Housing Advice

Hey everyone,

I'm hoping to be a position soon where I can afford my first place to live (as in own it) and wanted to get some advice from others of you who have done the first time home buying thing. I'm probably not looking at a house, more a condo or co-op - has anyone ever been in a co-op and what was it like?

I'm on a single income so besides the mortgage, fees and utilities is there anything else I might need to worry about in terms of paying out right away? I hear a lot of horror stories about closing costs, etc...and people paying way more than they expected. And would you pay more for location (better resale) or more square footage (more comfort)?

Any tips or advice would be really appreciated.

First, congrats on being disciplined enough to get in a financial position where you can buy a home on your own

On condos and townhomes, you should look into the resale value and how hard/long it would take to actually sell it. I know in my particular ares it's hard to move condos and townhomes but that may not be the case where you live.

Don't know anything about co-ops.

Aside from a mortgage pymt and closing costs (which can be rolled into your mortgage) you might have to pay for a survey of the property if the home is older and doesn't have a recent one on record with the county.

There's the Ernest money, too.

You'll want to hire an inspector for sure and that means you'll most likely be splitting repair costs with the seller.

If you don't already have utilities in your name, some will require a deposit to start up the service.

You may also have some community fees to pay.

You'll need to decide (and looking at some properties might help) if you are interested more in location or sq ft. How much space does one person really need? The bigger the place the more there is to clean and maintain. Do you prefer to be closer to downtown and or work?

I'd suggest searching the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) for properties in your area to start getting an idea of what you are looking for.

Good luck!

congrats and good luck! make sure you compare hoa (home owner's association) fees when you look at different condos. they can vary a lot in terms of the monthly expense and in terms of what it covers.

Hey! Congrats on taking that 1st step!
BF said some really good points.
I do not know much anything about a co-op?
As BF said, Especially condos, and townhomes are a little harder to move, value doesnot go up as fast as a house, but is easier maintenace (no yeard, etc.) You will have toi pay an HOA Home Owners Association bill every month for the exterior up keep on the home / community.

I am a realtor in Colorado Springs, so laws and reg differ from state to state.
If you want some basic info, check out my web site: www.mikespeakhomes.com , click on 'dream home finder' and look for the 'buyer's tips' tab.
Don't laugh @ the ugly pic of me either.
thank you.

Thanks for all the great advice so far. One of my clients happens to be a realtor so I've had her looking for me. A co-op is apparantly like a condo except you own part of the building along with everyone else who lives there so you all share in costs, etc...sounds like a good deal because you can get a bigger place cheaper.

I couldn't believe it when I looked at my budget and realized I could afford to buy hopefully within the next three months - pretty cool feeling. I'm all growed up.

Thanks for the site Burner, I'm going to check it out - I'm not so obsessed with resale value at this point, more building the equity, which I know is important. Keep the advice coming!

Great Advice Butterfly-- Perfect

I work at a mortgage co... so feel free to ask away

However Butterfly Covered it perfect!

And Congratulations!!!

If you buy a house, don't forget about termit inspection(usually required) and around here usually costs about $100. And don't forget about furnishing your place. You could spend 10-20k easy furnishing a home. Then there are taxes unless you include that in your payment. I would certainly get in an area you like. If you don't, even if you have a dream house, you won't be happy.