Home buying [Archive] - Brew City Muscle

LIL EVO

03-26-2007, 06:14 PM

I am going to be buying a home by July of this year.

I have been pre-approved for a loan along with a $4400 grant to cover the down payment.

I work in Racine, grew up in Waukesha Co. my whole life. At first I wanted to find a house somewhere around Racine/Sturtevant/Mt Pleasant, but after thinking about it, I may want to stay in Waukesha county.

The only "need" I have is a big garage with enough parking in the driveway, etc for plenty of toys.

2-3 bedroom house, other than that I really don't have any more needs.

With that said, those who have already been through this process, what should I look for in a house?

My sister works for a realtor so she sends me updated lists of all the houses on the market. Within that entity is a buyers agent who knows my sisters boss well and a mortage guy at Pyramax bank that approved me for everything.

Actually finding a house won't be too much of a problem, but what long-term things should I look into before saying, "I want this house"?

Anyone know of any decent houses in the area?

Silver03SRT

03-26-2007, 06:20 PM

Im in the same boat you are in. I want to buy a house or condo with the next year. How did you go about getting a grant for your down payment?

UnderPSI

03-26-2007, 06:22 PM

The biggest thing you can do is look at A LOT of houses. I would go and see around 6 every weekend. Seeing them on the internet is one thing, but when you actually go and see a ton of houses it makes it that much easier to figure out which style, location, condtion that fits your needs.

One thing I found on my adventures at three different houses is that they "finished" the basement with that cheap paneling to cover a cracked foundation. I asket to see what was behind the panel and they wouldn't let me look. So pop up a celing tile and you could see the cracks running all the way up.

Look for the big dollar items when you are buying, Does it need a roof, furnace, siding, driveway, windows, ect. and figure that into your buying budget.

LIL EVO

03-26-2007, 06:22 PM

Mortgage guy at the bank told me about it. Just ask someone. The funds "just" became available this month from the govt. or whoever dishes it out. First time homebuyer thing I believe.

Karps TA

03-26-2007, 07:39 PM

Taxes, makes sure you check the tax rate and any hidden taxes like sewer and water. You'll find living in any City your taxes will be higher. I live in Muskego, my folks live in Vernon 4 miles away. They have twice the size home on 5 times the amount of land and pay $1000 less a year in taxes. If you add in my sewer bill, which had gone up over $330 a year since I've moved here 4 years ago, it's nearly $2000 less. You'll most likely be escrowing that in your mortgage payment, so that will add up quickly. A $4000 tax bill will be adding $300+ a month to your payment.

Also if you're preapproved for say $250,000 don't go looking at just $240,000 homes. Cause houses are expensive, and stuff will bother you until you change it. Appliances, painting, plumbing, flooring, etc... that stuff adds up fast. I've dumped probably $20G's into my place atleast since moving in. But it's a pretty good investment seeing the value of the house went up $70G's doing it.

Lash

03-26-2007, 07:58 PM

Just because you are 'pre-approved' for a certain ammount does not mean you can afford it. Well....you can afford it if you stick every penny you have into the payment. Sometimes it's nice to have a life and not be 'house broke'.

ALWAYS have a home inspector check out a house you really like.
I can give you the name of a really good inspector if you want it.

Reverend Cooper

03-26-2007, 08:02 PM

the biggest thing i can recc. is a trusted home inspector. pay for it it may save you thousands later

Yooformula

03-26-2007, 08:25 PM

Get a TRUSTED home inspector. There are alot of hacks out there! As Brad said, figure in your big dollar items that will need replacing within the first year. That year goes by really fast!

Berettaspeed

03-26-2007, 09:23 PM

make sure you know the city laws too. some suburbs your not allow to park in your driveway over night.. what crap eh.

Slow Joe

03-26-2007, 09:37 PM

I've got a question... Where would you guys go for home loans?? We've been looking around at houses but are f%$@%#$ clueless on alot of stuff that deals with houses...

Karps TA

03-26-2007, 09:41 PM

I just went to my bank.

Many people go to credit unions for their first mortgage. They usually have less stringent qualifications then normal banks do, and even better rates. I'd say most my friends are all thru Landmark.

Lash

03-26-2007, 09:43 PM

I love Landmark Credit Union.

