Buying a home, got any advice?
13Recently, @dalek and I decided to purchase our first home. Which is both exciting and terrifying. 
We have a rough gist of what we'd like, but wanted to see if you guys had any pointers as we begin to look.
If you have any pointers, like how a crack in the driveway could signify foundation issues, I'd love to hear 'em. :)
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We really want to have a gas stove, but for some reason they're really unpopular in the area. Is it worth finding a home that already has a gas stove, or should we look at upgrading it ourselves in the future?
@hollboll Make sure you find an area with gas lines- we live in the suburbs and just got gas lines a few years ago.
@hollboll Not a big deal. It's all just a matter of money. Adding gas to a home is more expensive than adding a gas stove to a home that already has gas. Bonus savings if you can easily run a pipe from the main gas line to the kitchen.
@JerseyFrank That is true assuming that there are gas lines in the street to tap into. We didn't have gas available at any price. Our subdivision was maybe 25 years old before gas lines were run. And I was not aware of that when we moved in.
@sammydog01 That's important to find out, then. I've always heard an electric furnace is inferior to gas, so you might want to watch for that, too.
@jqubed We live in electric heat pump country, and Texas may be as well.
@hollboll Even if the home doesn't have gas available at the street, you can purchase (or lease) a large tank and have it filled monthly. The fill-up is normally priced at a slight increase to account for delivery and convenience.
I'll have to be sure to ask when we start touring houses. Hopefully we can find a place that already has gas and gas heating so we can just get someone to connect it to the stove. :)
Our big thing is that we love to cook together, so having a nice kitchen (or one we can fix up to be nice) is one of our higher priorities.
@hollboll Another advantage to having a gas equipped home is the ability to select a gas clothes dryer. Dries faster, and more efficiently than electric.
Also a gas water heater has a faster "recovery" rate than your average electric (the rate at which it's able to reheat water as the supply is depleted).
In my area (southwest desert) it's very uncommon to find a newer subdivision with gas service available. Gas was abandoned in the 70's in favor of all-electric homes. So my only option would be, as @capguncowboy suggests, to lease a large tank and subscribe to a home fill service.
@ruouttaurmind that's a bummer. I wonder why it all changed. We had a gas dryer before moving out here and had to get a new one because of our crappy apartment. :(
Ask around for a referral for a realtor who cares about finding the right house for you rather than trying to make a sale!
@chellemonkey
Those really exist? I thought they were only urban legends.
@chellemonkey We did that! We found one and are meeting her tonight. :)
@chellemonkey @hollboll Also this when you sell your house lol:
@FroodyFrog The guy my family has used could retire but he really just likes talking to people and he has a great network of contractors and such so it has gone really smooth. I mean don't expect it to be a quick meeting but he has interesting stories.
@FroodyFrog Yes, they exist. I worked with my realtor for over 9 months before going into my house.
It's incredibly important to find a very good, very critical home inspector. Ask recent homeowners, but you'll want to double-check that they got a very thorough report of potential problems.
(And certainly walk away from any sale that's suggesting you shouldn't/can't do inspections first.)
@dave 1000x This.
Another nod on inspections. Make sure you won't be signing away such contingencies too; I've heard of folks doing that in desperation.
Other aspects - wants versus needs. And it's not meh; it'll be okay to sleep on a decision.
@hollboll And beware as many home inspectors rely on the real estate industry for referrals for their business. If they are "too" honest they might not be used again. Conflict of interest that may not be as apparent. I had that problem.
Read a book about home inspections so that you know what is supposed to be done and be there while they do it. I did that and so knew what they were looking for, how to evaluate cracks, etc.
Look at the flood maps. Stay out of any 100 or less year flood zones, especially if they are building in that area (as then a 100 year flood will become a 50 year flood due to less ground surface area to absorb water and slow the run off - also watch for that upstream of any streams/lakes near your house).
Look in the water department archives for the history of boil water alerts in the area (in an older home area could be an indication of infrastructure issues with the water pipes.
