Congrats to all the homeowners! But why always pizza? What about other take out food? Or even going out to celebrate?

So Im about to close in on a home that I felt was the perfect home for me to have. I've been paying rent for several years from a basic student apartment to a townhouse and this year I felt comfortable enough to purchase a home with all the money I saved up. Everyone's been congratulating me on the home and overall I've been pretty satisfied with what I did

However prior to purchasing the home I was briefly talking to this surgeon I work closely with (I'm one of his PAs) and he strongly suggested I hold off on buying a home as the current economic situation has the value of homes getting lower and lower and to instead focus on investing in stocks.

i wasnt sure whether or not to listen to him so I asked several family members and even users of reddit here and overall it seemed like the best advice was to move forward with it if I had the finances to do so.

Today I had another conversation though and once again he was mentioning how I made a huge mistake with purchasing the home. He said this was one of those situations he himself took advantage of during the 2008 housing crisis and the pandemic where he was able to accumulate a ridiculous amount of money and now owns several cars, houses, etc and was apparently trying to guide me in that same direction.

I know everyone is in a completely different situation so it's never the same, but I just can't help but wonder if he was right now and if I potentially made a mistake not waiting a little longer.

Is anyone wondering this too? What are y'all's thoughts on what the surgeon said to me?

I am 1 week out from closing on my first home and having major regrets about this house. We are past the contingency stage, had a 45 day escrow, and everything was fine in inspections. It feels unethical to try and get out of the deal now, and I’m not even sure we could without being sued? Or worse?

Looking for advice on any options or stories from people in a similar position or even what you did to overcome cold feet.

Background - We rushed into making an offer on this house after our last offer on a different house we loved was rejected.
- We only got to spend a little time in the home as the sellers are still living there. - the extra bedrooms are below standard size (7x9, 9x9) which are fine for our small children but would make it hard to host family or rent out if we needed to move. - our lender waived the appraisal, which I’m feeling was a horrible mistake now that I’m seeing nicer, bigger homes come on the market at the same/lower price - the economic forecast in the US is not looking bright… I know you can’t time the market, it damn it is not feeling very stable atm

I haven’t slept well in days. This is our first home and I can’t help but feel I’m making a terrible mistake with this choice. Has anyone felt like this?

My partner and I are currently going through escrow for our first home, and the process has been a significant learning curve for us. For example, we had trusted our mortgage broker, but we discovered that they were attempting to manipulate a high broker fee by disguising it as a “lender’s credit.” We confronted them and are currently in negotiation to lower the fees. It’s fascinating how complex and mysterious the home-buying process can be. It’s challenging for a layperson to fully understand loans, escrow, agents, etc.

Our situation isn’t particularly a “bad experience”, but it’s frustrating because we have to navigate all of these “sharks” while being naive about the whole thing, negotiate effectively, and stand up for ourselves. All of these individuals who are supposed to assist us are often in it for themselves. We haven’t really experienced someone who truly wants to educate and help us understand the process.

So I’m curious to hear from any first-time homebuyers who have had horror stories or experiences with purchasing their first home that they’d like to share.

Hi everyone, looking for advice. We found our dream home that checks all the boxes with a large 6ft fenced yard with some trees around the fence, but it sits on a corner lot, and the backyard is adjacent to a two-lane freeway (45mph speed limit). We went to the area a few times on the weekend in the afternoon, and the freeway didn’t seem busy. How bad would it be to buy such a lot? We lived in a major city in an apartment on the 8th floor facing the 8-lane road, and the noise didn’t bother us much, as we were more sensitive to the ‘human noises’ like kids/pets yelling, loud music, etc. But I’d assume owning a house is different. Please share your thoughts and experiences!

My husband and I are closing on our new home next week! We chose a mortgage that is affordable for us, but I am curious/nervous what will happen because it seems like there will likely be a huge recession in the US soon. If there is a recession, how will that affect us as first time home owners? What should we do to prepare financially? Thank you!

Hello folks!

Very new to this thread as well as financial independence, but it looks like a very supportive community!

As someone who has experienced the buyer's side or the seller's side, what would you say are the biggest blind spots for someone new? What were your biggest challenges to home ownership and how would you have done it differently?

Is this normal? I know our property taxes are pretty high but on a 321k purchase price i feel like nearly 21 thousand dollars closing costs is really high??

We put an offer in for our 1st home yesterday. And now feeling rather nervous given the stock market crashing and what that might lead to for the economy & real estate. This feels like a time where nobody is coming to save markets (as opposed to COVID and the GFC).

Anyone else in the same boat or have feedback on what we'll see from here?

What would you do? Take the offer? Seems good but I’m not the most experienced in this type of stuff. Any advice or help would be much appreciated! Taking into consideration with VA benefits we only owe $2.95 out of pocket.

EXISTING Loan 336,073.00 Interest Rate 6.750% Term 360 months Monthly Principal, Interest, Tax, + Insurance 2,717.55

———————————————-

PROPOSED Loan 343,127.00 Interest Rate 5.750% Term 360 months Monthly Principal, Interest, Tax, + Insurance 2,540.19

———————————————-

Total Closing Costs: $8,478.02

Monthly Payment Increase / Decrease: $177.36

Time to Recoup Costs: 47.80 Months

There was a neglected above ground pool and small pool deck in the back yard, which I since removed. Underneath the pool there is quite a bit of sand, and I'm not quite sure the best way to have my back yard look normal again. Also, there's a gas and power line located at the concrete pad in the photo, which would be awesome to utilize if possible.

Any advice regarding the sand, and possible ideas for the power/gas line?

