First time home buyer

In our area, it's the seller's responsibility to replace damaged sidewalks and curbs. There also has to be proper hand railings, GFI outlets and smoke alarms installed by the seller.

PS: I had our terra cotta sewer line replaced and it was nearly $5000. I would bet the seller had some indication of this problem.

senseless said:

In our area, it's the seller's responsibility to replace damaged sidewalks and curbs. There also has to be proper hand railings, GFI outlets and smoke alarms installed by the seller.

PS: I had our terra cotta sewer line replaced and it was nearly $5000. I would bet the seller had some indication of this problem.

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That's my gut too (about the sewer line).

The more that "here's a laundry list of issues the seller is fixing" scenario is described, the more it would make me nervous as a buyer. If the seller had the money and resources to fix those issues, they should have fixed them prior to going on the market (or priced the house below market to compensate). If they didn't, that either means they're going to spend as little as possible to fix it, or they didn't notice/care...which would make me VERY nervous about the issues that didn't get caught by the home inspector that could have maintenance problems.

dukebound85 said:

I have opted to terminate my contract due to the results of the home inspection. There were too many little issues and signs that the house wasn't cared for that I did not see when I was at showings and when I made the offer.

While I feel bad for wasting everyone's time, I need to look out for myself. Just sucks as my freind is my real estate agent and is also my landlord. Owell, it was a very informative process for me and something I want to go at my pace and find something I am super excited about.

I am glad that the contracts in CO are so buyer friendly that I would be getting all of my earnest money back

Only money I am out is the home inpsection (325) and credit report from lender

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Good for you. It is easy to get caught up in the buying process and get overly excited or feel pressured and just disregard things like this and say "eff it" and just move forward. This is EXACTLY why you pay an inspector to check out the property before you make such a huge investment. Taking your time and getting a place that is in great shape and that you're in love with, WILL pay off.

On a related note, I'm a first time buyer as well! I've put down the earnest $$, got the inspection done, got the appraisal done, and I'm about a week from closing.

First time home buyer

I'm thinking.. It's really really best to have a home built from the ground up, find a nice piece of land in the county and go from there, find a very good architect and a very good well known construction team.. And you will have a beautiful solid built house .. And it's not all that expensive then what people think it is

This is my future rite here.. My only reason for having a house built is kinda silly anyway. You see, I want a 2 story; 2-3 car garage with the ability to install a hydraulic lift, since those are hard to come by.. I can have 1 built for like $10k-$12k provided I have enough land.. But for all that, might as well have the house built too

ugahairydawgs said:

No offense, but that is terrible advice. Buying more house than you can afford on the assumption that a steady flow of raises is coming down the road is just asking for trouble.

Buy what you can afford and if you are lucky enough to have an increase in income down the road, then put the extra into your house and pay it off early. You'll either end up with a paid off house or a boat load of equity in a place you can sell and upgrade.

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At least for where I live this is very true. Anyway, first to OP, congrats!

Also with dot.bomb and an overheated real estate market worse than most, it's OK to buy to live somewhere, but not for investing. However, in different areas, investing is still plausible with real estate but do your research. You can make money when everyone else is losing it and you can make a gain on a falling market and through bubbles (as we are starting again in my area with a stupidly unsupportable 17% percent bump in just 12 months without salary/wages and without a change in employment to back that up). This is a terribly scary time to invest other than having a place to live, but a few will still shine over next decade or two. Anyway,

http://barbaracorcoran.com/

Muscle Master said:

I'm thinking.. It's really really best to have a home built from the ground up, find a nice piece of land in the county and go from there, find a very good architect and a very good well known construction team.. And you will have a beautiful solid built house .. And it's not all that expensive then what people think it is

This is my future rite here.. My only reason for having a house built is kinda silly anyway. You see, I want a 2 story; 2-3 car garage with the ability to install a hydraulic lift, since those are hard to come by.. I can have 1 built for like $10k-$12k provided I have enough land.. But for all that, might as well have the house built too

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Yeah...no.

Most people's pockets aren't nearly that deep, and by the time they are (if ever) you are in your 50s and on probably your third home.

To buy a plot of land, have a custom home designed and built, would cost $400-500k in the suburbs of the Twin Cities.

Sure, you can buy a brand new house in a new development (the kind of deal where there are 6-7 floor plan/home style choices to pick from, from which you can then pay for additional upgrades inside, again from a list of choices) for about $225k in the outskirt suburbs, but you're going to be stuck paying an HOA an asinine monthly fee for the privilege of them telling you what you can and can't do on the home you paid for with your hard earned money, and giving them legal power to put a lien on your house. No effin' thanks.

I figure my wife and I will be buying somewhere no more than $250k, but more likely closer to $200k. No way in hell we are getting a brand new, solid built, custom designed home on a custom hand picked piece of land that's HOA/development free in anywhere remotely close to civilization for that price.

puma1552 said:

Yeah...no.

Most people's pockets aren't nearly that deep,

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Right, 'cause you'd have to have saved enough to buy the land outright or something. How is the average Joe going to pay rent, and make monthly payments on the loan you'd need to buy the land?

I went from a house I was buying to a vacant lot to build on. Took out a home equity loan to buy the lot. There was a grace period or something, and then I got a construction loan. That basically froze my current mortgage; had to pay interest, and the home equity loan payment. Once construction started, the contractor took periodic draws, meaning I had to pay interest on that, but not until closing. At closing, the home equity loan was paid off, the two house loans were rolled into one, and I was paying some principal again.