How to own my own home
How I did it: We started looking for our first house two years ago. We were living in an apartment with roommates at the time and had no idea what was involved in getting a house. First, we worked with a rather shady real estate agent who tried to talk us into an ARM. This was right before the whole mortgage market meltdown began, so I'm really glad we didn't stay with that guy long. Still, the initial search gave us a good idea of what was available in our area, how much money we needed to save, etc. Then we got a Realtor! A friend recommended her, and she showed us tons of houses. We saw a lot that were in pretty bad condition because they were foreclosures and short sales. We had a couple false alarms. We got declined for a loan at one point, but we just kept working on saving money, paying off debt and finding the perfect place for us. When we finally found it, it was a short sale, but it was in good condition. Because of all the chaos in the markets, it took NINE MONTHS to complete the sale, but as of yesterday, we are new homeowners.
Lessons & tips: 1- Take your time looking.
2- Work with a Realtor you trust -- ask homeowners you know who they worked with.
3- Look closely at every number when you go to closing. There may be surprises, and the bank doesn't always account for things you've already paid.
4- BE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND YOUR LOAN. We got an FHA loan, which is great, but there were some catches we didn't know about till the last minute. Our process would've been better if we'd known some of those things.
5- If you can avoid short sales and foreclosed homes, do. They aren't that well taken care of, and there are a ton of hoops to jump through.
Resources: Realtor, recommended by a friend.
