We are going to start looking at houses soon! Any advice for first-time home buyers?
I was told if you never want to buy a house again you are doing it right! I didn't understand till we were in the middle of the whole process. There are going to be ups and downs and I had to learn to go with the flow at times. You have to rely on other people for things and they aren't always as efficient and timely as you would like them to be.
-2f is the high at home today. Also we drove 4 hrs last night so hubs could see an orthopedic surgeon and have all the imaging. Now they just said they don't have an in house MRI and he will have to come back another time to get that done WTAF?! They know how far we drove and he is swearing to me that he was very clear that he would need all imaging done today and they said yes no problem. About to get ragey.
We are going to start looking at houses soon! Any advice for first-time home buyers?
It's really easy to get caught up in certain features of a house, like nice countertops in a kitchen or hardwood floors. However, I'd say what to MOST look for in a house are the things that you need on a practical everyday basis for your lifestyle. For example, do you do a lot of laundry? Is a laundry room important to you? Is a nice entry way or mud room where you can put coats, shoes, etc. something that you will really miss if you don't have? Cosmetic issues can always be fixed down the road but the layout of the house and the flow of rooms is much harder to change, so I would make a list of what is REALLY important to you on those issues. We made a list of "must haves" and "nice to haves" and if the house doesn't have must haves (for us, for example, an open floorplan with easy views into the living room/kitchen) then don't consider it.
Also, it sounds silly, but sometimes I think you can really just "know" when you walk into a house that it's the right one for you. When we were searching for our first house and walked into ours for the first time, I actually cried a bit- it just felt so perfect for us that I knew it was the right one. Luckily it worked out! Good luck and have fun, home searching is so fun!
I would be a completely non functional person in some of this weather you guys are talking about! H is from Ohio and there is no way we are moving up there!
It is a lovely 0 degrees in my neck of the woods in Ohio. I do not want to go outside and I just know DH is going to make me later
We are going to start looking at houses soon! Any advice for first-time home buyers?
I don't live in the States anymore so our housing market is a bit different but one big thing for us is; don't worry about the kitchen appliances, or their bad decorating taste. These are SUCH easy fixes. My husband and I go insane watching HGTV and people going into a house that they love but the kitchen doesn't have granite counter tops or stainless steel appliances. It is not a big deal to put in new cabinets, buy a new fridge/stove/etc. It is a much bigger issue to deal with water damage, or if there are structural issues, or if the house doesn't get sun, or the yard is too small. Focus on the big picture- are the rooms big enough? do you like the layout? What about the location? Those are the things which matter.
Try and enjoy it- you never get to buy your first house again, and even though the process is stressful it is also super exciting and can be a lot of fun.
This also drives me nuts! I have seen people complain about the paint color! The paint color! I know painting sucks but seriously?? You are going to totally nix this house because you don't agree with the colors the previous home owner chose? Even though everything else matches what you want and the price is great?!? I feel like by the end they usually come to their senses, but not always.
My youngest decided that 5 was a good time to get up today. MH got home at 4:30 but he's off tonight so he's sleeping so that he can be up at a decent time. I'm so exhausted.
We're having record cold today. Some of you northerners will laugh but our high today is 24. It's very cold compared to normal. A year ago today we had a record high. It was 72. The south is weird.
Oh I love the South. Whenever it's acting up and being freakishly cold I tell people I moved to the SUNNY South for a reason. It was 14 on my way to work today. I don't think our high today is much different than yours.
It's a lovely -20 today here in MI. Schools are closed due to the cold. Hospitals however are not and I woke up peeved bc my car is still sitting in the parking structure without a battery. Tomorrow morning we will put a new one in...until then switching the car off with DH since we work opposite shifts.
We are going to start looking at houses soon! Any advice for first-time home buyers?
So a few things:
1) Know what you're looking for (and agree on it before looking!) - Do you want this to be a "first" home (3-5 years, for example) or a forever home? Do you want/are you okay with a fixer-up or a flip, or do you want it to be move-in ready with a few little projects, fully-updated etc. Do you have any non-negotiables (get ready to negotiate them anyway, lol)?
Once you are settled on that....
