Tell me about buying your first home

In My Humble Opinion
1

I guess this will be a poll of sorts, but I’m leaving you room for whatever commentary you want to add. My questions are below. If any is too personal, I apologize, and please feel free to skip it.

**1. What year did you buy your first home? (and which month, if it was recent enough to be affected by current market conditions?)

  1. What type of home was it? (condo/townhome/detached house/other)

  2. How big was the living space, and how big was the lot?

  3. What was the purchase price you paid?

  4. How much money (or what percentage of the sale price, if you prefer) did you save for a downpayment?

  5. From the time you “officially” began the shopping process, how long did it take before escrow closed on your home?

  6. Similar to the last question: from the time your offer was accepted on the home you ultimately choose, how long was it until escrow closed?

  7. If you hired an agent, how essential do you feel he or she was to the process? Please feel free to elaborate.

  8. What would you recommend to others about their first homebuying experience?

  9. What would you do differently if you had to do it all over again?**

If there are any other pertinent questions you can think of, please feel free to add them. Thank you.

2
  1. What year did you buy your first home? (and which month, if it was recent enough to be affected by current market conditions?)

My real first home purchase was in 2000, but we sold it and I lived in apartments after the divorce. But I just recently bought my second “first home” last August.

  1. What type of home was it? (condo/townhome/detached house/other)

Both my houses have been single family residences.

  1. How big was the living space, and how big was the lot?

First house was 900 sq ft, current house is 1330 sq ft. The lot is about a quarter of an acre.

  1. What was the purchase price you paid?

Just under $150k

  1. How much money (or what percentage of the sale price, if you prefer) did you save for a downpayment?

I think about 10%

  1. From the time you “officially” began the shopping process, how long did it take before escrow closed on your home?

We started looking online in about February, started going out to look at houses with a Realtor in May, put in an offer in June and closed in August.

  1. Similar to the last question: from the time your offer was accepted on the home you ultimately choose, how long was it until escrow closed?

Over a month. The owner had renters in the house and we had to finish out the lease on our apartment.

  1. If you hired an agent, how essential do you feel he or she was to the process? Please feel free to elaborate.

My husband’s mom is a Realtor and we got a recommendation from her company. I think our Realtor was absolutely vital to the process. She helped advise us about neighborhoods and things to look for, and actually saved us several thousand on the purchase price by working like a bulldog to get the owner to cover expenses he probably otherwise would not have.

  1. What would you recommend to others about their first homebuying experience?

Don’t get your hopes up. There is no such thing as a dream home. Do not underestimate the amount of work required on a given home. That said, don’t overestimate it either. Cosmetic things like flooring and paint color can be changed. Find a house that has good bones, and is in a good location. That’s about all you really need. Everything else is a want and is negotiable.

  1. What would you do differently if you had to do it all over again?

Not stressed out as much over the little things. We had a number of things that showed up in the inspection that had to be fixed (another bit of advice - ALWAYS get an inspection, and do not freak out because there will always be tons of things on it) and I spent an inordinate amount of time worrying about getting them all taken care of. In the grand scheme of things, the worrying didn’t do me any good and everything was taken care of before we moved in.

But that’s what a good Realtor is for. They make sure that all of those things are coordinated and taken care of so you have time to sit around and freak out :g:

3

1. What year did you buy your first home? (and which month, if it was recent enough to be affected by current market conditions?)
Bought our first home in June 1999.

2. What type of home was it? (condo/townhome/detached house/other)
Single family detached home, split level.

3. How big was the living space, and how big was the lot?
I honestly have no idea in square footage; it wasn’t on any of the paperwork- it was a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath home; LR, DR, Kit, Foyer, FamRm, unfinished basement. Lot was 60’x120’.

4. What was the purchase price you paid?
We paid $190k even.

5. How much money (or what percentage of the sale price, if you prefer) did you save for a downpayment?
We put down 10% cash and paid the other 10% with a home equity loan, and a mortgage on the balance.

