First Time Home Buyer

[Robdukes]

My advice to anyone looking for a new home. Buy a brand new modular. Not through a huge company like Shorten, Simplex, Kintner etc. But through a builder like the one I work for. We sometimes demolish homes and believe me the modulars are waaaay tougher to take down than stick built. They're made to go down the road 70 miles an hour, try that with a stick built. Most builders will do things similar to the way we do. We will beat any price one of the big guys give you and provide you more for that price. We also give you everything included for the price of the house. Excavation, foundation, finish work, kitchen appliances etc. Most of the homes have hardwood or laminate flooring, stone wall fireplaces, ceiling fans in every room.

We have people bring us final prices from shorten all the time. They say its a final price but theres no steps into the home, no steps to the basement, crane not included, no gravel driveway, no landscaping at all etc. Support your local builder and it will pay off. The house is completed in 6-8 weeks turn key and you get a 10 year manufacturer warranty, 10 year foundation warranty and the builder is local and a phone call away for your "bumper to bumper" warranty where we fix anything at all within the first year...hell we get people calling because a lightbulb went out. But we send someone and they change it.

This way you get to customize your home the way you want it. You can draw a floorplan on a piece of paper and we can have it engineered for free and get your floorplan back in a few days. Or buy used and have no warranty, fix the roof in a few years, foundation cracking and crumbling, dump money into it left and right, then when you want to sell it its another 10-20 years old and noone wants it because its 50 years old and a money pit. I have to admit I'm a bit biased but this is real info that I've learned from years of working in new construction and more recently the sales end of it.

[mtb tripper]

best thing to do is go buy a shit ton of land for $60 an acre down in south texas, and then sell it for $61 an acre and make profit, buy it back for $60 an acre, throw a tent out in the desert and survive. The end

[this user was banned]

get married first and buy one together

[skorge]

I wouldnt recommend buying a house until you are in your 30's or you are married with kids...buying a house at such a young age and single is just plain out retarded, if you are a smart you will take this advice. If you buy a house now and want to move in a couple years you will be stressed because you will have a house to sell which could take months or years...the main advice is dont buy a house until you are older or have a family. Good luck!

[Raavak]

Houses won't be as hard to sell in a few years as they were a few years ago. If she buys smart she won't get stuck with something that sits on the market forever.

[JackFlash]

Check out your neighbors. You can do everything right and still move in next to your worst nightmare for a neighbor.

[Kraftwerk]

Originally Posted by Raavak [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Houses won't be as hard to sell in a few years as they were a few years ago. If she buys smart she won't get stuck with something that sits on the market forever.

And you're basing this on what? A hunch? Look up recent home sales and mortgage apps, like as of last week.

[Shannacore]

Originally Posted by this user was banned [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

get married first and buy one together

I ain't no wifey material

Originally Posted by skorge [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I wouldnt recommend buying a house until you are in your 30's or you are married with kids...buying a house at such a young age and single is just plain out retarded, if you are a smart you will take this advice. If you buy a house now and want to move in a couple years you will be stressed because you will have a house to sell which could take months or years...the main advice is dont buy a house until you are older or have a family. Good luck!

I live in a college town, and I'm buying a house that is relatively close to campus. Anything I buy will be forever rentable.

[Raavak]

Originally Posted by Kraftwerk [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

And you're basing this on what? A hunch? Look up recent home sales and mortgage apps, like as of last week.

Based on trends and professional expectations. A lot of people are saying "buy" now investment-wise... rates are relatively low yet and there are plenty of houses on the market yet as the banks continue to free up the abandoned houses they got on foreclosures. But it sounds like that overabundance is coming to an end. Average house prices have been going up.

I mean, double-dip inflation could end this. The government really hasn't fixed its "issues" and is still pushing banks to make bad loans to "the underprivileged". But I don't think its as bad as it was and some people have learned their lesson.

Btw, I get a lot of my stuff from the Clark Howard show.

[Kraftwerk]

Rates are a big non issue, if/when the fed ever loses control on them there will be more to worry about than the housing market.

Currently hedge funds have been going on a spending spree of entry level properties in order to rent them out, hence the price blip you're seeing now - they are paying cash. Part of larger transition of America into renter nation.

Mortgage applications and younger home buyers not really in market and mortgage apps dropping big time, reflective of hedge funds spurring recent price increase through cash purchases on entry level homes to rent out:

[You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Once hedges stop this frenzy and in 12-18 months start unloading well, I'm glad I'm selling my house now and getting out before next leg down. Or I'm wrong and to the moon buy buy buy!