My buying a home thread

[ugghh]

This is a thread for me to track my thoughts in process of buying a home. All are welcome to comment and I appreciate any advice given, although a lot of my post will be random thoughts as I come across them.

 

I am going to start with my data as of now:

• Chapter 7 BK discharged 9/2010
• Current home was reaffirmed and I have equity in it
• Current home is financed via VA Loan
• Looking to buy a house in the $225-300k range
• Plan on putting at least 5% down to reduce the VA funding fee (this will be the 3rd time I use the VA Loan)
• Current Scores - EQ 675 TU 703 EX 722 (PSECU)
• Me, wife, 2 boys under 10
• Plan on using some of the money for current house sale to put down on next house
• Have more than 80k in 401k
• The plan is to buy our dream home and not to settle

Things I am looking for in a home:

• Decent size lot (probably .75-1 acre)
• 2500-3500 sqft
• Something not cookie cutter
• Preferably a wrap around porch
• Kid friendly property
• 3 car garage or separate work shop

Random thoughts up until this point:

 

~Rent current house or sell

• I am thinking if I hold on to the house for another 5 or so years I could make quite a bit of money on it when I sell it in the future
• If I rent out the existing house I would refinance it to get my VA loan eligibility back and lower my current APR which is 6%
• After posting and research I found that I would have to qualify for both mortgages which I may be able to do
• I wonder what kind of stress and strain that it would put on us
• I could rent the house for 1100-1200 a month and my current mortgage payment at 6% is right at 1100

~USDA

• There are properties available for the program
• After research our income is to high

~APR

• I was wondering if because of the BK how that would affect my APR. From my understanding (from posting here), the BK just means I have 2 years post discharge. Once that is past it should not have an affect on my APR.

~Selling current house

• Currently 6 homes for sale in my 250 + home neighborhood (4 are new construction)
• Same floor plan sold as mine sold for 165k on 11/2011
• Out of the 6 homes currently for sale one of them is my exact floor plan and it is currently listed for 190k
• Currently in the process of prepping the house for sale (nothing major just cosmetics)
• Looking to put home on the market in June since I would guess that is the peak time for selling
• I am not against FSBO but I would have to do quite a bit of research. I will probably list with a realtor

~The transition

• I am concerned about the transition. If the house sells early (which I doubt) we would be homeless (have to rent) until 9/2012
• If it sells around 9/2012 then it would be a matter of finding the right house and being able to close on time
• If we don't find a house we would have to rent until we find the right house
• Moving a family of 4 twice is not going to be fun

~Tools

• I would like to create a list of tools (calculators, websites) that would be beneficial in this process and would love others to contribute on how other people go about doing research but I am afraid it may be against the forum rules to post websites. (dunno)

I have been reading the mortgage forum quite a bit and appreciate all the time and effort that is put into this section on keeping us up to date with all the trends and different programs that are out there.

[Brian B The Loan Professor]

Good plan - keep in mind 2 yrs post discharge is for Govt loans only (not conventional) and all are owner occupied so refinancing and renting is probably out.

B

[ugghh]

Wow... Didn't even think about that. Thanks!

[ugghh]

hmm... Figuring out property taxes is kinda confusing... Why can't it be simple? If I have a house in mind I can look it up but for a 300k house it appears taxes can range anywhere from 1500 - 4500... That is a big difference and can make a huge impact on monthly payments... I will have to dig a little deeper on this...

[Brian B The Loan Professor]

Call a title company local to where you are going to buy and ask for the percent used in that region - ask if there are special assesmets common in any areas you should be aware of - locally where I am there are mello roos taxes that can almost double the taxes for some homes. We use 1.2% of the sales price to estimate in this region but it varies all over the country.

[ugghh]

Wondering when I should contact a realtor for selling my current house. I have already started (in my mind) decluttering the house. I am probably looking to list in June.

[ugghh]

Talked with a coworker of mine who just had his house built. He stated his builder fronted all the money up front and then *sold* the house to them when it was done. Very interesting.....

[ugghh]

I have a realtor coming to my house on Wednesday to discuss a game plan for this summer. I am curious to see what suggestions she has for the house and what she thinks the timeline looks like.

 

I am also going to ask her about what the typical tax rate that they use for our area.

[ugghh]

Pulled the wife's TU & EQ scores today just to see where she was at (since I tend to concentrate on mine a little too much). Holy cow, her scores are doing well.

 

We are 7 months out from being eligible for a mortgage and the following are our scores:

 

My Fico Score:

Equifax - 678

TransUnion - 703

Experian - 715 (PSECU)

 

Wife Fico Scores:

Equifax - 696

TransUnion - 685

Experain - ???

 

So right now it looks like our middle score is at worse a 685

[ugghh]

Here are a list of questions I plan to ask the realtor tomorrow:

 

How many listings does she have

How does she market her listings

How long does it usually take for her listings to sell (DOM)

How many listings has she lost in the past year

When should I list if my target move out date is 10/2012

What items would need to be accomplished to give my house the best opportunity to sell for the best price

How much warning should I expect before a showing

How are we going to communicate with each other (Office phone, Cell phone, email, all of the above)

 

Of course I am going to ask for a CMA.