I've gotten multiple car loans through them and now 2 home loans. They are pretty helpfull with any questions too.

awsomeears

03-26-2007, 09:50 PM

Rocket Power

03-26-2007, 09:52 PM

Get a TRUSTED home inspector. There are alot of hacks out there!
That's what the people we bought our house from found out. We had a good one that found stuff the one they had didn't. The wife was crying when she saw the report probably figuring we wouldn't want it anymore, but we still did. Our guy was great and looked at EVERYTHING. Best money I spent on the house

Rocket Power

03-26-2007, 09:55 PM

I've got a question... Where would you guys go for home loans?? We've been looking around at houses but are f%$@%#$ clueless on alot of stuff that deals with houses...We went to a Mortgage broker a friend recommended to us. She worked her ass off to get us done on the original closing date after the other place we went to screwed up and it looked like we would lose out on the house.

Lash

03-26-2007, 09:58 PM

Or the intire Return Duct is missing :banana1:

It's called a plenum return. :thumbsup

:goof

TransAm12sec

03-26-2007, 10:28 PM

make sure you know the city laws too. some suburbs your not allow to park in your driveway over night.. what crap eh.

What suburbs have this rule?

Lash

03-26-2007, 10:41 PM

What suburbs have this rule?

I've heard of no parking on the street....but no parking in your driveway??????

LMAO!!

Really though...I have heard of this. It's the more 'expensive' neighborhoods (gated/estates). They don't like the look of cars sitting all over in drivewyas. They like everybody to be parked in their garages.

y2kws6

03-26-2007, 11:00 PM

"No parking in the driveway" -- Is a new rule in some areas that Jacki and I are looking at, then dissregarded them. Along with if you build, competion of entire house and GRASS within 6 months, must have blah, blah, blah. Must be minimuim 3500 sqft home. etc.

There are many, many rules out there. Mainly in private subdivisions.

One was that the back 12 feet of MY property would be public turf for walking and riding animals, but no 4-wheelers :(~

Dan

fly5150

03-26-2007, 11:13 PM

There is a nice smaller house with a 5.5 car garage for sale in the city of Racine. I havent looked at it but the 5.5 car garge looks nice.

wikked

03-26-2007, 11:41 PM

There is a nice smaller house with a 5.5 car garage for sale in the city of Racine. I havent looked at it but the 5.5 car garge looks nice.

pix? link? info? :)

jbiscuit

03-27-2007, 08:47 AM

Evo....just start going and checking out some homes in your price range. You'll learn really fast that there is a TON of junk out there. A ton! Houses are really expensive for what you get. Evaluate what you can live with as far as: the kitchen is nice but the bedrooms are tiny and the firnace is old etc.....stuff like that. I looked at maybe 50 houses before I bought the one I did. Be prepared to be let down too....I found houses online that sounded awesome till you go look at them and see that the current owner has 5 dogs and the carpeting and all the woodwork is trashed and the yard is a mud hole etc.

Its really exciting and its the best investment you can ever make. Being that you are a car guy, it will better suit your needs to have projects and toys etc....cuz YOU make the rules at your house!

Also don't forget to figure in your utilities etc. The bigger the house, the more it is to heat! I'd suggest for your first house finding a small 2-3 bedroom ranch. 3-bedrooms will be easy to sell down the road but a well maintained 2-bedroom in a nice neighborhood will sell easy also.

My sister lives in sturtevant. Its really nice down there. You get a lot for your money. They have a small 3-bedroom ranch on a HUGE lot with brand new siding, furnace, windows and roof that they paid $145K for last spring....

Good luck man!

J

nitrous

03-27-2007, 10:49 AM

If that house with the 5+ car garage you are talking about is the one I'm thinking of, it has been on the market since we bought our house back in November. Actually it was on the market before we even started looking and we looked for at least 2 months.

Never did go take a look at it though. Doh.

Larrygto

03-27-2007, 11:09 AM

Check the Taxes! I pay almost $7K a year in taxes here in Kenosha.

Silver03SRT

03-27-2007, 11:12 AM

I am leaning more towards a condo cuz I am lazy and dont like shoveling and cutting the grass. The draw back is that you dont gain as much apprecication.

Slow Joe

03-27-2007, 11:19 AM

I am leaning more towards a condo cuz I am lazy and dont like shoveling and cutting the grass. The draw back is that you dont gain as much apprecication.

And you don't really own anything... Other than the floor and walls....

Condo Fees Climb, and you're limited with what you can do...

Krisite and I were looking at condos, but I think we're leaning away from that now after thinking about it more...

jamest

03-27-2007, 11:56 AM

The state program is called a WHEDA loan. WHEDA.com. These are two of the requirements you must meet to qualify.

You need to have good credit. I believe the min. score is 675. Also they look at your gross income. The limit is 66,750. So if you make more of that before taxes then you do not qualify. In addition, any money assests, savings account, 401k helps.

