Things to know when buying a house?

[Ruffdaddy]

How much do you have to make per month to consider buying just figure I ask

That depends on way too many things for a simple answer. Debt, spending habits, house desired...etc all matter. The House payment isn't near the entire expense.

[red95gts]

Seriously? Do you live in the Houston area? I have been looking online and i was attracted to that area because the houses have big lots and land.

What are some areas in Northeast Houston that are kinda "country" that are considered nice? I just moved here in July and I'm still not sure what parts are nice and what parts are not. I'm wanting something with a little land and close to my work (the woodlands) byt want to stay south of the woodlands.

No, we moved back home to OKC. Don't get me wrong - there are definitely worse areas than Humble in the Houston metro area. But, looking toward the future, Humble is on the decline. Don't know if you have kids, but if so - school districts should be part of what you take a look at.

If I worked in The Woodlands, I would be looking in the Conroe/Magnolia area rather than Humble, especially if you want land. We rushed into a home purchase and later came to regret it to some degree so I say this from experience - don't feel obligated to buy a home now, especially if funds are at all tight. Nothing wrong with renting a house for a while and really figuring out what you want and where you want to live. Not trying to discourage you, but I wish that's what we would have done when we moved there....

Good Luck!

[SVT Lurch]

Finding a hard nosed experienced Realtor is the key. It can mean the difference between paying or not paying closing cost in a lot of cases, especially for first time buyers. And much more in regards to them footing the bill for repairs/retrofitting, etc.. And you'll love that first time home buyer tax credit. We have always used TurboTax and we were thoroughly impressed. Feels weird to affirm something positive about the Federal Govt., but it works out well in that scenario.

Agreed on realtor...though I believe they stopped the tax credit some time ago.

Correct, ended last year and has no signs/mumblings of returning.

Good grief you have no idea. Don't get in a rush, Lender's certainly don't.

We can close in 2 weeks.

How much do you have to make per month to consider buying just figure I ask

Eleventy billion. Seriously, you want your total debt (credit card minimum payments, student loans, car payments, full house payment, etc. ) to be less than 40% of your gross (pre-tax) income. If you have good credit we can sometimes go up to 45% or 50%, but 40% is the ideal range.

[crapstang]

key tip: take a dump on the floor and tell them to come around the corner and ask why hobos take shits in the house, 50% discount!!!

[Couver]

Take the time you have and use it well. Get pre-approved! I was neurotic to say the least when I bought a house last summer. I used Nate and Trey and could not have had a better experience. They were both great. Use Trey for the money end and I wish Nate could hook you up down there. Just target the area where you want to live and have fun with it. I was shitty to Nate a few times but thank god he never punched me in the suck.... Not hard just jump in and in the end what you look at picture it as the last place you ever want to live short of a lotto win....

[Real Estate Nate]

Buuutttt, you left out the part where we found an incredible house at an insane price!

We sure DAMN DID!

Was that one of the ones we walked in and said, "errrr, nope, not this one" and left?

Nope, that part was pretty $weet! : )

Remember that HUge ass house that had the in-ground trampoline in the backyard?????

[tito]

Plan on buying a house in four months and never owned one before. Guess I'm on here to get any advise on mistakes that might have happend with your purchase or move, how to go about it, what all you need to make sure is done...etc. I'm totally clueless when it comes to this stuff.

Ditto on all the get pre-approved stuff. But this isn't actually as dire as people make it out to be. The best money saving tip I can give you is negotiate. This doesn't just apply to the house but negotiate the percentage the realtor collects as well as the fee collected by your loan officer.

[pr1042]

As said above, get a good home inspector but also go over the house yourself. We were on a severe time crunch and figured he would catch everything. Dumb mistake on our part.

Still would have wanted the house but we would have structured the offer to include more repairs. We learned a lot from buying this first one and it will help when we are ready to move.

[idrivea4banger]

Dude stop trying to turn everything into drama...It was a simple question.

Thats an HUD owned home btw BOY*. And 14K is no trivial amount.

EDIT: and so you know why I mention foreclosures or similar properties...it's because she only has 4 months. Think a little about her situation instead of focusing on shit talking people in every post you make.

Oh don't mind him. He feels he's entitled to talk down to everyone and call them "boy".

[ImayBblack]

No, we moved back home to OKC. Don't get me wrong - there are definitely worse areas than Humble in the Houston metro area. But, looking toward the future, Humble is on the decline. Don't know if you have kids, but if so - school districts should be part of what you take a look at.

If I worked in The Woodlands, I would be looking in the Conroe/Magnolia area rather than Humble, especially if you want land. We rushed into a home purchase and later came to regret it to some degree so I say this from experience - don't feel obligated to buy a home now, especially if funds are at all tight. Nothing wrong with renting a house for a while and really figuring out what you want and where you want to live. Not trying to discourage you, but I wish that's what we would have done when we moved there....

Good Luck!

Yeah, i plan on puttng my daughter in private school. Seems like all the school districts here are not good. I need to stay southwest of the woodlands for certain reasons.

[ELVIS]

Yeah, i plan on puttng my daughter in private school. Seems like all the school districts here are not good. I need to stay southwest of the woodlands for certain reasons.

whaaa? im a product of aldine isd and look how awesome i am! you looking around humble atascocita, and or kingwood?

god bless.

[talisman]

whaaa? im a product of aldine isd and look how awesome i am! you looking around humble atascocita, and or kingwood?

god bless.

Does Ashley have a neck tattoo yet?

[ImayBblack]

whaaa? im a product of aldine isd and look how awesome i am! you looking around humble atascocita, and or kingwood?

god bless.

Yes, seems like the only place that has big lots or a little land. All the houses i have seen online are nice, so im not sure how it can be to ghetto.

I just want a big yard and not a cookie cutter house. Need to stay east of 45 but not too far from the woodlands.

[ImayBblack]

Does Ashley have a neck tattoo yet?

Yeah on the back lol

[ELVIS]

Yes, seems like the only place that has big lots or a little land. All the houses i have seen online are nice, so im not sure how it can be to ghetto.

I just want a big yard and not a cookie cutter house. Need to stay east of 45 but not too far from the woodlands.

have you looked in spring? also i know you said east of 45, but west of 45 at 2920, (think the cypress area) there are a ton of homes. and that is still on a few minutes from the woodlands.

god bless.