6. From the time you “officially” began the shopping process, how long did it take before escrow closed on your home?
I think we began looking casually in the fall of 1998, found the house in February 1999, offer was accepted late Feb but we negotiated for months over minutiae. The two RE agents stepped in and contributed a portion of their commissions to cover the delta between what we were willing to pay and what the seller was willing to accept. We closed in June but rented the house back to the seller for a month so he could find an apartment for himself and his daughter, and moved in in July '99.

7. Similar to the last question: from the time your offer was accepted on the home you ultimately choose, how long was it until escrow closed?
See #6.

8. If you hired an agent, how essential do you feel he or she was to the process? Please feel free to elaborate.
Further to #6, I feel the agent was critical. She advised us on neighborhoods, what to look for & avoid, why a “great” house wasn’t something we’d want & vice versa.

9. What would you recommend to others about their first homebuying experience?
Buy less house than you can afford. Set aside an additional 10-20% of your monthly payment for home expenses- renovations, repairs, yard tools, maintenance, appliance repair, etc.

10. What would you do differently if you had to do it all over again?
Nothing. We loved everything about the process, the location of our home, the price we paid, our neighbors, the agent- everything. The only thing we didn’t like was something we had no control over- the seller was a prick.

4

  1. What year did you buy your first home? (and which month, if it was recent enough to be affected by current market conditions?)
    We bought our first home in October of 2000.

  2. What type of home was it? (condo/townhome/detached house/other)
    Single family cape cod style.

  3. How big was the living space, and how big was the lot?
    ~1100 sq ft on a standard suburban 1/4 acre.

  4. What was the purchase price you paid?
    $75,000

  5. How much money (or what percentage of the sale price, if you prefer) did you save for a downpayment?
    We put 3% down, got 2% kicked in by the seller, got a home equity for 15%, and did a conventional 80/20 30yr fixed mortgage.

  6. From the time you “officially” began the shopping process, how long did it take before escrow closed on your home?
    I believe it was about six months.

  7. Similar to the last question: from the time your offer was accepted on the home you ultimately choose, how long was it until escrow closed?
    One month.

  8. If you hired an agent, how essential do you feel he or she was to the process? Please feel free to elaborate.
    We hired an agent to start with. She was less than useless, if such a thing is possible. She failed to show us properties that were what we were looking for, that were in our price range, and we missed out on several because she’d only “run the list” once a month. We were assigned a different agent who wouldn’t return our phone calls. We bought a property that was FSBO and used no agents. We were able to negotiate a better price because of this.

  9. What would you recommend to others about their first homebuying experience?
    If you’re going to use an agent, don’t settle. Get one that works for/with you, via personal recommendation if at all possible.
    Make sure you have enough money for the house purchase and ALSO for all the expensive miscellaneous things (furniture, decor, tools, etc.) that come with first time home buying. They add up.

  10. What would you do differently if you had to do it all over again?
    I would have canned the first agent sooner. Had we continued looking, we probably would have sought out a third agent. As it was, we found the house before that became an issue.

5

  1. What year did you buy your first home? September 2001

  2. What type of home was it? Townhouse

  3. How big was the living space, and how big was the lot? 3 stories (incl. a fully finished basement), about 2200 sq. ft. The lot was about .2 acre

  4. What was the purchase price you paid? $175,000

  5. How much money (or what percentage of the sale price, if you prefer) did you save for a downpayment? I think I put $7,500 down.

  6. From the time you “officially” began the shopping process, how long did it take before escrow closed on your home? Don’t remember exactly, but it was quick.

  7. Similar to the last question: from the time your offer was accepted on the home you ultimately choose, how long was it until escrow closed? Don’t remember exactly, but it was quick.

Expanding on the above 2 questions–I had been looking a couple of days. My agent knew of a contract that had fallen through and the couple was eager to sell. Before the house could be relisted on the MLS, I made an offer. Full asking price about 3 hours after I had seen it. This was during the time that a house would go on the market for, say, $200,000 and within two days it had been bid up to $250,000. If I had not made the offer the day I saw it, I never would have gotten it for $175,000 (which was my max).

