For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

[Phobia]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

wow man.. that definitely sucks but it is necessary.

To be honest im going to have to upgrade the electrical box and its going to cost us 1200 easy

Who has that kind of money sitting around?

I detailed my adventures some what in this old thread http://www.operationsports.com/forum...ners-tips.html

LOL trust me man I know your pain. I have dropped about $8,000 on the house in the last 4 years.

I installed a new roof this year myself = $2,000

Then I installed new wood floors = $1,300 I believe

Still putting in new windows = #1,600

Then appliances, paint, soffit, doors, counter tops, tile floors, etc. I have dropped some cash. Now anther $500, just gets old after a while lol

[23]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

I detailed my adventures some what in this old thread http://www.operationsports.com/forum...ners-tips.html

LOL trust me man I know your pain. I have dropped about $8,000 on the house in the last 4 years.

I installed a new roof this year myself = $2,000

Then I installed new wood floors = $1,300 I believe

Still putting in new windows = #1,600

Then appliances, paint, soffit, doors, counter tops, tile floors, etc. I have dropped some cash. Now anther $500, just gets old after a while lol

Nice upgrades though lol

...but your home is worth spending on man, not like its a bucket (car)

With the electronics and stuff we use I'll need the switches so Im just gonna grin and bear it and save up

[12]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

Time to get this thread rolling again...

Long story short, my wife and I bought our first home in 2009. We qualified for the first time home buyer's tax credit, which was nice. The rule is that you got $8K after you closed on your house, but you had to live in it for three years.

We just hit three years. Our house is very nice and we love it. We brought our two small boys home for the first time in this house and it holds some very real sentimental value, especially for my wife. With two kids and a lot of stuff, the 1,400 square feet is simply not enough anymore.

We're busting at the seams (at least in my opinion, my wife thinks differently). We both agreed to put our house on the market and it officially will be listed on Monday. With interest rates where they are currently at, we could literally get TWICE the house and maybe increase our mortgage payment by $50 or $100 per month. We could go from a single-story, 1,400 square foot home to a 2,500 square foot home quite easily, without feeling it in our wallet.

Best feeling ever? When you check your credit score and it is literally 100 points higher than you thought it would be. Mine is a 763 and my wife's is probably a 790-800. We should get very good loan terms and the best part is that we will qualify for a USDA loan. We could walk away with $15K profit after selling our house... I'd much rather do that than put it on a down payment.

USDA loan = $0 down. That's what I want.

I guess I am just looking for some advice... We were young when we bought our first house and there was a lot of family "help" as we looked at houses the first time. We want this to be our thing and the first time felt like my wedding day - a blur. I want to be smart about the process and know selling AND buying a house at the same time will present some challenges, but now is the time.

I am looking to spend anywhere from $160,000 to $210,000. If $210K gets our dream house, then I'll go there. That will buy us a very nice house in the area we live in... We have a realtor that we really trust and know he will treat us right, so no worries there...

Advice/tips/suggestions? I'd really appreciate it!

[NDAlum]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

Take your time
See as many houses as possible
Make sure to check out crime trends
Check out people/cars in the community
Check out how people maintain their homes
See if your realtor can tell you how many renters are in the neighborhood

[Dirty Turtles]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

Obviously with young children you'll want to check into things like playground facilities, day cares, and the local school district information.

[23]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

I just finally moved into my new home this past week

Man its expensive, like you have no idea where all of the money comes from. All of the people you have to pay, all of the fees, inspections, appraisals, getting locks changed, getting curtains, getting this and that just for basic living, home security systems, appliances, installations, so on and so on...whew but Im SO glad its all over man.

I've been working non stop trying to get the family comfortable, sweating like a hog, not eating much at all, not shaving lol. Oh I had to load the truck to move by myself too so by the time the next day came, my ankles were killing me something fierce, and my back, legs to the point I couldnt even pull myself up on a step stool.

I had a great realtor (this time: Ill explain later) so she explained everything, and made the processes easy for us. It pays to have a great FULL TIME real estate agent who will negotiate for you if need be. Man there is so much but its worth it in the end. Ill even get to report the rest of this year on my taxes too

[mgoblue]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

Take your time
See as many houses as possible
Make sure to check out crime trends
Check out people/cars in the community
Check out how people maintain their homes
See if your realtor can tell you how many renters are in the neighborhood

We did all these and it helped.

I just finally moved into my new home this past week

Man its expensive, like you have no idea where all of the money comes from. All of the people you have to pay, all of the fees, inspections, appraisals, getting locks changed, getting curtains, getting this and that just for basic living, home security systems, appliances, installations, so on and so on...whew but Im SO glad its all over man.

I've been working non stop trying to get the family comfortable, sweating like a hog, not eating much at all, not shaving lol. Oh I had to load the truck to move by myself too so by the time the next day came, my ankles were killing me something fierce, and my back, legs to the point I couldnt even pull myself up on a step stool.