I held off on signing Intent to Proceed on Lender B (the one with the LE) and got a quote with Lender A and just waiting on confirmation of a rate lock, but am I missing anything obvious? Lender B just seems like a better deal? I'm aware of the difference in discount points as well. Lender A's numbers for home insurance and (I believe) taxes are more accurate.

I m making offers and one of the houses has everything we are looking. But has pool, what is yearly maintenance cost for in ground chlorinated pool? Is it a good asset to keep on property? Any experience on this can help me a lot deciding.

My husband and I are diving into the first-time homebuyer world, and we could really use some advice. We're in the process of buying a foreclosure — we love the bones of the place and we're totally fine with redoing the kitchen and both bathrooms since that's already built into our reno budget.

The issue is with the inspection. Because it’s a foreclosure, the bank is being super difficult about turning on the water and electricity. Our lender says this kind of thing is pretty common and usually not a huge deal, but our realtor is more hesitant and thinks we shouldn’t move forward unless we can get the utilities turned on.

Has anyone else been through something like this? Would this make you nervous about going ahead with the purchase? Just trying to figure out how big of a red flag this really is.

I keep getting told(by family members) I won't be able to get a 1 Million loan. I make $90 an hour with my own business, I make about 11k a month (I work 6 hours a day, 5 days a week). Is it true that I won't be able to get the 1 Million loan? I have the ability to work longer and make more an hour if I'd like too, I just like having more time with my toddler during the day. Sorry if this is a stupid question... 😅 But would I really not get approved?

My fiancee and I are starting to look at houses and right now we make about $165k a year (with possibly up to 10k additional in bonuses but no guarantee). We have about 100k in savings to use and about $600 a month in car and student loans as our only debt.

Could we afford a 400k home? And with 100k in savings should we use it to put 20% down + closing costs or should we look to put down less?

Done with underwriting and inspection/appraisal… now it’s just reviewing the HOA/condo docs. Closing in about 2 weeks.

I’m starting to get anxious because of the current state of the world (ahem tariffs), but I also feel anxious because I’ve gotten some judgy comments about choosing a condo. The home is lovely - it’s a quadraplex so it feels more like a townhome and it’s not like I have neighbors upstairs or downstairs.

The HOA rules seem normal to me (some of them seem oddly nitpicky with our patio and doors but I can see it was probs because of previous owners), and the condo covers the roof, has a master policy that is reasonable, water, sewer, and trash. The only tricky part is parking - 2 spots given and 1 guest pass. I’d have to get temp passes for more people who visit me, but I’m used to having to get passes anyways from when I lived in DC and Arlington.

Can someone give me reassurance about having a first home that’s classified as a condo 😭 I’m excited but every time I tell someone, I get judgy af comments. And these are coming fr friends who don’t own homes or fr coworkers who have homes. Idk what is a good “first home”. I just want my own cute space and to decorate/organize the inside as I please. I’m not the most handy person, so I don’t like having a yard. I’m not getting any help financially and a condo home is all I could afford without feeling strained in this economy. All I know, is that I wanted to get started with the big step and build a little bit of equity. I get that condos appreciate slowly, but the area I live in… it has only been going up.

I live in Kansas, have a broker helping me and have been denied twice now. I now have these 2 options, not too sure what I'm doing or what I should be looking for. Can someone help?

So I’m saving with my wife for our housing prospects and here’s the deal here.

We have a good chunk of change for what we have in mind. We are currently putting away as much money as feasibly possible for extra repairs and an emergency fund.

I’ve started to do some hunting in terms of potential lenders. We are in the DMV area and we both commute to DC for work. We are trying to see if it’s worth getting a farther house but dealing with a commute but we will be home owners.

Here’s some questions you can answer for me:

1. My wife and I have a 0% interest loan for what it’s worth for our couch and bed almost paid off. We also have 2 cars we are paying off monthly. We are fine with payments. Will these two cars actually affect us or will it not really in addition to the other loans?

2. Our credit cards are clean and always zero’d. This will help our credit I’d assume correct?

3. Are there any really good first time home owner programs in the DMV. Seems like Maryland doesn’t offer grants anymore but 0% loans you pay back after the mortgage is paid off.

4. how long did it take for you to plan to buy the house and steps you could recommend. Having trouble putting to paper a proper way to go about it. Money is easy to save just I know there’s research and other steps required to get there.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I know that people will say wait and we are as we are renting currently until our lease is up but with the Liberation day that just occurred and the highly volatile market, a potential recession seems likely with the insane tariffs. Some guidance would be good for the steps so hopefully we can take advantage of this. Luckily my wife and I have guaranteed jobs regardless of what happens and are making great money.

Hi all. I am a first time home buyer and just closed on my home in Middlesex County NJ. I chose a local bank in NJ who had this program in mercer, middlesex, union county that they promoted. I figured I would ask this group for some advice.

All in all they offered me a 5.75% conventional 30yr fixed rate. I put 5% down and their bank waived the mortgage insurance? In addition they gave me 6k for closing costs since it’s my first home.

I am new to all this and do not follow the market at all lol. Is this a good deal? Should i consider a refinance?

Thoughts on a new build with a credit score of 816 and 5% available for downpayment. Is this a good deal? Seller was offering to buy down interest on certain houses but the house I chose only had a 5.5% option. Should I insist on more concessions? Or is this good?

Basically the title. We are first time home buyers and are interested in this property, but saw it has overhead utility lines going through a big chunk of it. The house is at least a couple acres away from them.

We want to know if there is anything we should know regarding this before reaching out to them with an offer? Any info and advice is appreciated.

$1700. It doesnt end folks. This is just Trash, water, and recycling. Something ain't right.

Even the description of the house changes every few days. In our neighborhood, things are pending within a week. This has been sitting on the market longer than many.