  1. If you hired an agent, how essential do you feel he or she was to the process? Please feel free to elaborate. Absolutely essential. I lurved my buyer’s agent.. (I used him to sell the house in 2007 and buy my current house)
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  1. What year did you buy your first home? (and which month, if it was recent enough to be affected by current market conditions?)

I closed in August 2006. New Jersey, btw

  1. What type of home was it? (condo/townhome/detached house/other)

Detached single family

  1. How big was the living space, and how big was the lot?

It’s a 3 bedroom colonial with a finished basement and finished attic. It’s not a big lot – I forgot the actual size. I have a little backyard, but its big enough for 2 dogs to run around.

  1. What was the purchase price you paid?

$225,000

  1. How much money (or what percentage of the sale price, if you prefer) did you save for a downpayment?

I put down nothing. It was part of a 1st time affordable mortgage program. No down payment required, and no PMI. That did it for me. Time to buy! Also, fixed interest rate 1% below the market rate. Instead of putting any money down, I used what I had to pay off all my credit card debt.

  1. From the time you “officially” began the shopping process, how long did it take before escrow closed on your home?

I took a home buying class in January 2006. (Required for the mortgage I wanted. Good to take in any case.) I saw a lot of houses. I saw the one I bought in May, closed in August as the previous owner wanted to wait until her daughter went off to college. It gave me time to prepare.

  1. Similar to the last question: from the time your offer was accepted on the home you ultimately choose, how long was it until escrow closed?

May – offer accepted. August – closing. (I also actually got PAID at closing. The program covered $1500 of my closing costs.)

  1. If you hired an agent, how essential do you feel he or she was to the process? Please feel free to elaborate.

I’d say essential for me. She made all the offers. We made one prior offer that was accepted but we pulled out after the home inspection. What a disaster THAT would have been. Always do a home inspection. As for the realtor, I never let myself forget that she was a salesperson and would say anything to sell. I took what she said with a grain or 2 of salt.

  1. What would you recommend to others about their first homebuying experience?

Take a homebuying class. Take some DIY home depot classes. Follow that home inspection guy around your prospective home and ask him questions about it.

  1. What would you do differently if you had to do it all over again?

No – it was the right time for me. (I may never be able to SELL my house as things are now. At least I wasn’t planning on leaving the area and my job is secure).

Good luck!

7

1. What year did you buy your first home? (and which month, if it was recent enough to be affected by current market conditions?) - 15 years ago.

2. What type of home was it? (condo/townhome/detached house/other) - Detached home.

3. How big was the living space, and how big was the lot? - 1024 sq ft, 1 acre lot.

4. What was the purchase price you paid? - $56K

5. How much money (or what percentage of the sale price, if you prefer) did you save for a downpayment? - $0 down

6. From the time you “officially” began the shopping process, how long did it take before escrow closed on your home? - 6 months

7. Similar to the last question: from the time your offer was accepted on the home you ultimately choose, how long was it until escrow closed? - 30 days

8. If you hired an agent, how essential do you feel he or she was to the process? Please feel free to elaborate. - Absolutely essential. We were driving around the neighborhood and I liked the location (last house on a dead end street with a big pasture next door). The house wasn’t for sale, and she knocked on the door and asked if they’d be interested in selling. The seller asked for 10 minutes to straighten up, and invited us in. We wrote up the offer that night.

9. What would you recommend to others about their first homebuying experience? - Know what you want, be realistic about what you need. If you don’t get the house you think you’ve just got to have, there’ll be another one around the corner.

10. What would you do differently if you had to do it all over again? - I wouldn’t’ve taken care of the seller’s chickens for a month until he got around to moving them.