 

This realtor came highly recommended from someone who works with me and who also just went through the process of selling and buying another home.

 

Should I mention my BK so that we are on the same page?

 

Any other questions that I am missing?

[ugghh]

Todays meeting with the realtor went optimistically good (I am showing caution though).

 

We tried to set up a rough timeline to see what would be the least amount of impact on my family.

 

The house showed good according to her and there are some very small items to take care of.

 

She is going to talk with her lender on when we can be preapproved on the condition that we are past the 2 year mark.

 

We will see. She is going to get me more info tomorrow.

[ugghh]

Today I am not feeling so optimistic... My realtor does answer my emails but I can't say I am getting the answers to my questions. Maybe I am just not asking them correctly. My other thought is she knows that I can not really buy/build until after 9/2012 so maybe I am low on her priority list, although I do plan on listing in a month or two.

 

Anyway, I put some finishing touches on the deck and plan on tiling the 2 bathrooms over the next couple of weeks. I will then de-clutter the house (already started) and pressure wash the exterior. I will then add some mulch to the flowerbeds and hope to list shortly afterwards.

 

 

6 months until I can *qualify* for the next home purchase/build.

[MelodyT]

Find a different agent. In contacted about 5 or 6 before I found the one who fit my needs in communicating. I am pretty high maintenance with things like this and I needed an agent that could accommodate that or I knew the entire process would be a mess. There is an agent out there that will answer all your questions, even though you're not looking now. Keep looking until you find the one that works best for you.

[ugghh]

Right now I am thinking list the house and sell it, move to a rental house and sign a 1 year lease, start the build process in Sept (6 month process).

 

We are also thinking about renting storage for decluttering the home. I had a passing thought of using a pod, loading it up and having it sent to storage, and then in a year have it delivered to the new house to be unloaded. I do not know how much they cost though.

[5ofus]

Right now I am thinking list the house and sell it, move to a rental house and sign a 1 year lease, start the build process in Sept (6 month process).

 

We are also thinking about renting storage for decluttering the home. I had a passing thought of using a pod, loading it up and having it sent to storage, and then in a year have it delivered to the new house to be unloaded. I do not know how much they cost though.

 

 

They do free online quotes. I've looked into them before.

[ugghh]

Right now I am thinking list the house and sell it, move to a rental house and sign a 1 year lease, start the build process in Sept (6 month process).

 

We are also thinking about renting storage for decluttering the home. I had a passing thought of using a pod, loading it up and having it sent to storage, and then in a year have it delivered to the new house to be unloaded. I do not know how much they cost though.

 

 

They do free online quotes. I've looked into them before.

 

Thanks for the info. I will have to check it out!

[ugghh]

Does anyone know the impact of paying off your mortgage will have on your Fico?

 

I know that my Fico dropped when I paid off my car.

[MelodyT]

Right now I am thinking list the house and sell it, move to a rental house and sign a 1 year lease, start the build process in Sept (6 month process).

 

We are also thinking about renting storage for decluttering the home. I had a passing thought of using a pod, loading it up and having it sent to storage, and then in a year have it delivered to the new house to be unloaded. I do not know how much they cost though.

 

 

They do free online quotes. I've looked into them before.

 

Thanks for the info. I will have to check it out!

 

Ugghh,

 

Check into United Mayflower for pods. I checked a bunch of others and they were outrageous. Seen the commercial for these guys and they were more than half less than any other quote I got. We have 2 sitting in our driveway right now almost fully loaded and being picked up Thursday. Not sure if they are all over the US but it was definitely more cost effective for us to go through them than U-Haul or any other pod service.

[ugghh]

Thanks for the info. I just looked up united mayflower and they not in my area. They look like a good deal though!

[ugghh]

Ugh... Is it 9/2012 yet?

 

So our existing train of thought is to:

 

1. Sell existing house

2. Rent

3. 9/2012 start the 6 month build process

4. Close on the home with an outstanding rate and move in.

 

Sounds simple to me

 

 

The existing house should be on the market next week. My realtor has sent me lots to look at online and wants to see what I think of them. Other than that I have been painting, pressure washing, de-cluttering (rented a storage unit), and prepping mentally of how to keep the house clean for the showings with 2 young ones.

 

This weekend I will put out new mulch, finish the painting, and finish the packing.

[ugghh]

House went on the market today. Have 1 showing schedule for today already Hope it sells.

[jop3]

Exciting!! Good luck!

[ugghh]

Thanks jop... I hope it sells quick but know it will probably take a little while.

 

Got home last night and had 2 realtors card on the table. No envelopes full of money though

 

Maybe today

[ugghh]

One of the couples that came yesterday was suppose to come by today for a second look. <crossing fingers>

[ugghh]

Got the first offer. A little low but we are negotiating.