I had a great realtor (this time: Ill explain later) so she explained everything, and made the processes easy for us. It pays to have a great FULL TIME real estate agent who will negotiate for you if need be. Man there is so much but its worth it in the end. Ill even get to report the rest of this year on my taxes too

Closing on a house in 10 days...Past all the inspections, and we've agreed on the things they'll fix. Mortgage all set, home insurance good. Man, this is a ton of stuff to do.

We used the buyer's agent my parents used a year ago, as well as the mortgage lady, and they've been so great in getting us through this.

We're getting married in May, but the prices were going up in the area so we wanted to start looking. We found a great 1700 sq. ft house, 3 bed 2 bath, pool. It was flipped, so has all new counter tops, floors (tile and carpet), master bath, etc.

It's essentially a dream home, and one we can grow into with a family as time goes on. We'll obviously have stuff to add/buy, but going to be so nice not living in a condo/apt type atmosphere.

We're just getting to the crazy though...it's calmed down for now, but once we get the keys it'll be nuts, especially since we have 2 trips (one Sept one Oct) for a week that were planned months ago. Essentially we buy the house and then go to Disney World a week later lol. Then a month after that we have a week in Ohio where her mom and dad (divorced) are throwing 2 wedding showers. When we'll have time to move I don't know lol

Wish me luck! Good luck to everyone looking. Keep in mind you may have to move fast. We saw this house the day it was back on the market (offer fell through due to finances), got the offer in that night. Next morning we find out we were the first of 4 offers and they took ours cause we were first!

[NDAlum]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

The worst part is when you have a girlfriend move in and all of a sudden the entire house changes...

New carpet
Some hardwood
Paint every damn room
Some new furniture
New light fixtures
Paint all the cabinets in the house
Have a tub resurfaced
Move all my stuff out of the master closet

[jeremym480]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

I just finally moved into my new home this past week

Man its expensive, like you have no idea where all of the money comes from. All of the people you have to pay, all of the fees, inspections, appraisals, getting locks changed, getting curtains, getting this and that just for basic living, home security systems, appliances, installations, so on and so on...whew but Im SO glad its all over man.

I've been working non stop trying to get the family comfortable, sweating like a hog, not eating much at all, not shaving lol. Oh I had to load the truck to move by myself too so by the time the next day came, my ankles were killing me something fierce, and my back, legs to the point I couldnt even pull myself up on a step stool.

I had a great realtor (this time: Ill explain later) so she explained everything, and made the processes easy for us. It pays to have a great FULL TIME real estate agent who will negotiate for you if need be. Man there is so much but its worth it in the end. Ill even get to report the rest of this year on my taxes too

Get used to it.

[23]

Anyone know how expensive hardwood floors are?

I can't take this carpet next to the kitchen and I think its not helping by holding heat in the house too

Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk

[NDAlum]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

I had some put in and hit up Lumber Liquidators to get the lumber. I had to hire somebody to install the floors. He did a decent job.

The wood isn't that expensive. The labor sucks. Make friends with a hardwood installer!

[23]

I had some put in and hit up Lumber Liquidators to get the lumber. I had to hire somebody to install the floors. He did a decent job.

The wood isn't that expensive. The labor sucks. Make friends with a hardwood installer!

What's not expensive lol

After all of this spending I wish I had a few grand more to do it

I'd find someone

Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk

[mgoblue]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

What's not expensive lol

After all of this spending I wish I had a few grand more to do it

I'd find someone

Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk

Yeah, I'd love hardwood in the master bedroom (or maybe just to replace all upstairs carpet), but it's not in the cards right now. After getting the house, plus we need Fridge and Washer/Dryer I need to be a bit smart and keep some savings for the future.

Eventually though, that's the nice thing about a house. You can always do it in a few years.

We'll probably want to resurface the pool and replace the pool decking (walking area around pool)...Always something unless you buy 100% new, but it's not all bad. We just made sure most of the items weren't urgent (like pool)...We'll have time to save and do them.

[23]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

You always want to add or do something because you're in position now where you can, and you can make it count... so some stuff gets done now, and some later.

I've always wanted wood floors though..buddy at work told me he did his own floors and it basically cost him about 600 bucks for his 2000 sq ft home

Im sure it took him a couple of days to get it done but he did it.. I'll try to find someone I know to do it for me though, forget that, i wouldnt know where to start no matter how many times I watch DIY lol

[seasprite]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

Anyone know how expensive hardwood floors are?

I can't take this carpet next to the kitchen and I think its not helping by holding heat in the house too

Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk

My advice with hardwoods is to go with the engineered hardwoods. Much more durable and I have yet to see any scratches even with two golden retrievers in the house.