StG

8

  1. What year did you buy your first home? November 2001

  2. What type of home was it? Detached single-family house

  3. How big was the living space, and how big was the lot? 1,800 sqft on a 32,000 sqft lot

  4. What was the purchase price you paid? $400,000

  5. How much money (or what percentage of the sale price, if you prefer) did you save for a downpayment? $160,000 (40%)

  6. From the time you “officially” began the shopping process, how long did it take before escrow closed on your home? About 5 months

  7. Similar to the last question: from the time your offer was accepted on the home you ultimately choose, how long was it until escrow closed? About 30 days

  8. If you hired an agent, how essential do you feel he or she was to the process? Please feel free to elaborate. Useless. We found the house ourselves and he got a commission for doing nothing. He never showed us a house we would even have considered buying, but he got a cut because once they get their hooks in you can’t get rid of them.

  9. What would you recommend to others about their first homebuying experience? Don’t do it if you can’t put 20% down and still have a lot of money left over.

  10. What would you do differently if you had to do it all over again? I wouldn’t have bought that house. It was nice enough but I should have held out until I found the house I really wanted. We ended up selling after 5 years and lost money after subtracting all of the improvements we did.

9
  1. What year did you buy your first home? (and which month, if it was recent enough to be affected by current market conditions?)

Dec 2005

  1. What type of home was it? (condo/townhome/detached house/other)

Detached house

  1. How big was the living space, and how big was the lot?

~1600 sqft, 3br 1.5ba 50x100 lot
5. How much money (or what percentage of the sale price, if you prefer) did you save for a downpayment?

10%

  1. From the time you “officially” began the shopping process, how long did it take before escrow closed on your home?

2.5 months mo

  1. Similar to the last question: from the time your offer was accepted on the home you ultimately choose, how long was it until escrow closed?

2 months

  1. If you hired an agent, how essential do you feel he or she was to the process? Please feel free to elaborate.

Ours was very helpful. She spent a nice amount of time with us to find out what we wanted, and didnt suggest homes that werent our style.

  1. What would you recommend to others about their first homebuying experience?

Take detailed notes and pictures of the houses you visit.

  1. What would you do differently if you had to do it all over again?

Not too much, we are very happy with the house we bought, and the process was mostly painless. We did get the price reduced slightly after the inspection, it may have been smarter to get the money back as cash to do repairs instead of reducing the purchase price.

10
  1. What year did you buy your first home? (and which month, if it was recent enough to be affected by current market conditions?)

December 2003, when home prices here were still realistic and affordable.

  1. What type of home was it? (condo/townhome/detached house/other)

Apartment-style condo

  1. How big was the living space, and how big was the lot?

900 square feet living space

  1. What was the purchase price you paid?

$144K

  1. How much money (or what percentage of the sale price, if you prefer) did you save for a downpayment?

25%.

  1. From the time you “officially” began the shopping process, how long did it take before escrow closed on your home?

Shopped for a couple of weeks, paperwork took about a month.

  1. Similar to the last question: from the time your offer was accepted on the home you ultimately choose, how long was it until escrow closed?

Same deal. Bought it brand new, my building was only a foundation when I bought the condo. It was ready six months later.

  1. If you hired an agent, how essential do you feel he or she was to the process? Please feel free to elaborate.

No agent, just dealt directly with the builder’s agent.

  1. What would you recommend to others about their first homebuying experience?

Look around at LOTS of properties. Make a wish list, but be willing to compromise. Don’t be picky about color…paint is cheap and works wonders. Make sure you can afford what you’re shopping for. Being house poor is a lousy way to live. (Thankfully it wasn’t an issue for me, but I could see how it could very easily happen.)

  1. What would you do differently if you had to do it all over again?

Nothing! It was very exciting getting a brand new place, picking colors for walls, flooring, tile, counter tops, etc. I got the place I wanted from a great builder in a fantastic neighborhood with endless amenities already in place, and I could easily afford it. The whole process of getting a mortgage was actually less stressful than when I financed my first new car when I was 22. That was a serious hassle.

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  1. What year did you buy your first home? (and which month, if it was recent enough to be affected by current market conditions?)