Look at how they redistrict the schools. Don't live in the area they bounce back and forth as enrollment changes. It is hard on kids to change schools. Also look at where the school bus lines are. I once lived one house too close to the school for my kid to be bussed. She walked up the street to get on the bus and they didn't say anything but when that family moved there were no kids left there so she was stuck walking 1.5 miles. Even if you don't plan to have kids while living in that house, schools do matter when you go to sell. As does the junker house 3 doors down where the house is ratty or the yard looks like a satellite location of Pull Apart.
Drive down the street in the evenings, weekends, in the pouring rain to see how noisy it is then, how deep the street gets in water and whether or not it comes up the driveway and into the yard.
If they played cook cookies trick, left scented candles burning or smells like all that air freshener stuff they may be trying to hide mildew odor, dog pee in the carpet odor rather than ply on the marketing ploy that you are more likely to buy the place if is smells faintly of cookies.
Talk to the neighbors and tell them you are thinking about buying in the area, would they buy there again (but also remember that they might be friends with the seller and so lie), pros and cons of that neighborhood, etc. so maybe do it one street away and not directly behind them.
Whatever you buy it will need some repairs, painted, you may want to buy curtains or blinds... Budget for that in advance. Do not stretch your budget to buy something.
Pay attention to the % homeowners in the area who live in their homes. It the % of renters gets too high home values are at risk compared to comparable homes in a different neighborhood.
Good luck getting something you like.
@dave Yes, this is a very big deal. Make sure you get a trustworthy realtor and a trust worthy inspector. Both of mine were very shady and I ended up doing most of the home looking myself. I should have switched realtors. My realtor only showed me garbage houses, and his suggested inspector missed some things. (Like a roof that was very obviously leaking well before I bought the home) Be thorough. Be patient. Don't rush. And always make sure you are comfortable.
Be ready at all times with the 70% of the paperwork that you can complete pre-finding the right home because when you find it you act fast. Wait for a market trough/crash then pounce.
I suggest an inspection of the waste water pipes out to the septic/street. My dad has gotten really tired of cleaning up waste water in the basement due to trees etc. It is several thousand dollars to fix and you won't know it is an issue until you know it is an issue without the addition inspection.
I'll give you the things I wish I would of done when we bought our first house. Which helped me when we built our current house.
This is based on living in Michigan, Texas my have different pros/cons regarding #1.
1) House orientation. First house was east/west facing and I grew to hate it. Had blinding sun at times coming through the windows, and it was dark and absent of natural light at others.
Now our main living areas face south (back of house). We get a lot of nice natural light throughout the day, but never shining directly through the windows to cause blindness.
Also because we back up to lots of trees, we get shade in the summer, so our back yard isn't crazy hot, but due to no leaves in the winter we get plenty sunlight and warmth. So at least in Michigan I feel living space facing the South is ideal.
2) Visit the house you really like at different times. Houses can feel completely different at different times of the day. Plus you an get a better judge of the neighborhood. It may be quiet at 1pm when most people are at work, but maybe it becomes a street racing scene at 7pm. Or that bright house in the daytime, suddenly feels dark because there isn't enough lightning fixture.
3) Yard grade. Make sure everything is graded properly, water can be very damaging, you want as much to go away from your house as possible.
4) Bring a receptacle tester with you. They are cheap and just a good basic test to make sure there are no wiring errors. If you get an error you can assume there were some DIY projects and possibly other things that were done wrong.
Regarding the gas stove, assuming there is already gas to the house it shouldn't be overly expensive to add a line for a stove. 300-400 maybe. Unless it needs a super long run. Also, if there is already electric stove and you add gas then you can get a dual fuel range and get the best of both worlds (gas cooktop with electric range).
As a side note, I just happened to watch that episode of arrested development last night.
@MrMark Conversely, with Texas heat, keeping living areas facing north might be better.