If anyone is interested in speaking to a loan officer let me know. I would be happy to send you the contact info for a loan officer we are currently working with.

floaters

03-27-2007, 12:43 PM

i would hold out and maybe check into that foreclosure thing, they say 1.5million homes going up for foreclosure this year

Berettaspeed

03-27-2007, 09:16 PM

one of the tool guys was telling me that he was not allowed to park his tool truck in his driveway and had to build a garage. now im not sure exactly, but maybe it was just his truck, but from what i understand all their cars had to be garaged overnight. new berlin is where he lives. i could be wrong on all the cars though... its a mac dealer who works on 27th

milwaukee your not allowed to have a car on jackstands over 3 days outside. my dad got some damn ticket last year for that crap. we were pissed. its those little things that you would never think of.

there are also some cool ways of getting around regular residential laws like the guy down the street bought a corner house and its considered commercial zone. it used to be a store or somthing, but he can build almost what ever he wants. for example you can only have a garage X% of your lot or house size. but his taxes are higher. he is builing a 4 car garage its crazy.

Lash

03-27-2007, 09:22 PM

Check the Taxes! I pay almost $7K a year in taxes here in Kenosha.

Well that'll happen when you have a 3500-4000 sq. ft. house on 2 acres with 2000 sq ft of concrete driveway...lol.

But seriously...how big is your house to have taxes that high???

Prince Valiant

03-27-2007, 09:58 PM

When it came to buying my first house, I just looked for something that would jump in value considerably within a short period. Not that you can predict with any certainty or anything, but sometimes it's a no-brainer.

I wasn't really buying something that I wanted to live in for the rest of my life or anything...I couldn't afford that when I first bought my house, not by a long shot.

But, the thing is, buy something that will fill the need, something you can easily afford...in a couple years, THEN look for, if not build, your dream home.

When I bought my house, a new subdivision was going up...with MUCH larger homes. Their values have helped my values, and subsequently, my home value has gone up nearly 50,000 dollars in the 4 years I've been here. Couple that with the fact that I make ~ 15,000 more a year and now my girlfriend and I are looking to buy/build the "dream home" (not too big, big garage, big yard...that's all)

Think of the first home as a good way to make money, first and foremost.

MurphysLaw88GT

03-27-2007, 10:51 PM

My girlfriend works at Landmark, she said that they have a great first time home buyer program (there are commericals on the radio now about the program). There is no closing cost and lots of other great benfits! Any questions just ask.

marineman227

03-27-2007, 11:21 PM

The mortgage person at really any bank can set you up with WHEDA. Don't worry about the credit score. I'm 21 with barely any credit but I've been approved for 120,000 while making not very much money. The only real credit building thing I have is a motorcycle loan but other than that I just had to give them copies of my cell phone bill, a note from my landlord that I pay the rent on time every month stuff like that.

If you're handy and know what to look for you can skip the inspector but if you have any doubts definately get one. Here's a few common problems to watch for when looking. When was the roof replaced when will it need to be replaced again, water damage anywhere in house especially on ceiling of a room, any water marks on the flou (sp?) showing it's leaking, check all walls for cracking plaster it can be just from age but also indicates a sinking foundation, check the foundation and supports for cracks or broken/missing sections, check the electrical to see if it looks newer or original (on older houses), also look for the heater and other utilities to see how old they are and how they work.

Another thing that I've been asking is if appliances are included or not. If it's your first house I'm assuming you don't have them so getting them included would be very nice.

Other than that have fun and don't stop looking until you find the right one. You'll know when you find it, I just did this last weekend.

Rocket Power

03-28-2007, 12:22 AM

Check the Taxes! I pay almost $7K a year in taxes here in Kenosha.

Wow and I thought taxes in West Allis were bad, unless you have a huge house or something

awsomeears

03-28-2007, 12:25 AM

It's called a plenum return. :thumbsup

:goof

The Term plenum is whats on top of the Furance, thats only if its 1 solid piece usually found in only New homes or homes with original furnace.

What branches off are called ducts.

If replacing a furance you Transiton to the Plenum because furnaces are usually if not always 3" to 5" shorter then the one taken out.

:thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup

Larrygto

03-28-2007, 01:50 PM

Wow and I thought taxes in West Allis were bad, unless you have a huge house or somethingNot to big 1800 square feet.

Undertaker

03-28-2007, 02:47 PM

My wife and I were looking at houses for a few months. We dicided on West Bend because 1) it is close to our Jobs, 2) you get more for your money, and 3) taxes are not bad at all. It is a very nice area to live. Quiet yet has a lot to do and tons of stores. I think the only thing missing is Best Buy and a BW3's, but then we have a reason to take a drive. We went through Wells Fargo for our loan. We would have gone through Landmark, but since my wife works at WF, we get the fees waived. The person who did our loan was very nice and helped us through the whole process. They really made things very easy and straightforward for us.

