one that you find. Oh, by the way, do not sign an agreement with a realtor that prohibits you from changing realtors. We did not know that this is a big red flag and we signed one. It said that we could not change realtors without giving him 30 days notice and the opportunity to resolve whatever problems we had with him. No good realtor will ask you to sign anything like that.
Good luck.
I was evicted 3 x in 2 years because of the behavior of my daughters. I had to buy a house. I had $2000 in the bank representing the equity for 17 years in my Payson home. I scoured the papers for something in the Arcadia district that I could afford. Laura needed to go to Arcadia High. There were so many changes in her life, I couldn’t take away that from her. I was working a heavy schedule/night and day/2 jobs. I had very little x to search. But I did. The paper, the free pamphlets in the grocery stores. Everywhere. I found out what houses were going for. I called an agent who had an acceptable house listed. Well, on the times that I could call, that was very limited to find someone who was actually in. I did not play tag. I moved on. I took the first acceptable agent who really wanted my business. I was evicted and needed a place asap. This was in December. Finally, I found an agent who could see my hurry and seriousness. I was single with two teenagers. I had the closing cost. She did some research and found 3 possibilities right away. I chose one. Looked at it. Selected it. I offered $50,000 which was way below the asking price. The owner was 80 years old and out of state and the property had been on the market for 9 months. He jumped at it. The realter took over and I moved in 3/5/94. It was a woman. We had a good repore. We played no games. I was serious. I did my homework and I knew what I wanted. I sold the house 3/02 for $98,500 without a realtor. Through the years, I did have to put in a new heat pump and plumbing and other stuff. But I think that I did well on the deal. Also, I had a real house to live in for 8 years. I recently refinanced the house that I am in now. My best advice is to get prequalified. There are bagains right now for mortgages. Since the stock market is so lousy, people think that real estate is the better bargain. Buying a house does not have to be a nightmare. With the right help, it could be swift. Do not let anyone bully you. Do your homework and keep the upper hand. Do not sign with anyone who wants to do the realty dance. Get serious, tell them what you want and ask if they can help you in a reasonable amount of time. Two cents—-whether you want it or not.
I was evicted 3 x in 2 years because of the behavior of my daughters. I had to buy a house. I had $2000 in the bank representing the equity for 17 years in my Payson home. I scoured the papers for something in the Arcadia district that I could afford. Laura needed to go to Arcadia High. There were so many changes in her life, I couldn’t take away that from her. I was working a heavy schedule/night and day/2 jobs. I had very little x to search. But I did. The paper, the free pamphlets in the grocery stores. Everywhere. I found out what houses were going for. I called an agent who had an acceptable house listed. Well, on the times that I could call, that was very limited to find someone who was actually in. I did not play tag. I moved on. I took the first acceptable agent who really wanted my business. I was evicted and needed a place asap. This was in December. Finally, I found an agent who could see my hurry and seriousness. I was single with two teenagers. I had the closing cost. She did some research and found 3 possibilities right away. I chose one. Looked at it. Selected it. I offered $50,000 which was way below the asking price. The owner was 80 years old and out of state and the property had been on the market for 9 months. He jumped at it. The realter took over and I moved in 3/5/94. It was a woman. We had a good repore. We played no games. I was serious. I did my homework and I knew what I wanted. I sold the house 3/02 for $98,500 without a realtor. Through the years, I did have to put in a new heat pump and plumbing and other stuff. But I think that I did well on the deal. Also, I had a real house to live in for 8 years. I recently refinanced the house that I am in now. My best advice is to get prequalified. There are bagains right now for mortgages. Since the stock market is so lousy, people think that real estate is the better bargain. Buying a house does not have to be a nightmare. With the right help, it could be swift. Do not let anyone bully you. Do your homework and keep the upper hand. Do not sign with anyone who wants to do the realty dance. Get serious, tell them what you want and ask if they can help you in a reasonable amount of time. Two cents—-whether you want it or not.