2) See the potential. Look beyond the obvious and all those things on your "list" and imagine yourself in the home, if you could really make it work, make it the thing you saw in your vision in step 1. Remember that even the "perfect" house will end up having issues or things you didn't foresee coming up in the home-buying process or down the road, so be flexible.
3) Listen to you gut. Do you just LOVE it? Or not? We bought the first (and only) house we looked at. We just KNEW. We dreamed and talked about it and called it our house for months. It seemed crazy, and TBH it kind of was, but there were signs that it was right, so we did it and we have no regrets.
We are going to start looking at houses soon! Any advice for first-time home buyers?
Research home inspectors like no one's business. Use a realtor. We didn't use a realtor and we should have, just to have viewed other options. We got a couple of names of home inspectors with good recommendations, but didn't really research it well (took it on trust) and that was a huge, huge mistake. We had a terrible inspector who failed to identify several major issues with our house. Now we're stuck in something we can't sell without putting in a lot of money to correct the issues. I mean, we will so we can continue to live there, but it's really, really frustrating to think that a good inspector would have given us better data for negotiation or for consideration.
Post by anonymouseliza on Feb 19, 2015 10:11:52 GMT -5
Oh, and please, for the love of god, do not complain about easily fixable things in houses you view. There is nothing I hate more on HGTV than people looking at houses and turning it down because of wall-paper or paint color. Flooring may be an issue because that can be expensive. But cabinet pulls? Door handles? Light fixtures? Paint? Quick, easy, replaceable. If the kitchen layout absolutely won't work for your home-made cupcake business, that's one thing. Complaining because the owners painted it red makes you an idiot.
We are going to start looking at houses soon! Any advice for first-time home buyers?
Research home inspectors like no one's business. Use a realtor. We didn't use a realtor and we should have, just to have viewed other options. We got a couple of names of home inspectors with good recommendations, but didn't really research it well (took it on trust) and that was a huge, huge mistake. We had a terrible inspector who failed to identify several major issues with our house. Now we're stuck in something we can't sell without putting in a lot of money to correct the issues. I mean, we will so we can continue to live there, but it's really, really frustrating to think that a good inspector would have given us better data for negotiation or for consideration.
+1 for a good inspector. Read reviews on Angie's List. That's how I found ours, since we had no references (no friends in the area recent buyers or in the process). Ours gave us enough to knock $4500 off the final price (we asked for more and negotiated in the middle), but I'm confident we got the sellers' absolute bottom price (they lost money in the transaction) and without that inspection, we never would have gotten there. We did not have a realtor, though the sellers' agent was a customer of mine/personal friend, so she did advise us somewhat... Obviously she was really looking out for their best interests, but I don't think she did anything dishonest or to harm us. We will certainly use a realtor (most likely her) when we go to sell this and buy our next house.
Oh, and please, for the love of god, do not complain about easily fixable things in houses you view. There is nothing I hate more on HGTV than people looking at houses and turning it down because of wall-paper or paint color. Flooring may be an issue because that can be expensive. But cabinet pulls? Door handles? Light fixtures? Paint? Quick, easy, replaceable. If the kitchen layout absolutely won't work for your home-made cupcake business, that's one thing. Complaining because the owners painted it red makes you an idiot.
DH and I are also beginning to look for another house and I constantly have to remind myself of these things. Even though I may not want to do them, they are very easily fixable.
******Loss Mentioned***** Me-Stage 3 Endo DH-MFI Nov and Dec 2014-Letrozole+trigger+IUI=BFN Jan 2015: IVF#1:ET cancelled due to severe OHSS FET #1: April 2015=BFP 4/10 & M/C 4/27 & D&C 5/15 Hysteroscopy and polypectomy 7/31 FET #2: Aug-Cxl FET #2.1 9/18-BFFN FET #3: 10/23-
I worked 16 hours yesterday. Got home at 1am. Woke up at 7am cause I had to drop DD at DC (DH goes in too early to do drop off). DH picks up DD EVERYDAY cause I work later.
Now I get to be at home this morning and only have to go into work for a meeting at 3:30.. DH gets off work at 3:30... I told him I was going to leave after my meeting which should end around 4:30 and the first thing he says "OK, so you will pick up DD?" UMM NO! I still get off work an hour after you and to go to the store and make dinner!
