Buying a house

**patricias213** · 03-20-2007 11:12 PM

My husband and I are planning to buy a house within a few years. When we are ready we will find a real estate agent. However i would like to know from you all here who already own in home in the USA, how to go about buying a home. We live in new york city and the morgage rates has gone up within the last few years. Our rent is less than $900 plus bills and the morgages these days are all $1500 and up. So any ideas? keep in mind i dont know much about this so all information will be appreciated. thanks!

**alibaby** · 03-22-2007 08:04 PM

Disclaimer: I am not a real estate agent and the information I am presenting is based on my personal experience when I was looking for a home and is not meant to be taken as professional advice.

Now that that's out of the way...Basically, you:

-Make sure you can afford to buy a house,get your finances in order. Check your credit as that will determine what kind of mortgage rate you get.

-Get a mortgage-Shop around for the best rate at the time you start your search for a house.

-Get a real estate agent-Shop around for someone you feel comfortable with. And remember that agents are in it for the commission they get on the sale. Don't be 'persuaded' to buy a home that doesn't feel right to you. And if your not happy with the agents performance, you can always fire him/her and hire another.

-Find your home. Make a list of what will be important to you (near transportation, # of bathrooms, eat in kitchen, # of bedrooms, no wallpaper, etc.) I wasn't sure what I wanted when I first went house hunting so I took a notebook with me and jotted down what I liked and didn't like in each house. Hubby also took pictures in the homes that we liked. And then we sat down and compared them all. We went through 16 houses before we made a decision. But for me, looking was the fun part of the process. And if you have kids who are 'old enough to understand' you can include them in the process, especially if it will mean they will be going to new schools and leaving old friends behind.

-Once you've chosen your home, get an inspection to check for problems and make an offer. Your agent will work with you on the fine art of negotiating a contract.

-Close on the deal. And let me tell you, make sure you exercise your writing hand well before the meeting because you could be signing over 100 forms as will the seller or his agent sitting across the table from you. Try to smile and be nice to the seller as he'll be the one getting the money

.

There's more involved, but these are the basics as I remember them and they are not necessarily done in the order I've written them. Your agent will be able to help you with all of the 'in-between' stuff. Home buying can be a very tedious process, but when you get to move into a home of your own, it is well worth it. I hope your experience as a home buyer will be a good one.

Ali

**alibaby** · 03-25-2007 05:07 AM

What Realty Agents Won't Tell You

Fair-housing laws prevent agents from talking about neighborhood demographics, and they often don't want to discuss other details, such as crime stats. Luckily, the Web picks up where agents leave off.

Steve Roddel was walking through a house in Fort Wayne, Ind., when he wondered aloud whether there were any sex offenders living in the neighborhood.

Instead of commenting on her own, the real estate agent showing the home quickly pulled out her cell phone, connected to its Web browser and brought up Family Watchdog, a national sex-offender-registry Web site. Little did she know that she was standing with the site's founder and CEO.

A real estate agent can be a wealth of information about a house. So a homebuyer who asks what crime is like in the neighborhood might be surprised when the agent defers the question, directing a client to the Web or local police instead.

"The Realtor will be the one that has the most contact from beginning to end. Because of that accessibility, the consumer feels that they can give them all the information that they need," said Alex Chaparro, the president of the Chicago Association of Realtors.

But there are some pieces of information that an agent simply can't speak about due to fair-housing laws, including demographic statistics. And they often prefer to leave some characteristics, such as the quality of the school district or crime stats, answered by other sources.

The conservative approach is often taken in order to avoid a lawsuit popping up in response to frank neighborhood talk, said Ralph Holmen, an associate general counsel of the National Association of Realtors. Agents are forbidden from giving information that could be considered "steering," directing a client toward or away from a particular property in a discriminatory manner.

Some of this information will make or break a decision to buy. The quality of school systems, for example, has long been of importance to home-buying families. Fortunately, there are a variety of sources buyers can use to get at the information on their own.

Checking on the schools

Unless a realty agent has hard data at his or her fingertips, the agent may decline to answer school-district questions. Even if the agent is willing to share some information, a prospective buyer might want to do additional fact-finding before deciding on a home or which neighborhoods to consider.

A national database of school demographic information can be found on the National Center for Education Statistics Web site. Click on the "School, College, & Library Search" tab at the top in order to view data including a particular school's student-to-teacher ratio or enrollment by race and ethnicity.

For a snapshot of academic performance and to compare schools, a prospective homeowner might browse the School Matters Web site, a service of Standard & Poor's.

"People who are really attracted to (School Matters) are people who are moving," said Susan Shafer, the director of marketing and communications for Standard & Poor's School Evaluation Services. "It's a good starting point," she said, but it still isn't a substitute for an actual tour.

Another site, GreatSchools, offers similar tools. Some school districts and state departments also post information online. It might be worthwhile to look at an individual school district's site, especially for large systems.

Crime matters

Roddel's Family Watchdog Web site allows users to enter a street address and pull up a map of the area that plots out where sex offenders live. Click on one of the squares that indicate an offender's home, and often an address and a photo are available to view.

Information is updated at least once a day and is culled from state registries, Roddel said.

The idea for the site came about a year and a half ago, after 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford was assaulted and killed by a convicted sex offender in central Florida in 2005, he said.

"(Real estate agents) tell me that their buyers tell them where they do and don't want to look for houses based on the density of sex offenders (in the neighborhood)," Roddel said.