I was evicted 3 x in 2 years because of the behavior of my daughters. I had to buy a house. I had $2000 in the bank representing the equity for 17 years in my Payson home. I scoured the papers for something in the Arcadia district that I could afford. Laura needed to go to Arcadia High. There were so many changes in her life, I couldn’t take away that from her. I was working a heavy schedule/night and day/2 jobs. I had very little x to search. But I did. The paper, the free pamphlets in the grocery stores. Everywhere. I found out what houses were going for. I called an agent who had an acceptable house listed. Well, on the times that I could call, that was very limited to find someone who was actually in. I did not play tag. I moved on. I took the first acceptable agent who really wanted my business. I was evicted and needed a place asap. This was in December. Finally, I found an agent who could see my hurry and seriousness. I was single with two teenagers. I had the closing cost. She did some research and found 3 possibilities right away. I chose one. Looked at it. Selected it. I offered $50,000 which was way below the asking price. The owner was 80 years old and out of state and the property had been on the market for 9 months. He jumped at it. The realter took over and I moved in 3/5/94. It was a woman. We had a good repore. We played no games. I was serious. I did my homework and I knew what I wanted. I sold the house 3/02 for $98,500 without a realtor. Through the years, I did have to put in a new heat pump and plumbing and other stuff. But I think that I did well on the deal. Also, I had a real house to live in for 8 years. I recently refinanced the house that I am in now. My best advice is to get prequalified. There are bagains right now for mortgages. Since the stock market is so lousy, people think that real estate is the better bargain. Buying a house does not have to be a nightmare. With the right help, it could be swift. Do not let anyone bully you. Do your homework and keep the upper hand. Do not sign with anyone who wants to do the realty dance. Get serious, tell them what you want and ask if they can help you in a reasonable amount of time. Two cents—-whether you want it or not.
Between April’s helpful explanation, and reading about the whole process at http://www.freddiemac.com/, I now have a relatively good idea of the process, though now I have new worries.
Like, how does one find the right real-estate agent? How much is earnest money (%?) and where am I supposed to get it, if it is substantial? Once I have been pre-approved, how long is that good for?
I have outstanding debt that I am working on paying off, but I’m also paying over $750/month rent. Everything I’ve been reading seems to indicate that banks would rather not have my $750+/month until after I pay off the bulk of my outstanding debt, some 3+ years from now, but I would much rather be building equity than throwing my money away on rent for the next 3 years. Maybe when I go talk to my bank they’ll say something different. In six months my debt will still be too, too big (according to the calculators online) and I still won’tm have savings… Argh.
I suppose I can rent, and if I aggressively pay off my debt for the next three years, then save for three more years at the same rate, I’ll be able to afford closing costs and around a 5-10% down payment on a house of the same cost as I could afford the monthly payments on now, and I will only have lost (lets see… if rent increases stay at the same low rate and I don’t have to move for any reason… and taxes stay at the same rate… for six years…) $58,839 on rent in the process. Yay!
Or if I only pay my debts off at the current rate for the next three years and save the rest to pay closing costs, I will have lost around $27,675 in rent payments. Unless my landlord/rental agency is particularly friendly about the whole matter, I’m contractually required to pay out another $8,415 just to fulfil my current lease.
I’m beginning to think the importance of, and the process for, buying a home should be mandatory for all High School students. Imagine how much equity would be accumulated just by millions of college students paying off home loans for crappy condos instead of renting crappy apartments; they might not be able to get a good job right out of college, but they would at least have a net worth. I don’t want to do the calculations to work out how much money I’ve already poured into renting so far. It is not a happy number.
Between April’s helpful explanation, and reading about the whole process at http://www.freddiemac.com/, I now have a relatively good idea of the process, though now I have new worries.
Like, how does one find the right real-estate agent? How much is earnest money (%?) and where am I supposed to get it, if it is substantial? Once I have been pre-approved, how long is that good for?
I have outstanding debt that I am working on paying off, but I’m also paying over $750/month rent. Everything I’ve been reading seems to indicate that banks would rather not have my $750+/month until after I pay off the bulk of my outstanding debt, some 3+ years from now, but I would much rather be building equity than throwing my money away on rent for the next 3 years. Maybe when I go talk to my bank they’ll say something different. In six months my debt will still be too, too big (according to the calculators online) and I still won’tm have savings… Argh.