1986

  1. What type of home was it? (condo/townhome/detached house/other)

2 bedroom flat (I think you chaps call it an apartment)

  1. How big was the living space, and how big was the lot?

Sorry, don’t remember the square footage. It was on 2 floors of a 5 floor building.

  1. What was the purchase price you paid?

£31,000 (about $45,000 at today’s rate)

  1. How much money (or what percentage of the sale price, if you prefer) did you save for a downpayment?

50% (I saved for a long time!)

  1. From the time you “officially” began the shopping process, how long did it take before escrow closed on your home?

About a month (I was lucky)

  1. Similar to the last question: from the time your offer was accepted on the home you ultimately choose, how long was it until escrow closed?

About a week (it was a buyer’s market)

  1. If you hired an agent, how essential do you feel he or she was to the process? Please feel free to elaborate.

I used an estate agent to find properties and a lawyer to finalise the deal. Since I was moving over 100 miles, the first was essential. To me, the second always is.

  1. What would you recommend to others about their first homebuying experience?

Pace yourself.
Get a friend to look at properties with you.
Don’t make offers when you’re tired at the end of a long day.

  1. What would you do differently if you had to do it all over again?

Nothing - I was lucky.

12

**

  1. What year did you buy your first home? (and which month, if it was recent enough to be affected by current market conditions?)**
    April of '04

2. What type of home was it? (condo/townhome/detached house/other)
Ranch w/ garage

3. How big was the living space, and how big was the lot?
1300 sq. ft. with a 1/2 acre yard.

4. What was the purchase price you paid?
$140,000 with an additional $24,000 for rehab

5. How much money (or what percentage of the sale price, if you prefer) did you save for a downpayment?
A little over 10 grand

6. From the time you “officially” began the shopping process, how long did it take before escrow closed on your home?
Two months

7. Similar to the last question: from the time your offer was accepted on the home you ultimately choose, how long was it until escrow closed?
Two weeks (I think. And it only took that long because of our schedule)

8. If you hired an agent, how essential do you feel he or she was to the process? Please feel free to elaborate.
Extremely essential.

9. What would you recommend to others about their first home-buying experience?
Know exactly what you are getting yourself into, and don’t be afraid to ask what seem to be stupid questions.
Budget not only known bills, but extra maintenance cost. It will seem like random shit will keep breaking (sump pump, garbage disposal, dish-washer, garage door, roofing repairs, or broken windows). Renting a place didn’t prepare us for the actual cost of general repairs.
Be ready to spend the better part of an afternoon at the title company.
The whole process (applying, buying, fixing-up, moving, and settling) was definitely harder on my GF (wife now). By the end of it all she was pretty emotionally spent.
Ill also repeat the don’t settle sentiment.

10. What would you do differently if you had to do it all over again?
nothing really.

13

1. What year did you buy your first home? (and which month, if it was recent enough to be affected by current market conditions?) December, 1986
**
2. What type of home was it? (condo/townhome/detached house/other)** Detached single-family home

3. How big was the living space, and how big was the lot? About 1800 sq. ft., about 1/5 acre.

4. What was the purchase price you paid? $68,000

5. How much money (or what percentage of the sale price, if you prefer) did you save for a downpayment? None. It was a deal between my husband and his employer, who was selling the house.

6. From the time you “officially” began the shopping process, how long did it take before escrow closed on your home? Maybe 6 months. Obviously, there wasn’t a lot of shopping involved, since we only had a choice of one house, but it took a while to work out the details of the deal.
**
7. Similar to the last question: from the time your offer was accepted on the home you ultimately choose, how long was it until escrow closed?** No idea.

8. If you hired an agent, how essential do you feel he or she was to the process? Please feel free to elaborate. No agent

9. What would you recommend to others about their first homebuying experience? Can’t help much there.

10. What would you do differently if you had to do it all over again? Nothing. It turned out great for us.

14
  1. What year did you buy your first home? (and which month, if it was recent enough to be affected by current market conditions?)

