what to buy as for first home?

GoldPanther

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Oct 8, 2013
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Addison
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Daniel
Question here!


Ma wife and I been thinking of the possibility of buying our first house hopefully next year, (we were just thinking but we don't know for sure)
But we do not want to buy a house cuz a good house most of the time are more expensive, we were thinking more of a condominium or a townhouse.
So what's best to buy for the first time?
thank you in advance for your recommendations.
 

Mike K

TCG Elite Member
Apr 11, 2008
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A lot of times they come with home owners association fees that end up making them almost expensive as a single family home. Plus you're living under someone else's rules. I'm not saying it's terrible, just that it's not for everyone and not necessarily as cheaper as people seem to think they are.

Remember, you can pay off your mortgage but you'll be stuck with ridiculous taxes and home owner's association fees for life.
 

nytebyte

Not Politically Correct
Mar 2, 2004
13,627
20,958
Get the nicest house in the best location that you can afford.
It may take some work and a lot of hunting, but keep at it until you get what you want.

Also, stay away from HOA's, especially if you're a car enthusiast. You don't want a board full of retired people putting a lien on your house because you like to change your own oil in the driveway.
 

TCG Member 5219

TCG Elite Member
Mar 22, 2005
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There is no best answer. It really depends on what you're looking for and what fits your budget.

Yes there is. And I will give it to you and save you all the heart ache you will ever know with realestate.

Buy the place that you could see yourself and your family living in for the rest of your lives. A place that you will NOT be able to move from, and a place that your kids would be happy to inherit. A place that not only will work for you now, but will still work for you in 30 years.

I say all this in confidence because at this point, you wont be able to sell it in the next 10 years for any kind of a profit unless you buy it outright, or put gobs of money down. So buy like its the last house you will ever buy. Or plan on renting it out and renting someone else's home like the rest of us. Thats gods honest truth and experience right there. You're welcome.
 

Stink Star

Don’t Drive Angry!
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Jan 20, 2008
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Bought a townhome in 2008. Couldn't be happier. Next home will be my dream/final home. I think town homes are good starters.

This. Town homes are great because they are smaller overall, but the rooms are sized large. Try finding a small house with a huge master bedroom with walk in closets and an ensuete master bathroom. Ain't gonna happen
 

1quick

TCG Elite Member
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Jan 29, 2008
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Town homes are good until you have kids and want a yard to play with them in, or have a bunch or toys and need a big garage and or drive way, I had a town house for a few years in my early 20's and it was perfect for me at that time, then I bought a house and it's been great for the last 4 years now I have another kid and need more room, this next one is going to be it until I retire tho, I'd say go as big as you can afford right from the start and save your self money in the long run
 

Flyn

Go ahead. I'll catch up.
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Mar 1, 2004
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Selling homes on the Gulf Coast of Florida
Housing prices rose approximately 13% over the past year. There are no guarantees what will happen with home prices but the trend now is rising prices and more sales.

You have heard it before but the most important thing to consider is Location, Location, Location. You want a neighborhood that is safe, has good schools (if you have or are going to have kids) and has the amenities you are looking for.

It's important to check out the HOA rules if the place you want to buy is in an association. If you can't live with the cost and rules, don't buy the place.

Condos and townhouses generally take a little longer to sell than single family homes.

There is no right answer to the question condo/townhouse/SFH. I suggest you take your time, look at some of each and then sit down together and decide what fits your lifestyle and budget.

From the way ZX is talking, I'd guess he bought towards the top of the real estate bubble, probably 2006-2007. People who bought in those years now find their homes worth around half of what they paid for them.
 

FrenchLicker

Enginerd
Jan 10, 2013
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Naperthrill
I'd love to hear more on the topic. Rent around Chicago is ridiculous but then again so seem the prices. I talked with a coworker and his taxes are something like 7k, which being from the Peoria area I heard people bitch about paying 1k a year for taxes. I'm both excited and scared.