I suppose I can rent, and if I aggressively pay off my debt for the next three years, then save for three more years at the same rate, I’ll be able to afford closing costs and around a 5-10% down payment on a house of the same cost as I could afford the monthly payments on now, and I will only have lost (lets see… if rent increases stay at the same low rate and I don’t have to move for any reason… and taxes stay at the same rate… for six years…) $58,839 on rent in the process. Yay!
Or if I only pay my debts off at the current rate for the next three years and save the rest to pay closing costs, I will have lost around $27,675 in rent payments. Unless my landlord/rental agency is particularly friendly about the whole matter, I’m contractually required to pay out another $8,415 just to fulfil my current lease.
I’m beginning to think the importance of, and the process for, buying a home should be mandatory for all High School students. Imagine how much equity would be accumulated just by millions of college students paying off home loans for crappy condos instead of renting crappy apartments; they might not be able to get a good job right out of college, but they would at least have a net worth. I don’t want to do the calculations to work out how much money I’ve already poured into renting so far. It is not a happy number.
Between April’s helpful explanation, and reading about the whole process at http://www.freddiemac.com/, I now have a relatively good idea of the process, though now I have new worries.
Like, how does one find the right real-estate agent? How much is earnest money (%?) and where am I supposed to get it, if it is substantial? Once I have been pre-approved, how long is that good for?
I have outstanding debt that I am working on paying off, but I’m also paying over $750/month rent. Everything I’ve been reading seems to indicate that banks would rather not have my $750+/month until after I pay off the bulk of my outstanding debt, some 3+ years from now, but I would much rather be building equity than throwing my money away on rent for the next 3 years. Maybe when I go talk to my bank they’ll say something different. In six months my debt will still be too, too big (according to the calculators online) and I still won’tm have savings… Argh.
I suppose I can rent, and if I aggressively pay off my debt for the next three years, then save for three more years at the same rate, I’ll be able to afford closing costs and around a 5-10% down payment on a house of the same cost as I could afford the monthly payments on now, and I will only have lost (lets see… if rent increases stay at the same low rate and I don’t have to move for any reason… and taxes stay at the same rate… for six years…) $58,839 on rent in the process. Yay!
Or if I only pay my debts off at the current rate for the next three years and save the rest to pay closing costs, I will have lost around $27,675 in rent payments. Unless my landlord/rental agency is particularly friendly about the whole matter, I’m contractually required to pay out another $8,415 just to fulfil my current lease.
I’m beginning to think the importance of, and the process for, buying a home should be mandatory for all High School students. Imagine how much equity would be accumulated just by millions of college students paying off home loans for crappy condos instead of renting crappy apartments; they might not be able to get a good job right out of college, but they would at least have a net worth. I don’t want to do the calculations to work out how much money I’ve already poured into renting so far. It is not a happy number.
Between April’s helpful explanation, and reading about the whole process at http://www.freddiemac.com/, I now have a relatively good idea of the process, though now I have new worries.
Like, how does one find the right real-estate agent? How much is earnest money (%?) and where am I supposed to get it, if it is substantial? Once I have been pre-approved, how long is that good for?
I have outstanding debt that I am working on paying off, but I’m also paying over $750/month rent. Everything I’ve been reading seems to indicate that banks would rather not have my $750+/month until after I pay off the bulk of my outstanding debt, some 3+ years from now, but I would much rather be building equity than throwing my money away on rent for the next 3 years. Maybe when I go talk to my bank they’ll say something different. In six months my debt will still be too, too big (according to the calculators online) and I still won’tm have savings… Argh.
I suppose I can rent, and if I aggressively pay off my debt for the next three years, then save for three more years at the same rate, I’ll be able to afford closing costs and around a 5-10% down payment on a house of the same cost as I could afford the monthly payments on now, and I will only have lost (lets see… if rent increases stay at the same low rate and I don’t have to move for any reason… and taxes stay at the same rate… for six years…) $58,839 on rent in the process. Yay!