@MrMark All super legit tips! Thank you. I feel like I've heard that about the house orientation before, but I totally forgot about it. Great reminder.
I'll definitely look into one of those testers too! Glad to hear the gas range shouldn't be too much, I'll just have to make sure I ask when we go to look.
I love that episode. Actually, I just love Arrested Development.
Rural, urban, or suburban?
@walarney pretty much suburban.
I'd recommend posting the area you're looking to buy in and letting us spam you with Redfin links.
That usually seems to work pretty well.
@Chops I'm looking in Friso, Plano, The Colony, and Little Elm. ;)
Financially - Do NOT move money around right now. If you're relying on a gift for your down payment, talk to your broker about how to handle it ahead of time. Moving even a thousand or 2 around can hold up your loan.
Keep copies/files of your financials ready to go at any time - brokers and lenders are notorious for losing that stuff a million times. Even the good ones.
Read your Fee Schedules and Good Faith Estimate and make sure it makes sense - especially the taxes/escrow estimates. If you're buying a property with more than one parcel, be sure your escrow withholdings reflect that and are setting aside enough for the taxes on all parcels.
If you ask questions and your lender isn't answering them to your satisfaction - keep asking. Also, your APR and rate will appear different on your paperwork - totally normal.
Binge watch Holmes on Homes.
Absolutely get a home inspection as a requirement of your offer. This is non-negotiable.
Check all doors and windows to be sure they all open and close all the way and lock/unlock. Seems silly, but it matters.
Check all water sources to be sure they have decent pressure and drain properly. Turn on a tub tap and flush a toilet at the same time, see how big of a dip there is.
@Thumperchick Maybe get mike holmes to do the inspection himself? Yeah, that would be awesome
@jaybird That would be perfect.
@Thumperchick Watch enough Holmes on Homes and you may decide renting isn't all that bad.
I'm so excited for you! I'd say to make sure the home is not built over an Indian burial ground.
Lots of good advice here, as well.
@KDemo damn, I was just linking to this mostly as an excuse to brag about my best post but I'll still do it anyway because I'm vain af woop woop
@Lotsofgoats - Good one!
I'll be in this boat in just over a year - any tips on what to prepare for now?
@luvche21 Do everything you can to get your credit score as high as possible so your interest rate on your mortgage is as low as possible.
@Kidsandliz I know that my credit score is MUCH higher than my wife's (even though we've been married for 4 years and have had our names on the same things for that time...) - will they go off of both of our credit scores?
@luvche21 Only if both names are going to be on the loan and if they'll be taking into account income from both of you. I don't work, and my credit is still in shambles from an ex-husband six years later, so when we bought our home two years ago, we just put everything in my husband's name.
@PurplePawprints Hm, I would assume we'd put both of our names on the loan, but I'm not sure. My wife is mainly a stay at home mom, but brings in ~$10K a year, maybe less. It's contract work too, so it may not count as income. Still figuring all this out. Thanks!
@luvche21 If she only brings in that amount, and it's not guaranteed income, the potential hit you'll take in a higher interest rate may not make it worth it. If you get a good loan specialist or mortgage broker, they can tell which route will be most likely to give you better rates and a higher loan amount. Just think/talk about it sometime over the next year so that you both know whether your name being the only one on the loan and deed is an acceptable outcome for you both.
@luvche21 They tend to go with the lower of the two scores. If you go to a local credit union or bank they may be more reasonable. With her little income and it being non steady income, if may be better to leave her off.
Also don't go having any career changes between now and when you get a loan. If you stay in the same industry it isn't a big deal, but if you go into a new line of work it may negatively affect you, even if you are making more money.
@MrMark Well, I just had a career change - from school to a professional gig (in the field that I studied), so we're finally in a place where we can buy a house in the foreseeable future. I don't know if that would ding me or not, but it's definitely too late.
@luvche21 Getting a job in the field of study will probably be ok.
However, they may very well ask to see both your diploma and college transcript since you will still be relatively new to the field.