May 2008

  1. What type of home was it? (condo/townhome/detached house/other)

Single-family detached home.

  1. How big was the living space, and how big was the lot?

1950 sq. ft, 17000 sq. ft lot.

  1. What was the purchase price you paid?

$405,000

  1. How much money (or what percentage of the sale price, if you prefer) did you save for a downpayment?

5%

  1. From the time you “officially” began the shopping process, how long did it take before escrow closed on your home?

120 days

  1. Similar to the last question: from the time your offer was accepted on the home you ultimately choose, how long was it until escrow closed?

45 days

  1. If you hired an agent, how essential do you feel he or she was to the process? Please feel free to elaborate.

N/A

  1. What would you recommend to others about their first homebuying experience?

Stay away from buyer’s agents. Do your own homework. Get an inspection.

  1. What would you do differently if you had to do it all over again?

**I’d negotiate harder…
**

15

[quote=“Asimovian, post:1, topic:485273”]

  1. What year did you buy your first home? (and which month, if it was recent enough to be affected by current market conditions?)

  2. In Lafayette Louisiana, location is kind of critical in these things.

  3. What type of home was it? (condo/townhome/detached house/other)
    Detached.

  4. How big was the living space, and how big was the lot?
    3 bedrooms, one bath with a door from the master bedroom and the hall. I’d estimate 1300 sq feet, though I could be wrong. We had a big lot, and it looked bigger because the land behind us wasn’t built on yet. It was also next to a coulee, and so the land was not up against the neighbor on that side.

  5. What was the purchase price you paid?
    $40,000. Those were the days.

  6. How much money (or what percentage of the sale price, if you prefer) did you save for a downpayment?
    My father had some spare money, so he financed us. We probably paid 6% easily to him. We never missed a payment - we treated it like a real loan.

  7. From the time you “officially” began the shopping process, how long did it take before escrow closed on your home?
    Hard to remember - maybe 6-8 weeks? We were local, and weren’t in a rush.

  8. Similar to the last question: from the time your offer was accepted on the home you ultimately choose, how long was it until escrow closed?
    Maybe 4 weeks, if not less.

  9. If you hired an agent, how essential do you feel he or she was to the process? Please feel free to elaborate.
    Agents are good. We’ve bought 3 houses, and sold 2, and have always found agents valuable.

  10. What would you recommend to others about their first homebuying experience?
    Pay attention to the details of the home. It rains a lot in Louisiana, and the water often came up the coulee. It only got to our slab, since we were a bit higher, but got right to the walls of our neighbor. (This happened several times a summer.) When we bought in NJ, we visited right after a big rain to check the basement. It was dry, and stayed that way for the 10 years we were in the house.

Go back after you are interested, take pictures, check where your furniture would go, and check things like water pressure, the quality of the hanging of the doors and workmanship, and stuff like that. It is very easy to miss minor annoying things.

  1. What would you do differently if you had to do it all over again?
    Buying was fine. Selling was another matter!
16

1. What year did you buy your first home? (and which month, if it was recent enough to be affected by current market conditions?)

August 2008

2. What type of home was it? (condo/townhome/detached house/other)

Detached two-storey terrace

3. How big was the living space, and how big was the lot?

The lot’s 6.1m x 24.6m. I don’t know what’s defined as “living space”, though.

4. What was the purchase price you paid?

AUD655,000 when the AUD/USD exchange rate was 0.98/1.

5. How much money (or what percentage of the sale price, if you prefer) did you save for a downpayment?

$250,000 - which worked out to $170K after fees, duties and necessary, urgent repairs.

6. From the time you “officially” began the shopping process, how long did it take before escrow closed on your home?

Shopping in total? 14 months. First viewing to settlement? Three weeks. First offer to settlement? 9 days.

7. Similar to the last question: from the time your offer was accepted on the home you ultimately choose, how long was it until escrow closed?

8 days.