Or if I only pay my debts off at the current rate for the next three years and save the rest to pay closing costs, I will have lost around $27,675 in rent payments. Unless my landlord/rental agency is particularly friendly about the whole matter, I’m contractually required to pay out another $8,415 just to fulfil my current lease.
I’m beginning to think the importance of, and the process for, buying a home should be mandatory for all High School students. Imagine how much equity would be accumulated just by millions of college students paying off home loans for crappy condos instead of renting crappy apartments; they might not be able to get a good job right out of college, but they would at least have a net worth. I don’t want to do the calculations to work out how much money I’ve already poured into renting so far. It is not a happy number.
I feel invisible.
$$$ is my thing.
It is what I am good at.
Ignore me.
Rule #1. Do not pay interest unless it is very necessary. Get rid of debt.
I feel invisible.
$$$ is my thing.
It is what I am good at.
Ignore me.
Rule #1. Do not pay interest unless it is very necessary. Get rid of debt.
I feel invisible.
$$$ is my thing.
It is what I am good at.
Ignore me.
Rule #1. Do not pay interest unless it is very necessary. Get rid of debt.
Teel, I have information on a fantastic realtor and loan broker we can set you up with. They looked out for amy and I and everything went super smooth. It took us 4 weeks from starting to look for a home, to moving in, and only cost us 352.00 out of pocket. If you are ready to start looking for a house, I’ll get you in touch with Dave, and he can get you in contact with dwayne, and we can get you into a home. The best place you can look for the cost of homes in your area is a realtor site, like http://www.russlyon.com or http://www.remaxx.com this will give you the cost of an area. Plus, to help with offers, check out the phoenix/temp PD sites and see what the exsisting crime rates in the area are, its an easy to use click map. Plus you need to figure in moving costs, and how you will get around. When we were getting ready to move, a good rule of thumb: Dont have less than 1% of the closing cost of the house in fluid cash on hand at the time, and try to get as close as 5% of the cost of the home in fluid cash. Points are the devil ;>
Teel, I have information on a fantastic realtor and loan broker we can set you up with. They looked out for amy and I and everything went super smooth. It took us 4 weeks from starting to look for a home, to moving in, and only cost us 352.00 out of pocket. If you are ready to start looking for a house, I’ll get you in touch with Dave, and he can get you in contact with dwayne, and we can get you into a home. The best place you can look for the cost of homes in your area is a realtor site, like http://www.russlyon.com or http://www.remaxx.com this will give you the cost of an area. Plus, to help with offers, check out the phoenix/temp PD sites and see what the exsisting crime rates in the area are, its an easy to use click map. Plus you need to figure in moving costs, and how you will get around. When we were getting ready to move, a good rule of thumb: Dont have less than 1% of the closing cost of the house in fluid cash on hand at the time, and try to get as close as 5% of the cost of the home in fluid cash. Points are the devil ;>
Teel, I have information on a fantastic realtor and loan broker we can set you up with. They looked out for amy and I and everything went super smooth. It took us 4 weeks from starting to look for a home, to moving in, and only cost us 352.00 out of pocket. If you are ready to start looking for a house, I’ll get you in touch with Dave, and he can get you in contact with dwayne, and we can get you into a home. The best place you can look for the cost of homes in your area is a realtor site, like http://www.russlyon.com or http://www.remaxx.com this will give you the cost of an area. Plus, to help with offers, check out the phoenix/temp PD sites and see what the exsisting crime rates in the area are, its an easy to use click map. Plus you need to figure in moving costs, and how you will get around. When we were getting ready to move, a good rule of thumb: Dont have less than 1% of the closing cost of the house in fluid cash on hand at the time, and try to get as close as 5% of the cost of the home in fluid cash. Points are the devil ;>
Teel, I have information on a fantastic realtor and loan broker we can set you up with. They looked out for amy and I and everything went super smooth. It took us 4 weeks from starting to look for a home, to moving in, and only cost us 352.00 out of pocket. If you are ready to start looking for a house, I’ll get you in touch with Dave, and he can get you in contact with dwayne, and we can get you into a home. The best place you can look for the cost of homes in your area is a realtor site, like http://www.russlyon.com or http://www.remaxx.com this will give you the cost of an area. Plus, to help with offers, check out the phoenix/temp PD sites and see what the exsisting crime rates in the area are, its an easy to use click map. Plus you need to figure in moving costs, and how you will get around. When we were getting ready to move, a good rule of thumb: Dont have less than 1% of the closing cost of the house in fluid cash on hand at the time, and try to get as close as 5% of the cost of the home in fluid cash. Points are the devil ;>