@luvche21 to follow up on what @PurplePawprints said, if you go with only you then then next thing I'd do is see an attorney and put in writing that in case of divorce that the house equally belongs to both of you and make sure your will states this house goes to her. I don't know how all that works legally, but I'd make sure all the bases are covered to be fair in the future (even if you end up never needing those contingencies).
If you are looking in Carrollton, be ready to see a bunch of houses disappear before you have a chance to look that them. Lots of houses in the area get a contract on them the day they are listed. I hate this market...
@Sabre99 pretty much everything moves super quickly around here. I met with a realtor back in July and she told me that the average length of time a house spends on the market is like 28 days. Supposedly this time of year is a good time to look because people are anxious to get out of their homes after the holidays.
@hollboll Summer market seems to start in some areas of the country in March however... then with delayed closing so they can finish out the school year. Be prepared for that.
Whew! I'm glad I didn't know things were so complicated when I bought my house. I might have messed up everything. Happy house hunting, @hollboll!
I know, right? Thanks @Barney!
Don't let it worry you that "mortgage" = "death pledge".
@walarney ... awesome.
If you know a contractor, have them tag along on the inspection. My dad just bought and we thought our inspector was good but my brother is a contractor and he caught stuff the inspector glanced over.
Look at the layout of the street and other surrounding streets, yours may end up being the main route as a cut-through and see a lot of traffic, which attracts speeders! Cul-de-sacs are ideal for avoiding unnecessary traffic if that would be a concern.
And everything that everyone else has already said!
Home owner horror story. We'd occasionally find the dead bodies of large black ants in the unfinished part of the basement. We couldn't tell where these buggars were coming from. Even had pest control treat indoors and outdoors on that side of the house. "They gotta come out to eat sometime.", the dude said. Before we bought the house, the previous owner converted the bathtub into a shower and they did a decent job except they left the existing in-wall soap holder. Well, it wasn't quite water-tight around it and some of the tiles started getting "squishy" because the wall was wet behind them. I decide to fix the problem by removing the tiles and replacing the backboard in the damaged areas then tiling over where the soap holder was. Turns out that soap holder was only held in by some crumpled newspaper with some sort of glue on it...
Anyway, I get the tiles off without breaking any and I start removing the squishy back board. Everything went well until I moved 1 stud over...as soon as I made a small hole... ANTS! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, SO MANY ANTS! The lil bastards came spilling forth from the wall like that elevator scene from the Shining. Mind you, this is like 1am and I'm exhausted because I wanted to get stuff done so it could set/dry overnight... My brain took a minute to wake up and realize what's happening. Fight or flight time! "Die you bastards!" I ran for some bug spray and soaked the whole tub. Twitching ant carcasses littered the floor. I doused the hole and even put some granular poison in there before plugging it with a paper towel and calling it quits for the night. Defeated, I shut the door and even put a towel under it. I half-expected to wake up covered in ants.
The next day, the ants in the tub lie motionless. I slowly removed the paper towel from the hole. Nothing... I was able to remove that chunk of wall and then proceed to patching everything up like new. Got 'er re-tiled and looks fine. (other than slight color difference in new tiles for the soap holder spot).
Moral of the story: Don't go poking around trying to fix stuff or you'll just uncover more problems. Just let it be until you can't stand it then sell the house.
@medz good lord, that's like my worst nightmare.
@medz I had a similar problem. We had ants, but I have had ants before. It turns out these were carpenter ants, and they eat damaged wood. We had a leak around a door and had to have the living room floor replaced. So my advice, learn to tell the difference between sugar ants and carpenter ants- they are telling you something.
@hollboll We had a wall full of yellow jackets too. The exterminator kept punching holes and spraying, and the little bastards had taken over the entire garage wall. Eew.
@sammydog01 nooooooooooooo
My wife and I are currently in our second home. Our first home was purchased about 3 months after we were married and we knew going in that it wouldn't be ideal for the long term. Because we knew this going in, we were able to mentally make a list of the things we wanted in our next (and hopefully final) home.
