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Buying Your First Home..advice Needed?

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Old 06-02-2005, 11:12 PM
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Well my wife and i have been living in the Seattle area for 2 years now after moving here from Montana. We have finally adjusted and are thinking about buying a house or townhome/condo. We have been paying rent for the last 2 years and i'm really sick of throwing all this money away. We currently pay 920 for a 2 bed, 2 bath apartment and i get a free garage laugh.gif .

Now i have never thought about or even looked into what is involved when buying a house and i was hoping some people on here may be able to give me some info. I have no idea how much payments are on a house in my budget (
Old 06-02-2005, 11:30 PM
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Finally you realized that you should stop throwing money out!!!

The best advice you can get from your local bank agent, but I can help you out a bit.

If the houses start at $180,000 then for 30 years mortgage at about 5.5% (I think that's what it is now) payment will be about $1300-1450 a month with a downpayment of at least 5-10 grand.

I say save up some money and put a nice downpayment. Also, go talk to your agent at the bank smile.gif

Good luck!!!
Old 06-03-2005, 07:08 AM
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An important thing to know when buying a house is having enough money for closing costs. I know in Texas, you need at least 2 to 3grand in the bank minimum closing costs, depending on your lender. If you're short on cash, you can push back the closing date a couple of months to save up for the money. Right now, there is a bubble on buying houses as prices are skyrocketing..it may or may not be a good time to buy a house right now, but it is a good time to sell. For example, if you buy a house right now for 100,000, if the "bubble burst" in a few years, the value of the house may drop to $90,000 and you've lost out of $10,000. It just depends on when and if the bubble burst...hope this helps
Old 06-03-2005, 05:10 PM
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You first need to talk to some of your friends or associates that own a house. Then you will need to find a broker. Your rates will depend on your CREDIT, you will need to know what your credit score is. If you and the wife are going to purchase together, then pull both credit scores. If one is real low then use only the highest score and that person should be the only one on the loan application for now (trust me it really makes a difference. I just refinanced my house w/o the wife due to her credit score). Take a long hard look at your (you and the wife) finances and see what you can actually afford. A good broker will be able to work out that whole closing fee thing with out any out of pocket expences.

That is where you can START.
Old 06-03-2005, 06:27 PM
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FANNIEMAE.COM all about first time home buying! It is easy I've owned my condo since I was 18 and I'm 24 now.
Old 06-08-2005, 06:53 AM
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DON'T BUY ON THE WATER. That's the biggest thing. Considering you live in Seattle, you're a water city. Please, stay away from anything on or near the water. You'll have more taxes, the place will cost more, and you'll be spending thousands to renovate water damages.
Old 06-08-2005, 07:03 AM
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^That's very true, not only the taxes and cost of housing be more expensive, but the insurance rates will be more expensive as well.




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