Points are the most confusing part of the whole operation, but the realtor/broker can explain it better. It sounds like Newtron has an awesome person to go through so I would totally check that out. If you pay less than $400 out of pocket that is amazing! (Since the appraisal costs that and it is mandatory that the buyer pays closing costs.) So I paid about $73k for my house and we paid around $4000 in total out of pocket. As far as the earnest money it was like $1000. So get as much money together as you can, don’t worry about your debt and see what you can get. I wouldn’t bother going to the bank by yourself to prequalify. They will give you the strictest limits, (like %10 down, tell you that your debt is too high etc.) Just go to the guy that Newtron is recommending and see what he tells you. He will do the pre-qual and see what’s up. We had debt and very little fluid cash when we bought our house (and from Patti’s story she didn’t look to great at the time she bought hers either). The right people know all the loopholes and ways for people to get loans. That’s how they make money. Actually we could have qualified for a much bigger loan than the one that we got, but I didn’t want to be locked into a huge mortgage because you never know what tomorrow brings. Jobs change and sometimes what is easy to pay now is impossible later and I didn’t want to worry about losing my house. So just be careful that you end up with a mortgage that you know that you can afford. And I think that it is more important to have cash in your account than the debt paid down so don’t go crazy trying to pay off all your debt without keeping a few thousand in your account.
Points are the most confusing part of the whole operation, but the realtor/broker can explain it better. It sounds like Newtron has an awesome person to go through so I would totally check that out. If you pay less than $400 out of pocket that is amazing! (Since the appraisal costs that and it is mandatory that the buyer pays closing costs.) So I paid about $73k for my house and we paid around $4000 in total out of pocket. As far as the earnest money it was like $1000. So get as much money together as you can, don’t worry about your debt and see what you can get. I wouldn’t bother going to the bank by yourself to prequalify. They will give you the strictest limits, (like %10 down, tell you that your debt is too high etc.) Just go to the guy that Newtron is recommending and see what he tells you. He will do the pre-qual and see what’s up. We had debt and very little fluid cash when we bought our house (and from Patti’s story she didn’t look to great at the time she bought hers either). The right people know all the loopholes and ways for people to get loans. That’s how they make money. Actually we could have qualified for a much bigger loan than the one that we got, but I didn’t want to be locked into a huge mortgage because you never know what tomorrow brings. Jobs change and sometimes what is easy to pay now is impossible later and I didn’t want to worry about losing my house. So just be careful that you end up with a mortgage that you know that you can afford. And I think that it is more important to have cash in your account than the debt paid down so don’t go crazy trying to pay off all your debt without keeping a few thousand in your account.
Points are the most confusing part of the whole operation, but the realtor/broker can explain it better. It sounds like Newtron has an awesome person to go through so I would totally check that out. If you pay less than $400 out of pocket that is amazing! (Since the appraisal costs that and it is mandatory that the buyer pays closing costs.) So I paid about $73k for my house and we paid around $4000 in total out of pocket. As far as the earnest money it was like $1000. So get as much money together as you can, don’t worry about your debt and see what you can get. I wouldn’t bother going to the bank by yourself to prequalify. They will give you the strictest limits, (like %10 down, tell you that your debt is too high etc.) Just go to the guy that Newtron is recommending and see what he tells you. He will do the pre-qual and see what’s up. We had debt and very little fluid cash when we bought our house (and from Patti’s story she didn’t look to great at the time she bought hers either). The right people know all the loopholes and ways for people to get loans. That’s how they make money. Actually we could have qualified for a much bigger loan than the one that we got, but I didn’t want to be locked into a huge mortgage because you never know what tomorrow brings. Jobs change and sometimes what is easy to pay now is impossible later and I didn’t want to worry about losing my house. So just be careful that you end up with a mortgage that you know that you can afford. And I think that it is more important to have cash in your account than the debt paid down so don’t go crazy trying to pay off all your debt without keeping a few thousand in your account.
