If the house is $117,500 can I finance more than that amount to buy furniture? Or does that money just go to the house cost? I have a lot of stuff I am needing to buy – house, furniture, house supplies, car… can I finance all of these or do they each have to be on a separate credit card or how does this work? I’m looking to buy my first home… sorry if this is a stupid question.

You cannot finance more than the house is worth.

You not only need 10% for a down payment, you also need extra money to pay for legal fees, surveys and inspections, land transfer tax, property taxes, utility hook ups, moving expenses, and any repairs or painting that might be required when you move in.

You should get pre-approved for your mortgage so you know how much you can afford to spend. Ask for a 25 year, fixed rate, conventional mortgage with the option to pay an extra 10% per year on the principal.

Want to sell house fast, what types of things to do inside home for showings…

Paint, patch up holes in the wall, etc. Anything inexpensive that will make the house look better is worth the money.

I just was giving a great opportunity to buy a house. It is not listed through a real estate agency (sold by owner), so i don’t have that guide to tell me what I have to do. What are the steps I need to take to purchase a home?

Since this owner is attempting to sell the house,if you get an real estate agent be prepared to pay for the agent out your pocket. This person has chosen not to use an real estate agent therefore would not be willing to pay for an agent that you might introduce into the transaction.

Had they wanted to pay a commission they would have gotten an agent themselves.

Now you should approach the owners to look in the house. Find out as much as you can about the the house any problems or potential problems as well as the sales price, if you are still interested in the house, make sure you tell them.

Ask as many questions as you can think of about the house. There are no dumb questions there are only answers that you need to make an intelligent decision about the purchase of the house.

Make sure you ask how they came to the sales price and why they are selling the house. Casually ask if they are willing to pay any closing cost and approximately how much?

At this point you might want to go home think about what you have learned about the property.

If you are still interested in the house you should contact a local mortgage broker or banker to get pre-approved for a mortgage loan. The pre-approval should take approximately 2-3 weeks, but this is a huge step. This mortgage broker or banker should be able to do FHA mortgage loans.

Your pre-approval will tell you the amount of house you are able to purchase based on your salary and debts on your credit report.

You will also be told the interest rate, monthly payments, the type of mortgage loan program you are qualified for, as well as how much you will have to have as a down payment.

Your mortgage guy will require several documents to complete the pre-approval

#1 1 complete months of pay stubs for each borrower

#2 2-3 months of bank statements from each bank you do business with.

#3 2 years of federal income tax returns.

There are several other forms that might be necessary, your mortgage consultant will inform you of these other items.

While your pre-approval is being processed contact the owner again, if there are concerns make them known to the sellers. You should have a written list of questions that arouse from your initial inspection.

If all your questions are answered you might want to consider asking the owners to draw up a contract. This simply mean that you have agreed on a sales price, a down payment, who will pay closing cost and the amount that will be paid. You will also need to add into the contract a potential closing date. This date will not be locked in stone, but a date where you could potentially be close or near closing or perhaps closed.

Once this contract is signed by all parties concerned take this signed contract to an licensed escrow closing agent. Once escrow is opened you will be assigned an escrow officer. This escrow officer will prepare escrow closing documents based on the signed contract you and the seller gave them.

There might be additional things necessary, the escrow closing agent will request them from whom ever they are needed from.

You will also need to have a title company that will take care of all the title paper work. You might get a referral from the escrow closing agent, however, you could find one in your local telephone book.
Again you will be assigned a title officer.

These two agencies work for you, if there are any questions about the transaction you need to ask them so they can keep you abreast of how the transaction is going.

While this is going on you would need to also have your escrow officer contact you mortgage broker or banker to see how this is going. They will pass information between the two that they need. Introduce your title officer to the mortgage person also.

Between the three mortgage professionals they will now walk you through the purchase process and complete the process.

You will need the following and will be told at what stage each is required

#1 an appraisal of the property- This confirms the sales price for the lender. The

#2 a home inspection(Paid for by you)

#3 a possible roof certification

#4 you will sign loan docs

#5 a closing will take place.

Of course there is no way to list everything that will happen during this transaction but this is close. You will be advised by your professionals if other things are needed.

Communicate with these people and by all means make sure at each stage you ask questions. Failure on your part to ask questions could cause a little discomfort later on as I didn’t know this would happen or I don’t understand. Get these questions out now.

I hope this has been of some benefit to you, good luck.

"FIGHT ON"

I know that the market is bad right now, but my neighborhood is getting bad and overrun with teenage kids that are bringing down the property value. I want to get out while we still can make something off of it. We just moved in last October. We paid $165,000 and we are looking at one that is $220,000. Is it worth it to try and sell it ourselves and what would the approximate monthly payment be. Currently we pay about $1200 a month. We put nothing down on the first house with 30 year fixed at 6.25%. We hope we can sell our house for $180,000. I know it is alittle broad subject, but any help would be great.

There are many services out there now that will help you sell your property. Some of them are an amalgam of realtor/owner with reduced commissions and some simply provide the paperwork and Internet advertising. How much help you need is up to you. With today’s prices it really makes sense to think outside of the box a little. Especially in a tight transaction where 6% can make or break the difference.

The payment on your new house should be approximately 25% more than your current house, assuming you put all the proceeds from your current sale into the new home and the taxes and insurance are the same rate (adjusted 25% upward also). That would put you right around $1500.

Good luck, I hope this helps.

My husband and I have decided to buy, and we’d like to use the $8,000 tax credit. The problem is, most all of the houses we’ve looked at (Utah) are short sales, and we’re being told they generally take 3 to 6 months to close. Unless it’s extended again, that would be too late to use the credit. If you bought a short sale home recently, did it really take that long?
Do you think the tax credit will be extended again?

As a real estate broker, I can surely confirm that these sales DO take that long to reach a final closing. Unless a miracle occurs, you should NOT be looking at short sale properties if you want to take advantage of the first time home buyer credit.