I have a random question... How can someone due November 6th already have a BFP? I'm 5DPO and my due date would be November 7th according to FF... Sparkly iz confused.
Does anybody have that Timehop app? It shows you what you posted on this day the past 4 or 5 years. Well this time last year at 7:55 it was 62 degrees, this year it was in the teens. Damn.
I have a random question... How can someone due November 6th already have a BFP? I'm 5DPO and my due date would be November 7th according to FF... Sparkly iz confused.
Don't know if you're talking about the post on the BMB board, but yeah. That makes no sense. "Cycle length" puts her at nov. 6. What does that mean?
N'15 lurker found guilty lol.
My guess is she probably O'd earlier than "usual" and EDD won't really be 11/6. I would have had an EDD of 11/11 if I O'd CD26 this cycle (which is what FF "predicted") but I O'd CD22 instead, so it would be 11/7.
Disclaimer: not trying to talk beyond her back or be bitchy here, just wondering if there was any possible way someone could have that EDD and already know.
We are going to start looking at houses soon! Any advice for first-time home buyers?
We had ours built (bought from the builder), but we should have had a home inspector. That would have saved us sooooo many headaches from obvious problems. We got pretty much exactly what we wanted, but our big focus was how the kitchen and living areas were set up. We were also concerned with storage since our house doesn't have a basement. We love our house and it works very well for the two of us, even if it is rather large for two people.
We are going to start looking at houses soon! Any advice for first-time home buyers?
Too many to list.
Don't get discouraged by yucky online photos. The photos of the house we fell in love with were HORRIBLE. We weren't even going to go see it. We decided last minute that it was worth a shot.
My other advice is think about long term things. If you want to do work on the house, think about how long it'll be before you can afford to do the work and if you think you can make it work until you can do the renos. I have a friend who bought a house she and her husband want to completely re-do, but they never stopped to consider how awkward/yucky it is to have to live in it until they have time/money to complete it.
I guess those are all self explanatory... Feel free to pm me questions about my experiences! Although, I'm hardly an expert... but I sure do love to talk house shopping!
Don't know if you're talking about the post on the BMB board, but yeah. That makes no sense. "Cycle length" puts her at nov. 6. What does that mean?
N'15 lurker found guilty lol.
My guess is she probably O'd earlier than "usual" and EDD won't really be 11/6. I would have had an EDD of 11/11 if I O'd CD26 this cycle (which is what FF "predicted") but I O'd CD22 instead, so it would be 11/7.
Disclaimer: not trying to talk beyond her back or be bitchy here, just wondering if there was any possible way someone could have that EDD and already know.
No there isn't. My EDD if KU this time is 11/3. To be 11/6 she would only be 6 DPO and there is no way she is turning a test yet. If she got a positive she is more likly 11/2 or earlier.
My guess is she probably O'd earlier than "usual" and EDD won't really be 11/6. I would have had an EDD of 11/11 if I O'd CD26 this cycle (which is what FF "predicted") but I O'd CD22 instead, so it would be 11/7.
Disclaimer: not trying to talk beyond her back or be bitchy here, just wondering if there was any possible way someone could have that EDD and already know.
No there isn't. My EDD if KU this time is 11/3. To be 11/6 she would only be 6 DPO and there is no way she is turning a test yet. If she got a positive she is more likly 11/2 or earlier.
I have a random question... How can someone due November 6th already have a BFP? I'm 5DPO and my due date would be November 7th according to FF... Sparkly iz confused.
Consider me confused too...
That's my potential edd.
The short answer is miscalculated dates (going by LMP with an early ovulation). Otherwise, no.
I wish it was Monday or Tuesday. Customers are being major bitches/twatwaffles today. Or maybe I'm just extra ragey? Either way I could use one of those threads right now.
I'm eating Olive Garden leftovers. Why don't I go to OG more often? Its delicious!
I love Olive Garden. DH hates it. As in never takes me unless it's my birthday or Valentine's. I had talked him into it for Valentine's and stupid me forgot to call ahead and by the time we got there, there was over a 2 hour way so I STILL didn't get Olive Garden
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