He hopes to create another tool that will help people learn about other neighborhood crimes. In Chicago, there already is such a site: ChicagoCrime*****, which allows visitors to search for crimes by city block.

For now, he suggests that people scout out the neighborhood the old-fashioned way. "Talk to the police department and see if they've got any statistics," Roddel said.

Judging the environment

Another issue that comes up occasionally in a housing search is the environmental characteristics of a neighborhood, said Holmen, of the National Association of Realtors. The association typically advises members not to make judgment calls on the health of an area and to leave that to experts.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Web site has a tool that allows visitors to search a community by ZIP code for environmental facts about the area, including pollution statistics, the location of hazardous-waste sites and information about the area's watershed.

Another site dedicated to helping the public retrieve information about local environmental health is Scorecard, which generates a pollution report card at the county level, giving information on such topics as air and water quality.

Learning the demographics

If agents don't shy away from any other question, they most likely will when it comes to those regarding demographics -- and for good reason. Fair-housing laws forbid issues of race or ethnicity to be a consideration in the minds of real estate agents, who mustn't steer a client toward or away from a particular area based on the neighborhood's makeup.

When Anne Kennedy, an agent in Austin, Texas, turns down a question about neighborhood demographics, clients "completely understand," she said. She suggests searching the U.S. Census Bureau's Web site for statistics about an area's demographics; the bureau' Quick Facts page breaks down the information easily, by city and county.

"That would also show general socio-economic data," she said.

Walking the neighborhood

Finally, even though there's a wealth of information online, there are some questions best answered by walking around the area and making a note of your observations.

For example, in Chicago, sometimes a client will ask what parking is like on a particular block, Chaparro said. If the showing is at 10 in the morning, when many cars are off the street because their owners are at work, he doesn't have an answer to give them.

Several trips past the home at various points of the day, noting whether there are special parking restrictions marked on the street, will probably provide a more informed answer.

By Amy Hoak, MarketWatch

**patricias213** · 11-14-2007 10:22 AM

Thanks for all the info alibaby!

We actually found a good deal on a house, not from an agent though. Its not in the state we currently live in, however, we would like to buy that particular house because of the great price and try to rent it out until we are ready to move from where we currently reside. We are still debating on wether we should take it or not. Whats your opinion on renting out the house and is there anything specific i need to look out for?

**rcoreyus** · 11-14-2007 01:14 PM

Originally Posted by patricias213

Thanks for all the info alibaby!

We actually found a good deal on a house, not from an agent though. Its not in the state we currently live in, however, we would like to buy that particular house because of the great price and try to rent it out until we are ready to move from where we currently reside. We are still debating on wether we should take it or not. Whats your opinion on renting out the house and is there anything specific i need to look out for?

The only person I know who bought, then rented an out of state property found it to be far more trouble that it was worth. He was always traveling to fix minior problems - otherwise calling a repair person was very expensive. There are tax issues, etc.

Remember, there are something like a hundred MILLION houses in the US. Wait until you find what you want, where you want. I would not let the house determine where you live.

This is a spooky time to buy property. With the problems with bad morgages, lenders in trouble, etc, there may be a lot of foreclosures, and a serious drop in house prices. I'm no expert, but I don't think you want to buy now.

In addition to money, houses take time. If you enjoy doing things around the house, that is great - if not....

If your mortgage is going to be more than your rent (including any tax break), be sure you can comfortably cover it. Have you been saving as much as the difference over the last few years? If not, what specifically will you give up to make the payments?

Sorry to sound negative - it is just that buying a house is a really big deal - in a lot of ways a more serious decision that marriage. It is often, but not always, a good investment.

Good luck!

**alibaby** · 11-14-2007 07:55 PM

'rcoreyus' is right on all points.

Hubby and I had thought about purchasing one of those foreclosed homes so that we could rent it. It looked good on paper. But the money you get from renting can easily become payments for taxes and repairs, among other things. What if the house sustains damages and/or you can't find someone to rent? Do you have enough cash set aside to cover the mortgage as well as your current living expenses? Plus you have to worry about what you will do if your tenant doesn't pay rent or trashes the place. And since it's outside of the state where you live, will you be able to get there asap if some unforeseen situation should arise? And no agent! A lot of stuff to think about. It's one thing to own and live there with your husband and baby. But when you rent, you don't know what you could be getting yourself into. You and your husband will have to sit down and think realistically about whether or not you can handle the potential challenges that can go along with renting. It is a big deal. It can be a great way to earn some extra income or a nightmare.

**patricias213** · 11-14-2007 09:40 PM

You 2 make some great points! Thanks!

We are still thinking about it, its alot to think about. The home is not foreclosure but compare to houses where we live now and houses there the prices are much cheaper there. Im not sure if it will workout, we will be almost 3 hours away from the house. Thanks for your advice, i appreciate it very much

.

**Little** · 11-14-2007 09:59 PM

One thing my parents taught me when I was young and we moved around a lot, is that you shouldn't show interest in a house you're only looking at. That's not to say that you should act uninterested, just indifferent. Don't ooh and ahh over details, just make a note of them. Bring a friend, make sure that both you AND your spouse look at each house in person. One of you might see something that the other doesn't. Check every nook and cranny; you'd be surprised what some dishonest people will try to cover up.
Good luck house hunting

**alibaby** · 11-15-2007 08:09 AM

We moved from NY, so I know what you mean about the difference in home prices...It is absolutely ridiculous! Make sure you do your research...maybe talk to a lawyer. If you and hubby aren't in total agreement, don't sign anything!

I wish you all the best, whenever you decide to buy.