8. If you hired an agent, how essential do you feel he or she was to the process? Please feel free to elaborate.

Buyers’ agents aren’t common in Australia - but I don’t think that one would have helped.

9. What would you recommend to others about their first homebuying experience?

Don’t get frustrated and buy a place just because you’ve been looking for three months and are thoroughly sick of going to inspections. Get a building inspection done, and assume that the builder has missed at least a couple of expensive things. Keep at least $20,000 aside (even in a “perfect” house) for bits and pieces you’ll need to fix or change immediately. Decide what your long-term plan with the place is and price accordingly (I bought my place to live in for 40 years or more. I paid about $20-30,000 more to do so than I would have paid if I’d planned to flip it in seven to ten years). Assume that the estate agent is lying to you, but as soon as you catch them in a lie - no matter how minor - STOP ALL NEGOTIATIONS ON THAT PROPERTY AND DON’T BUY ANYTHING ELSE THAT AGENT IS HANDLING. Never, never, never go back on a final offer. If you say that $x is how much you’re willing to pay and no more, the estate agent will see if you’ll increase it to $x+5,000 and - if you accept - you’ll find that surprise increases keep jumping out at you. Delay putting cash down on a place until the last minute, drop the least cash possible and never be afraid to walk away. I had a cheque for a deposit in hand for one place when I discovered that the bathroom was an illegal build-on - the person who bought that place later had to tear down the bathroom and didn’t get permission to rebuild, costing her a bedroom and the price of the conversion.

10. What would you do differently if you had to do it all over again?

Scrimped a bit harder beforehand to have more deposit. The first few years of a mortgage you’re paying almost entirely interest, and a small amount more upfront makes a big saving in those years.

Oh, and held out for a place with an indoor toilet and bathroom.

17
  2. House.
  3. 1300 finished square feet, 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom. 40x126 city lot.
  4. $65,000
  5. $3,000
  6. About a year. I looked at over 60 houses.
  7. About two months.
  8. First agent was fired after about six months because she kept showing me houses above my price range even after repeated loud complaints. Second agent merely sealed the deal for me - and in retrospect was not necessary - after I’d found the house on my own.
  9. Bear in mind my oft-repeated advice regarding ANY professional.

Professionals work for you.
If they don’t work for you, find another.

  1. I would have fired my first agent a LOT FASTER, and not bothered with the second agent after finding the house I wanted.
18

1. What year did you buy your first home? (and which month, if it was recent enough to be affected by current market conditions?)
October 2005

2. What type of home was it? (condo/townhome/detached house/other)
Ranch with basement

3. How big was the living space, and how big was the lot?
1040 sq ft (doesn’t include unfinished basement) on .5 acres

4. What was the purchase price you paid?
$150k (all closing costs paid by previous owner)

5. How much money (or what percentage of the sale price, if you prefer) did you save for a downpayment?
I saved up $5k and borrowed $10k from my grandpa, to put down 10%. I paid off grandpa in exactly 3 years.

6. From the time you “officially” began the shopping process, how long did it take before escrow closed on your home?
My situation was kind of weird. I was like “There’s a house for sale in my neighborhood. I want it. I will buy it.” and I think it was like 3 months between considering it, gathering up the money and owning it. It was literally 3 weeks between talking to the Realtor and owning it.

7. Similar to the last question: from the time your offer was accepted on the home you ultimately choose, how long was it until escrow closed?
I do not recall. Probably a week?

8. If you hired an agent, how essential do you feel he or she was to the process? Please feel free to elaborate.
I didn’t need my agent to find me a place but she was essential to answer every single question I had and assay any fear I had. She was up front with me about the pros and cons of my particular house and did not pull any punches. She did not lead me wrong.

She also kicked ass and took names in the negotiation. Saved me like $7k in closing costs and whatnot.

9. What would you recommend to others about their first homebuying experience?
Personally, I think having a Realtor was a boon. Lots of people aren’t into it (oooh, it costs too much!) but my Realtor totally worked for me. If I didn’t like her I’d be quick to find a new one. See if you can get their costs paid by the seller.