We learned a lot in our first home. You may think you know what you want in your home. Then you buy it and realize the things you wanted weren't really what you needed. For example, we bought our first home because it was an awesome price, and conveniently located to our employer. It was a newer house and in a new development. There weren't any trees (apparently, they bulldoze everything nowadays). We learned that trees in the yard are something we both really wanted to have. Sure, we planted trees in the yard, and I'm sure the current owner is going to be able to enjoy them... in another 15 years. Take note of the top 5 things you want in a home and rank them in order. For example, granite countertops -- but if the kitchen is nice, granite isn't that expensive to have installed.
Buy a house with good bones. If your house has foundation issues,, design flaws, has water issues when it rains, or even just a poor lay-out, it'll be a bad investment in the long run. Everything else in the house can be fixed and updated fairly easily. The price of the updates may vary depending on how much DIY you want to do, but we'll get to that.
Don't fret about the fixtures or paint on the walls. If you're getting your house for a bargain, you can plan on updating a lot of stuff. Great news, though: It's not real difficult to do yourself, and you'll save a boatload. Painting a room or changing out a light switch or fixture isn't that difficult. Even changing out a toilet isn't too hard as long as there aren't any underlying issues. Flooring is a little more difficult, but with a few proper tools, anyone can do it. There are tons of YouTube videos available on how to DIY correctly. Some things might require a professional, but if you're handy, you can do most (or all) of them yourself. There are certain things that I know how to do, but absolutely hate. Our new roof was going to cost $8500, and about half of that was labor. I realized that I'd roof a house, despite my hatred for roofing to save $4000.
Don't go house poor. You got preapproved for a loan. You've been assured by the bank that you can afford it, but let's face it. No amount of number crushing will ever tell the full story. Have you considered the price of utilities? What if something in the house breaks? Want to go on vacation? Have a habit for new tech? Maybe you just like to shop. Buy a house that will still allow you to live comfortably even when life gets in the way
Get a home inspection. I can't reiterate this nearly enough. A good inspector will find things wrong that you never dreamed of. Most of the time, it's nothing major, but when you find out the seal plates have termite damage or the foundation is sinking, you'll be glad you paid for the inspection. Even if they don't find anything that would steer you away from the house, you might be able to use your inspection report as leverage to get the seller to give you a discount on the price, or throw in that appliance or piece of furniture you loved so much.
Location. Don't buy a house in an area that's converting into commercial property, unless you want to live next door to a future Shell station or McDonald's. Do some research on the area, and think about the schools if you have or plan on having children.
Get an estimate on the cost of utilities and insurance. We were shocked when we got our first power bill on our new house. Holy shit! How can it be that high? Fortunately, we knew going in that it would be that high. You can call the local utilities companies and ask what the average price has been during the last 12 months. You can even get a breakdown. The power/gas bill will also reveal a lot about how energy efficient the home is.
If you can afford it, don't settle for less than what you wanted. My wife and I were approved for a $150k loan on our home, which would buy a really nice house in this area. The problem with buying a house at the top of your approval amount is you're probably buying a turnkey house that someone else updated. Someone else chose what doors and trim went in it. Someone else chose the cabinets and counter tops in the kitchen. Someone else chose the light fixtures. Someone else chose every little detail, which means you're not going to get what you wanted. We would have owned a house that we couldn't have afforded to change (house poor). So, after discussing it, my wife and I opted to go for a much lower-priced and very neglected house. Fortunately, there were several to choose from at the time. We found a very large, outdated and neglected house in a really nice neighborhood for under $100k. The payments were low enough that we were able to afford to fix it up exactly the way we wanted. We've spent a lot of time and money fixing it up over the past 4 years. We changed out every electrical and plumbing fixture, put on a new roof and gutters, gutted and redid the kitchen, installed a new heat pump, put down new flooring, new trim, new doors, new windows and painted every square inch of walls. The best part is that we still haven't invested as much in this house as we would have if we had tapped out our preapproval amount.
