Ive been looking at real estate lately... looking at some nice houses. Im 20 years old, like to travel and work on my car. So far ive been looking at houses in the 300-350k range. Ive found a few ive really liked but i dont know anyone who would want to be a roomate and pay about 700+ for rent a month. And i sure dont want to pay 1800+ payments alone, especially when im not home half the year. Basically, i want something in a nice area with about an acre of land, and a huge garage. Other than that, it just has to be a nice house. My question is, how old were you all when you purchased your first home? What mistakes did you make, and if you could redo something, what would that be? Any little things i should know? ... I wouldnt buy for atleast a year, need to save up the down payment and finish my car. And so far, all the houses below 300k im not interested in, lol... i like good sized extravigant houses .. huge main doorways, stone pillars, etc.. just big. Has anyone gotten a house over 2500sq with 1 acre and new, for under 300?



Thanks Im new to houses and i figured some of you might be able to help.

 

Dang son. What do you do to get that amount of cashflow anyhow?



Come to Manitoba, there are plenty of houses like what you describe for 150k US. Of course you might not want to live here



J

 

haha.. I'm in the market too.. for less than 250k I can get a 1.5 car garage, 1900 sq ft yard with a 1000 sq ft house. I hate the market..

 

all i can tell you is that if you can afford it (it looks like you can) definitely get a detached house with a garage as opposed to a small duplex with a driveway. I've had bad luck with neighbors and i hate not having a garage.



if you have good credit, a good income/debt ratio, and your income can afford the monthly payments, you're good to go. good luck!

 

I dont have alot of credit, but the credit i do have is good. Im only 20. Ive payed off 2 loans early, 1 being a 15k loan, i have 2 credit cards that i use and never miss payments ... all to build credit. Im looking for house with atleast an acre lot so i dont have to worry about neighbors if say, i want to work on my car at 3am. *shrug* so basically if you can afford it, youre good to go?

 

$1800 a month for a 300-350K house?



im borrowing $240,000 at 6 3/8 - I had to take out a different loan because I have too much undeclared income, and my payments with taxes are going to be $2000 a month. Granted taxes are about $400 a month. What are taxes in your area? Non existant I guess?



buy a house as soon as you can if you meet the following requirements: you should have your job at least 2 years, have a medium FICO score of at least 680, with NO judgements on your credit report, and have on the books income that has been steady for a few years. Bank statements for the last 12 months or so that show your spending/monthly bills. Your debt to income ratio should be about 30%. Good thing is they figure out your debt to income ration before taxes.



You can as a first time home buyer buy a house with as little as 3%, some even lower but your credit better be incredible for one of those. Plus you will need closing costs, not sure where you live but here in NY its about 6%, in my case about $14,000 or so. You pay insurance for any loan which you dont put 20% down on, called PMI, its not bad though- about $75-$100 a month.

Be sure to factor in heating,electic,food,phone,repairs and other monthly expenses such as car insurance and what not so you dont end up in a hole.

 

In this area you should wait a few more months, the prices are going to drop quite a bit.

 

Thanks for the good info rob. The price i got was from one of the financing calculators. With a 20% down payment on a 300k home. I think i will start looking in the 250-290 range. .. like i said, it wont be for almost another year or more. Gotta finish the car first :-D thats the important stuff.. lol

 

I used to live in a 2800 sq ft house. It was with 2 other people. 5 rooms. 2 living rooms and 4 bathrooms. It only cost 180k. It was brand new too. Then my om got a divorce and realized she hated cleanign such a big hosue and the cost of cooling and heating the damn thing cost too much. We were never home and felt like we needed something smaller. So we bought a 1500 sq ft home and it is still kinda big for 2 people. As for the cost of the big house we were paying $600 a month after a 30k downpayment. My advice is to look at a smaller house. You dont need all that space and the bill will add up to keep it the way you want it.

 

Good god man, it must be expensive to live out there. I have a 1800 SQ foot house on 1.5 acres, 2 car garage and lake access on an all-sports lake and I only paid $150k.



Now I feel good, lol...