Also, contact a bunch of mortgage brokers and let them fight over you. I got 7 recommendations from friends, met with them all, and the phone frenzy began. They were all dying to get me a mortgage and I ended up with a great deal and a broker I really trusted.

10. What would you do differently if you had to do it all over again?
I believe my situation was pretty unique - I knew the place I wanted, I had perfect credit, I had the downpayment, had a Realtor that I knew and trusted…and, sort of importantly, was doing it alone. So there was no looking around and no one to compromise with. So I wouldn’t have done it any other way - but I also don’t think that I am good with advice on the nuances of home buying.

19

  1. What year did you buy your first home? (and which month, if it was recent enough to be affected by current market conditions?) June 2007.

  2. What type of home was it? (condo/townhome/detached house/other) Single-family home

  3. How big was the living space, and how big was the lot? 1800 sq ft, the lot is like 6500 sf, I think.

  4. What was the purchase price you paid? $147,000

  5. How much money (or what percentage of the sale price, if you prefer) did you save for a downpayment? 10%, though we could have done it with zero down.

  6. From the time you “officially” began the shopping process, how long did it take before escrow closed on your home? About 2.5 months. We spent about a month looking until we found our house.

  7. Similar to the last question: from the time your offer was accepted on the home you ultimately choose, how long was it until escrow closed? about 3 weeks.

  8. If you hired an agent, how essential do you feel he or she was to the process? Please feel free to elaborate. We worked with one and she showed us homes but didn’t suggest any we liked. We found this one on our own but she did the paperwork, etc.

  9. What would you recommend to others about their first homebuying experience? Get a home inspection. ALWAYS. We saved a lot of potential heartbreak by finding out the furnace was on its last legs.

  10. What would you do differently if you had to do it all over again?

Nothing, really. We love our house and are happy in it.

20

The top line will be for my first line. Under it will about a investment home I am in contract for now or advice.

  1. What year did you buy your first home? (and which month, if it was recent enough to be affected by current market conditions?)
    1975
    March 2009

  2. What type of home was it? (condo/townhome/detached house/other)
    3 bedroom 1 bath 2 car garage
    3 bedroom 1 bath 2 car garage

  3. How big was the living space, and how big was the lot?
    990 sq feet
    978 sq feet

  4. What was the purchase price you paid?
    $27,000
    $250,000

  5. How much money (or what percentage of the sale price, if you prefer) did you save for a downpayment?
    $1400, it was a VA reposetion. Borrowed down from parents
    20 % $50,000

  6. From the time you “officially” began the shopping process, how long did it take before escrow closed on your home?
    Probably 30 days
    If escrow closes the end of this month 4 months

  7. Similar to the last question: from the time your offer was accepted on the home you ultimately choose, how long was it until escrow closed?
    Under 30 days
    Still waiting for response after inspections.

  8. If you hired an agent, how essential do you feel he or she was to the process? Please feel free to elaborate.
    1st house had to use agent to deal with VA.
    Could not have found or done this deal with out the agents help. They have been giving us guidance to keep from making mistakes.

Side line story. When I sold my part of the ranch. When I told the agent what I thought I could get for the property her responce was “No! you are wrong!!!” And then she said we will ask $150,000 more. And she got it 2 days later. She got 6% for two days work. And I think she was cheap because I was left with a lot more and I did not have to do anything to the property. So yes get an agent and use their advice.

  1. What would you recommend to others about their first homebuying experience?
    Sit down now and look at all your present bills. Make a budget out 12 months. That will let you see what kind of wiggle room you have and wha kind of payment you can make. Remember some of your bill will increase or be new. Example a large house will use mor power than a studio apartment.

  2. What would you do differently if you had to do it all over again?
    I would have bought sooner. And when we moved into our second home in 1976 I would work harder at getting the finances so we could have kept the first house. Sold it in 1976 for $40,000, last year it would have sold for $700,000 + today probably $400,000