Make it yours. I'll be honest. We looked at this house 5 times before we decided we were willing to grit and bear through the huge undertaking of refinishing everything. This house was so awful and in such bad disrepair (which is why it was priced in the manner it was). It's probably the best decision we ever made. I've learned so much and now have the know-how to fix anything that can go wrong in a house. Is it my dream house? Maybe not, but it's pretty damn close! To me, that's a huge victory.
@capguncowboy super solid advice. I agree on a lot of those points. We're planning on going for something like 10-15% less than what we were approved for. We're hoping to have something partially updated/ able to be moved into with the understanding that to make it our home we'll want to do some of our own upgrades (like flooring and countertops).
Make sure you hire an independent, PROFESSIONAL home inspector. Do not use whoever your Realtor suggests. I found out the hard way. The Realtor recommended inspector was offering SPIF to the Realtor for referrals, then neglecting to mention some items of interest to make for a quick, smooth transaction. In my case, the inspector wasn't qualified to inspect foundations, and overlooked what was later pointed out by contractors as very obvious signs of major foundation flaws. In my state there was no recourse.
Lesson learned. Find my own inspector. Check the inspector's credentials, certifications and professional affiliations, and ask for a guarantee/warranty (some inspectors offer a form of insurance to guarantee certain major components such as foundations, termite infestation, etc).
Before anything else, look for a map showing 'Section 8 housing'. No matter what a gem your house is, there is an unfortunate tendency of public housing apartments to feature unruly tenants. Group homes are something else to be aware of.
Assuming you're not buying a brand new home, be wary of houses that have been 'flipped' as they often look beautiful at first, but have really shoddy workmanship.
We bought our townhouse two years ago, and when we were shown it, we fell in love. The young couple had upgraded the little kitchen with nice upgraded counters, backsplash, upgraded sinks and stone tile. I fell in love. The basement walkout was made into a gorgeous little patio under the second story deck. It had built-in benches and the patio 'floor' was bricked. It was adorable! There were other little touches and upgrades and we were sold on it all. However, it didn't take long once we bought it to realize that they had done ALL of the work themselves and didn't know what the hell they were doing. Now, a lot of my tile in the kitchen is cracked because the subflooring was uneven or something and it wasn't laid right. The brick patio also wasn't laid properly and it wasn't long before the bricks closest to the house started sinking, causing the benches to lean up against the foundation and against the solid part of the sliding glass door. My husband had to dismantle them.
Also, do a very thorough walk-through right before closing. We weren't as careful and realized too late that they had somehow managed to knock holes into the back of several doors at some point between our initial showings and the walk-through. We only noticed it after we were in a room with the door shut.
Finally, this wasn't an issue for us, but our realtor warned us not to take out ANY new loans for anything until after closing. She said she had quite a few sales fall apart at closing because people went out the day before and ordered a bunch of furniture on credit for their new home. They will run your credit and financials again right before closing, and if you've bought a new car, or suddenly maxed out your credit cards, or taken out a new line of credit, you can kiss your mortgage loan goodbye.
@PurplePawprints on top of this don't go in the evening if it gets dark early. Walk around the outside of buildings to check for new damage. There is a ramshackle old building on my property that I knew was unsafe going into purchasing but looked like it could be ok until I could afford to take it down. The previous owners decided to make a huge hole in one of the walls to remove things they had stored in there which has made the building much more dangerous. Unfortunately I missed this in my walkthrough and was unable to make the seller accountable for it.
Pick a realtor carefully and be aware the "prequalification amount" they provide you means you will not be shown a house in that ballpark. If you are qualified for 200K, you'll see nothing but stuff just a little outside. Also have fun with it. When we bought our house four Star Wars ago I told the realtor I would not buy any house in a neighborhood with two Camaros in it. She thought I was kidding until the third house she showed us failed that past and I passed. She was pissed but it was solid reason. Multiple Camaros = inevitable multiple Camaros on the front lawn.