I'm in a similar boat though, probably 1 year out before we begin seriously looking.
 

Flyn

Go ahead. I'll catch up.
Moderator
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Mar 1, 2004
68,052
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Selling homes on the Gulf Coast of Florida
I'm a Realtor in Florida. My advice for any home purchaser is research and take your time. Buying a house is an emotional purchase but try to use logic instead. Check the market thoroughly, have your Realtor run CMAs on any places you are seriously interested in to make sure you aren't overpaying and make sure you get an inspection by a competent company.
 

SirMarco

of Pingree Grove
May 11, 2009
12,770
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Pingree Grove
I'm buying my first house right now. Closing looks like mid Feb from what I was told. I looked at town homes, duplex's, single family and condos. I knew what I could afford and stuck to that plan. I ended up finding a duplex, which is basically a town house but without the HOA and has a fenced in yard for my dog. Like everyone says, look around and don't just buy to buy. Condos and town homes will be a lot less work but you can find homes for the same price and not have the HOA fees to save you some money.
 

Turk

Lt. Ron "Slider" Kerner
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Jan 21, 2008
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I'd love to hear more on the topic. Rent around Chicago is ridiculous but then again so seem the prices. I talked with a coworker and his taxes are something like 7k, which being from the Peoria area I heard people bitch about paying 1k a year for taxes. I'm both excited and scared.

I'm in a similar boat though, probably 1 year out before we begin seriously looking.

This is Turks spin on real estate and home ownership.

First, put down as much money as you can on the home. What you pay for your mortgage isn't actually what you are paying to live in the home.

WTF am I talking about?

Let's take my example. When I first moved in, I was paying $400 per month in taxes, $180 in association, $150 in PMI and $1600 in mortgage. That adds up to a whopping 2330 per month!

But that isn't the whole story. Why should we calculate the portion of payment going to principal as a cost to live in a home? It's like money going into a savings account, eventually you will get that prinicipal back. So if we redo the original math, the $1600 in mortgage was about $1300 per month in interest in 2008... OUCH!!! So that's still $2030 per month to live in my home that I will never see again, that's a ton of money. I realized this in 2008 and started dumping money into the mortgage to lower my interest payments.

Fast forward to now where I've put more money into the mortgage, and refinanced at a lowe rate.

New numbers are: $400 in taxes, $180 in association, $0 PMI and $1200 mortgage. Out of the $1200 in my mortgage, $1000 is now going to principal and only $200 is interest, so my total cost to live at the house now is $400 + $180 + $200 = $780.

$780 per month to live in my home is a steal IMO, not to mention I get to write off that $780 per month at the end of the year and get some of it back. If you calculate an increase of only 3% per year in the value of the home it only costs $180 per month to live at my house or virtually free.

Putting more money into my mortgage instead of a savings account allowed me to save $1000+ in interest and PMI per month and this is what allowed me to get my R8.
 

Turk

Lt. Ron "Slider" Kerner
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Jan 21, 2008
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fuck pmi!

Yup, when I first bought my house I was young and ignorant. I figured, I can afford it, so why not? Being able to afford a home on a monthly basis doesn't mean you should. Many Americans are throwing thousands of dollars out the window per month on a home just because they can. Imagine what that money will do for you 30 years from now when you're looking to retire.

I love when people think I'm an idiot for buying an R8 and wonder how I can afford such a car. A car that, by my estimation, loses less than $500 per month in depreciation over the first 5 years of ownership.

These same people spend $3000 per month on a home; most of which goes to taxes, interest and PMI.
 

Turk

Lt. Ron "Slider" Kerner
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Jan 21, 2008
28,484
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Oh, and one other thing. Don't get sucked into this, "I need to buy a house to get a write off." What a crock of shit that is, and I was one that fell for it. Writing off the taxes and interest on your house is equivalent to giving a bank $10 and getting $3 back.