LIL EVO

03-28-2007, 03:07 PM

Too bad Milwaukee is such a shithole. There are some real nice houses/garages for super cheap.

#1 on the list is Waukesha County/Oconomowoc
#2 is Racine county/Mt Pleasant/Sturtevant

I found a house in Muskego that looks decent with 2 x 2.5 car garages. I'm checkin it out tonight.

Lash

03-28-2007, 05:14 PM

The Term plenum is whats on top of the Furance, thats only if its 1 solid piece usually found in only New homes or homes with original furnace.

What branches off are called ducts.

If replacing a furance you Transiton to the Plenum because furnaces are usually if not always 3" to 5" shorter then the one taken out.

:thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup

Nevermind...lol. You resi guys dont get that joke.

LIL EVO

03-28-2007, 05:19 PM

I don't care about furnace ducting :chair:

LIL EVO

04-09-2007, 05:36 PM

http://www.lilevo.com/houses/house1/

Took a look at a handful today and liked that one the best! Couple blocks from Lake Michigan in Caledonia. I'm making an offer on it tomorrow!

Korndogg

04-09-2007, 05:37 PM

not bad!! be ready for lots of wind.

hrsp

04-09-2007, 05:43 PM

sweet hope you get it!!!! early congrats

DirtyMax

04-09-2007, 05:52 PM

Nice looking place. Good buy for $160K IMO. If you cant live with the gravel driveway, it's going to cost bank to pave that thing though. Judging by the MLS number, it's been on the market a while so make sure the home inspection is thorough. It could be something as simple as the gravel shying folks away but better to be safe than sorry. Good luck!

LIL EVO

04-09-2007, 05:56 PM

The agent has a good inspector that will do it for $200 and a specialized basement inspector that will do the masonry for $100. We saw some horizontal cracking in some places, which I guess is somewhat "normal".

Driveway used to be asphault so it's not as "gravel-ey" as it seems. There's enough room in the garage to do work on two (or three) cars so working on anything in the driveway is not even an issue. Been on the market 80 days or so.

Offer is going to be around 150k so with any luck we can meet in the middle if not more towards my offer.

DirtyMax

04-09-2007, 06:06 PM

Horizontal cracks aren't too bad provided they aren't too big. ~1/8" wide cracks or so aren't the end of the world. Our basement has a few on one wall, but it also has those steel beams every 36", so the wall's not going anywhere. It's Wisconsin... with our soil and winters, it's normal.

Good luck... that's a nice area.. know it well. And the garage is a definite plus!! :thumbsup

fly5150

04-10-2007, 09:20 AM

nice. Although that kitchen is ugly. could use some new cabinets, or atleast doors. all in due time. Let me know if you need any help with the house or stuff.

300pny

04-10-2007, 12:14 PM

I've got a question... Where would you guys go for home loans?? We've been looking around at houses but are f%$@%#$ clueless on alot of stuff that deals with houses...

Try lendingtree.com I used for the last 2 homes I purchased and it worked out pretty good

pnad

04-10-2007, 05:40 PM

I wouldn't trust an inspector recommended by the agent. You probably can pass on the special mason inspection also.

This guy inspected a few places for me:
http://www.amerispec.net/hermes/

His findings caused us to walk away from a few and gave us bargaining room on the current house.

Make sure you are there for the inspection. You will learn plenty and be able to spot problems on other houses you look at.

Crawlin

04-10-2007, 05:48 PM

looks awesome. bet the driveway is the biggest thing turning people off. redo that in time and i'm sure the house would be worth a bit more. looks like a perfect type investment house, where if the inspection is ok, some quick little updates would net you some bigger money

LIL EVO

05-29-2007, 03:12 PM

So I signed some papers for about a half hour this morning and got the key. Then there was a discrepancy with some paperwork on the sellers side. He fixed the chimney flashing on his own and stated that there was no work done in the past 6 months. The paperwork did not properly disclose this and wasn't good enough for the bank. The sellers agent took the key back from me!

After some arguing between my loan officer and the sellers agent, I got the key back. Apparently the seller is long gone up north. He needs to get this paperwork faxed to him, filled out, and faxed back within 2 days! No checks or payouts were distributed to anyone this morning!

Needless to say, I already moved a half dozen fish tanks to the new place and met my first neighbor named Keith Doe. One of those guys that will talk your ear off.

Well, back to packing!