Fatcat wrote:
Thanks a lot guys! Tons of good info here. I'll have to go through this thread and make some good notes. 7k in closing costs?!?! That sucks! We're planning to spend around 50k on our first fixer upper place. We're both wanting to be very conservative on what we can afford. Leaves us more to fix it up. Thanks on the links also. I'd rather do as much of the work as possible. Does anyone have any good books they recommend on real estate? With some effort could I do this deal safely without a realtor? I'm all for learning to save $. What service do they offer besides locating the place? Thanks
First house I bought I bought without a realtor found it myself made a offer what I was willing to pay the owner they accepted it went to their lawyer, paid them the money for the house, they did all the paperwork I had no lawyer and no realator was like buying a car they about shit when I offered to bring cash for the purchase they made me pay them with a check lmao
That purchase was pretty simple it was a standard lot in the city, the house had been paid for about 50 years prior to the sale so no bank was involved, bought the title insurance and am pretty sure that was all for closing cost.
If you let them they (house selling and buying industry) will over complicate things and play games and have cost for everything NEVER make a offer on a home you "have to have" because your in love with it
they will sense this then you will over pay out the ass I have a long list of friends that learned this lesson only cost them about 8 more years in house payments, ONLY make offers on homes you can walk away from if they wont meet your terms.
Most important leave the female at home or duct tape her mouth shut every time she says "oh I really like this" or similar they sense just how much money they are going to extract from you.
don't live beyond your means plan on being unemployed for at least 12 months without a income 5 years from now and still be able to make your payments IMO if you cant make payments for at least 12 months when you have NO INCOME you have no business buying a home, however some people are ok with paying for a house for 5-10 years then just giving it to the bank or walking away personally I consider them an investment and want to double my investment every 10 years not just give it all away.