Points are the most confusing part of the whole operation, but the realtor/broker can explain it better. It sounds like Newtron has an awesome person to go through so I would totally check that out. If you pay less than $400 out of pocket that is amazing! (Since the appraisal costs that and it is mandatory that the buyer pays closing costs.) So I paid about $73k for my house and we paid around $4000 in total out of pocket. As far as the earnest money it was like $1000. So get as much money together as you can, don’t worry about your debt and see what you can get. I wouldn’t bother going to the bank by yourself to prequalify. They will give you the strictest limits, (like %10 down, tell you that your debt is too high etc.) Just go to the guy that Newtron is recommending and see what he tells you. He will do the pre-qual and see what’s up. We had debt and very little fluid cash when we bought our house (and from Patti’s story she didn’t look to great at the time she bought hers either). The right people know all the loopholes and ways for people to get loans. That’s how they make money. Actually we could have qualified for a much bigger loan than the one that we got, but I didn’t want to be locked into a huge mortgage because you never know what tomorrow brings. Jobs change and sometimes what is easy to pay now is impossible later and I didn’t want to worry about losing my house. So just be careful that you end up with a mortgage that you know that you can afford. And I think that it is more important to have cash in your account than the debt paid down so don’t go crazy trying to pay off all your debt without keeping a few thousand in your account.
Its not mandatory, we forced the seller to pay all closing costs as part of the home, then got a loan that was large enough to roll everything into. Like I said, my realtor was awesome :>
Its not mandatory, we forced the seller to pay all closing costs as part of the home, then got a loan that was large enough to roll everything into. Like I said, my realtor was awesome :>
Its not mandatory, we forced the seller to pay all closing costs as part of the home, then got a loan that was large enough to roll everything into. Like I said, my realtor was awesome :>
There are some rules as to who can pay for what. The first one is that the buyer has to pay for the appraisal. This is probably the only thing that you paid for out of pocket. The seller can only pay for three out of the six points. We had our seller pay the three points and did not negotiate the price of the house. (Each point represents approx. $1000.) Some of our closing costs were rolled into a loan and some were paid by either us or the seller. One consideration in the purchase price is that there will be enough room to get the higher loan to roll some of those closing costs into. If the house is not worth the total loan than the bank will deny it. Researching the value of homes in the area is very important so that you know what to pay and what the lenders will approve. Most sellers are prepared for negotiation and are agreeable to taking the three points. It’s just like lowering the purchase price to them.
There are some rules as to who can pay for what. The first one is that the buyer has to pay for the appraisal. This is probably the only thing that you paid for out of pocket. The seller can only pay for three out of the six points. We had our seller pay the three points and did not negotiate the price of the house. (Each point represents approx. $1000.) Some of our closing costs were rolled into a loan and some were paid by either us or the seller. One consideration in the purchase price is that there will be enough room to get the higher loan to roll some of those closing costs into. If the house is not worth the total loan than the bank will deny it. Researching the value of homes in the area is very important so that you know what to pay and what the lenders will approve. Most sellers are prepared for negotiation and are agreeable to taking the three points. It’s just like lowering the purchase price to them.
There are some rules as to who can pay for what. The first one is that the buyer has to pay for the appraisal. This is probably the only thing that you paid for out of pocket. The seller can only pay for three out of the six points. We had our seller pay the three points and did not negotiate the price of the house. (Each point represents approx. $1000.) Some of our closing costs were rolled into a loan and some were paid by either us or the seller. One consideration in the purchase price is that there will be enough room to get the higher loan to roll some of those closing costs into. If the house is not worth the total loan than the bank will deny it. Researching the value of homes in the area is very important so that you know what to pay and what the lenders will approve. Most sellers are prepared for negotiation and are agreeable to taking the three points. It’s just like lowering the purchase price to them.