It's nice to get the $3 back, if you are already spending the $10, but you shouldn't spend the $10 just to get the $3.
 

sickmint79

I Drink Your Milkshake
Mar 2, 2008
26,884
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grayslake
a home is not an investment, and don't let anyone tell you it is. and you shouldn't be buying one unless you can put 20% down or at least 10% down with a 10% heloc to make it up to 20. good traditional rules to live by: 25 Rules to Grow Rich By | 4 | Money Magazine

townhome/condo/home etc. seems like it will move you all around different areas with taxes to consider, association fees and upkeep of doing things yourself with the yard/deck/driveway/all that jazz. i think a lot of people go for bigger space too (i did) even though it ends up being more space for you to heat/cool and is more of a don't care if you don't have kids. my bro and i share a place and we have rented out 1-2 of the other bedrooms although it has been some time since we did that. was a nice pad to the income when we were doing it though.
 

Vogz

Moist Ass Bitch
Jul 4, 2006
4,481
233
Batavia, IL
Condos and town homes are great until you have to sell them. Unless you have a fantastic location, market saturation of equivalent properties will kill your ability to effectively sell them off for any decent rise in market value.

Your first home, be it a condo, town home or single family will be a HUGE learning experience. I thought I knew what I wanted back in 2006 when I bought my first home. 6 years later I was in a below average school district with a stupid small laundry/mud room and a stupid small master bath. I had added a wife and child since moving in and things that I didn't anticipate when I was single suddenly became glaring issues.

Thus, I lost my entire downpayment (20% of original buy in 2006) selling in the fall of 2012 when the market was pretty much rock bottom.

The one thing that save me was not buying out of my budget in 2006. I bought a much cheaper home than I could theoretically afford and was able to put away a lot of money between 2006 and 2012 (and ride the stock market back up). So when last year came around and we decided to look for a new home, I had enough for a downpayment on a new property and was able to upgrade to a home that I never could have afforded in 2006. So I lost on my first home, but bought the second for dirt cheap.

CN: DON'T overspend on a mortgage. Home ownership comes with many costs that you don't realize as a renter and having a nice nest egg because of a lower mortgage payment will give you lots of options later on, and help your toward an earlier retirement.
 

TCG Member 5219

TCG Elite Member
Mar 22, 2005
12,447
18
Housing prices rose approximately 13% over the past year. There are no guarantees what will happen with home prices but the trend now is rising prices and more sales.

You have heard it before but the most important thing to consider is Location, Location, Location. You want a neighborhood that is safe, has good schools (if you have or are going to have kids) and has the amenities you are looking for.

It's important to check out the HOA rules if the place you want to buy is in an association. If you can't live with the cost and rules, don't buy the place.

Condos and townhouses generally take a little longer to sell than single family homes.

There is no right answer to the question condo/townhouse/SFH. I suggest you take your time, look at some of each and then sit down together and decide what fits your lifestyle and budget.

From the way ZX is talking, I'd guess he bought towards the top of the real estate bubble, probably 2006-2007. People who bought in those years now find their homes worth around half of what they paid for them.

You guessed right Cliff. Closed September 2006(wedding present to ourselves). Market CRASHED in mid 2007. So I basically bought our townhome at the top of the peak of the market of all time. And lost every penny I had been saving since I was 16($39k). That townhome was going to be a short term(2-3year) investment that we were going to bounce in and out of, and pull the projected $25k of profit out of it for the next one. Bought it pre-construction, and put every option known to man in it. Then when the bottom fell out, we had to stay in it in order to try and gain some equity back. Stayed until 2011. Fat chance, the values just died even worse. To this day our value is still less than 40% of what we owe. Renting it out now, and renting a house for us. What a mistake that was. I sold 3 motorcycles and a car to get that house. All gone.

Dont anyone fool yourself, buying a house is the single dumbest thing you can do nowadays and renting is better. You are not paying someone elses mortgage and putting money in their pocket like renting used to be. Now you are just helping your landlord from not going into foreclosure by renting from him.
 
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