@poppaearl My most-hated neighbors always have four cars in their driveway; two are for parts, but they're parked facing outward so housing inspectors can't cite the owners for expired license plates. Technically they have four tires, and they're only flat on one side.
@hollboll Like others said, get a good home inspector. BUT, don’t be scared off by prior foundation repair - if it has a transferable warranty from a reputable company. Farmers Branch and Carrollton have notoriously shifty soil, so it’s a given that if it hasn’t been lifted, it will need it at some point.
Pier and Beam is a plus IMHO, easier cheaper plumbing repairs - and you can age your home-brew in the crawl space!
Older construction in the Dallas area has nice charm. My 1961 tract home in Farmers Branch is retro chic, has a decent sized yard, big trees and gas appliances. By 1975, the tract homes here all have popcorn ceilings and shell shaped sinks. By the 90’s all the tract homes started to become zero lot line and less access to gas in newer burbs.
Put as much $$ down as possible, no less than 10%. If you get an 80/10/10 loan, you won’t have to pay mortgage insurance. Look at city taxes and schools. Find out if the house is part of an HOA, personally, I will never live under an HOA.
In addition to the camaro test and the section 8 lookup, see if/how many houses around are rent houses. It sucks to have ever rotating rental neighbors.
If looking at an older neighborhood, see what kind of trees it has. Try to stay away from ash, bradford pear and other fast growing, short lifespan trees.
@bluebeatpete solid advice, didn't even think about seeing if there's rentals in the area. I've got lots more to add to my list in our search!
Someone mentioned it earlier but the orientation of the home is important, especially in a hot climate. The deck in our backyard faces east, which is perfect, warm sun in the morning and cool shade on the evening. I have been to some of our neighbors backyards in the evening and the ones that face west are brutal. I can't even sit for more than 15 or 20 minutes in the blazing afternoon sun. We got lucky because we did not even consider this but believe me, if the house has some area that you would like to spend large amounts of time in the afternoon, don't have it face west.
@njack26 super good point, especially since it gets hotter in the later day here.
As someone who did this very recently, heres some tips I wish I had been given:
Start collecting recommendations for good contractors! While buying, I had 2 days to find a reliable roofer. Something broke our first week here, and I had to find a new plumber, on a holiday weekend. I still haven't found a good floor guy.
Keep track of all your money. I made a spreadsheet to show how much liquid funds we had, how different fees would cost, etc. Don't forget to put new furniture you would need on this list - I made this mistake and we now have large unusable rooms waiting for couches/chairs/beds.
Don't put all your money into the down payment! There will be surprises, there will be fees, so keep a few thousand dollars extra on hand throughout the process. No house is perfect, instead focus on what is close enough & what you can afford to fix. Paint is cheap, floors are more expensive but not too bad. If there is something you really want/need (fireplace, stove, jacuzzi, whatever it is), call up some vendors before you start looking at houses to get an idea of how much it might cost to add. Bring those people in to give a real estimate if you are serious about a house. You can make a good house an incredible house by investing a little after you buy it - but make sure to leave a cushion for when something inevitably breaks.
Keep in mind the scale of all the costs while bargaining. I got into a battle over $1000 with the former owner. My lawyer was shocked when I gave in - until I pointed out that backing away from the deal & finding a different house would cost me more than just accepting the $1000 loss.
Don't panic! Home ownership is a big move, theres a lot of money and legal documents involved. It can get scary, but just take a deep breath on lean heavily on your team - lawyer, realtor, etc. You should be working with people you trust, people who do this every day of the week, who are used to guiding people like you through it.
Good luck!
@MrGlass When I was under contract on my house, I had my agent write an addendum acknowledging the faults from the inspection report, which protected the seller. I'll take the faulty HVAC, leaking sinks, damaged trim, and leaking underground water main when all the new listings in the area at the time were $25+k higher to start!
(I was at market price when I entered a month before).