Related Posts
Conversation Starter
Enthusiast
If you have cash that you want to invest. Please consider Treasury Series I Savings Bond (Electronic). Interest is 7.12% right now. While it's not guaranteed that the 7.12% will remain until next year, it's still a good deal.
My SO and I just invested 20k (10k max per person even married).
https://www.treasurydirect.gov/indiv/products/prod_ibonds_glance.htm
Mentor
More Posts
After 3.6 years is 16lpa a good salary?
Rising Star
Conversation Starter
Anonymous User
Do you always need an MBA to get into MBB?
Additional Posts in Consulting
Fi-nance or Fin-nance?
What role actually does financial modeling??
Love these posts
New to Fishbowl?
Download the Fishbowl app to
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
Owning a house is a lot of work. You’re going have a backlog of things you want to do to the house and the projects never seem to end. I’ve owned my house for 2 years. I kinda wish I would rented a little bit longer (though rental pricing is bonkers right now)
Where did you buy?
Don’t put down your entire savings for down payment. Set aside at least 10-20k for renovation/fixes.
Pro
It really depends on location and price point. Im in Philadelphia and while the market is pretty hot, most homes aren't going above ask but are just moving very quickly. Even within the Philly market certain neighborhoods are hotter than others but I'm not hearing of (and neither is my agent) waiving inspections
Just remember that you can change a lot about the inside of the house, but you can't change where the house is located. Don't get hung up because the guest bathroom is "ugly" or "outdated". That can easily be fixed. As long as you are happy with the size and general layout of the place and WHERE it's located, you should be good.
Always bring someone with no real vested interest along with you (friend, cousin, etc.). They will let you know if they see anything wrong with the place from an outsiders point of view. One can often be blind to glaring problems because they like a house SO MUCH. Do an inspection and take notes and ask lots of questions.
EY is correct.
Owning a house is, in general, a better financial investment than renting, but it's not easy or cheap. Don't think you're gonna make oodles and oodles of money.
At the same time don't be scared: being a home owner isn't complex or hard, your career is 100x more difficult thank homeownership.
Make sure you have extra cash stowed away for emergencies and other expenses you didn't think about (snow removal, grass cutting, leaf cleaning, etc)
Find a handyman you trust and can rely on. You'll have lots of little things to work on, and having someone too can trust to help you will take a lot of weight off your shoulders.
Finally a fun tip: when viewing a potential new home, go around and check your phone reception. Better to know in advance if you'll have dead spots.
Rising Star
There are a lot of things you'll need to buy, and even more that you'll need to fix. Catalog, prioritize and schedule those things out asap.
Buy the cheapest house (within reason) in the best neighborhood you can afford (vs the best house in cheapest neighborhood). ESPECIALLY If you have kids that will be attending public school. The second and third order effects of your kid being surrounded by other kids with successful parents will compound throughout their life.
Really think about priorities of “must haves” and “nice to haves.” Once you do that analysis, it will save you a lot of time not looking at houses that don’t meet your criteria. Pay extra attention to things you can’t easily change, e.g., location/school district, commute time, house/lot size, number of bedrooms/bathrooms, garage, etc.
It's important to like the neighborhood AND the house.. plus landscaping and irrigation are more expensive than you think so dont discount whether you like the plants, deck already installed. Those are the least professional group of contractors and subs I've had to deal with for my home.
Also, pay attention to the houses/people who are next door, behind your house, etc. Drive by more than a few times to learn about how well your area maintains itself.
Homeownership is much more expensive than the real estate industry indicates, so do the math for yourself. And even with a new build, get everything inspected: plumbing, roof, foundation, electrical up front. While you don't have to fix everything, it's good to have inspector info before calling services folks, who are always going to "surprise " you.
Pro
You're gonna live at the hardware store. Just keep a running list and embrace it. If you can afford it, fix big stuff (like redoing floors) before you move in. I couldn't afford that, so I'm gonna have to deal with moving all my stuff around for four-ish days to get the new floors installed.
Also, before you move, do yourself a favor and really go through your stuff as you pack. I wound up with three boxes of miscellaneous crap that I ran out of time to sort through - big mistake. In a house with more space, it's really easy to just stick things in a closet rather than deal with them.
Additionally, don't commit to buying a ton of furniture immediately. I've rearranged the house multiple times and it wound up way different than I would have expected based on my impressions on move-in.
Be honest with yourself and it what you can live with for a few years and what needs immediate fixing. My ac/furnace/water heater were all 20 years old. I replaced all before moving in because even though I could have waited, the risk was too high. We wound up having a terrible winter, so I'm glad I had a new furnace. Meanwhile I'm putting off stuff like replacing the windows because they aren't *that foggy* yet.
Last thing, you'll always have a list of crap to do. Give yourself some grace and fix what's needed and tinker on the rest.
D1, completely agree. I’m Home Depot’s b$&@* now.
Following!
For the UK - figure out how much stamp duty is before the purchase - we rushed around trying to find extra money on top of deposit, legal fees etc.
Find a reliable handyman. I do tons myself but some things are just better (electrical), easier (dumb stuff like high ceiling chandelier change), or faster (just too long a list) to have someone else do it. Also I’d make a list of your wish list pretty early on and try to knock off the top things quickly. It will make it feel more like yours.
When buying… learn how to inspect a house yourself. Inspectors can help but you really should understand things like water damage issues, poor renovation flags, etc.
Chief
Always get a house inspected and radon-tested. A lot of people have been waiving those lately with the market being crazy right now and it's biting them in the butt.
We've lived in our new house almost 3 months and did most of the advice here (save for furnishings/renovations, have a priority list, focus on the expensive or non-changeable things, etc.), and we are really glad for it.
You're also going to be exhausted those first few months, so do a little bit every day after getting the big stuff where you want it. It'll keep you from getting too overwhelmed.
Don’t buy more house than you can afford. Identify a range and stay within it. It can be very easy to chase the nice features and end up above your budget when emotions come into play.
The only tip you need in this market is prepared to pay more than the asking price for most homes/markets and eliminate contingencies. That's the unfortunate situation of buying a home now. Good luck!
Call the utilities BEFORE you move in to make sure they’re hooked up (lessons learned the hard way… didn’t have hot water for three weeks!)
If you can afford it:
1. Put 20-25% down payment. This helps a lot on mortgage rate and payment.
2. Shop around for mortgage. Rate differs a lot at different banks/brokers. 15 years rate is lower than 30 years.
3. Use a good inspector. You don’t want to buy a lemon.
4. Negotiate.
#2!! It is amazing to me how many people think they can’t shop mortgages OR go through the process with a couple lenders at the same time. If you love a lender but their rate is higher than another one you find, ask them to match it. Ultimately they want your business and it never hurts anything to ask.
Pro
Everything is negotiable and be patient. You will likely never be in this same situation again where you aren't on a timeline where you need to buy by X since you aren't tethered to another house. Don't settle.