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Buying a house in the US

Buying a house in the US

Old Aug 29th 2011, 5:15 pm
  #16  
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Default Re: Buying a house in the US

Originally Posted by AddyLaddy
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/b...ulator.html?hp

I don't know anything about the market out there, but over here we are still deflating the last real estate bubble and prices could fall by another 10-14%

Plus we would have to pay approx 10% in fees and commissions to sell the property when we finally return to the UK, and that will probably wipe out any house price inflation. Anyway that calculator is very thorough and includes all these extra costs of home ownership.

Personally I wouldn't rush into home ownership immediately until you know where and if you want to stay and more about each area.
Very good advice.
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Old Aug 29th 2011, 8:23 pm
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Default Re: Buying a house in the US

Saw my house and 3 weeks later it was all mine. It was a cash purchase though.
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Old Aug 29th 2011, 9:23 pm
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Default Re: Buying a house in the US

Well, no, obviously we wouldn't buy unless it was the right property! I'm not just going to buy something to buy something...I was just thinking we have 6 weeks to look around, and I figure that if we see something we like and it's for sale, we should be able to get it relatively quickly. If not, of course we'll wait!! We also have various friends who've offered to put us up for a while if need be (which my husband doesn't want to do but I would, esp with the cats!!)

We are currently living in the first house we've looked at here in Cheltenham, so I'm just hoping history will repeat itself
If not, we'll cope; we'll certainly not rush into things!!

But thanks anyway for all the advice - it is certainly going to come in handy!!!
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Old Aug 30th 2011, 3:23 am
  #19  
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Default Re: Buying a house in the US

How long have you lived there?

Not at all?

Rent.

It's cheaper than buying a lovely house you find out is shit in the winter, or the town pisses you off by doing a crap job ploughing the roads, or is a bit to steep to take the rubbish out easily, etc, etc, etc.

All shit that you'll figure out much more easily having lived in the area for a while.

Selling a place is much more expensive than it is in the UK. The market is still going down. You've got sod all US credit history presumably, so getting a mortgage unless you've got a significant down payment is likely to get you not the best rate and can take anything from weeks to 6 months to sort out.

Renting is just the cost of living and will be cheaper in the long run.
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Old Aug 30th 2011, 12:47 pm
  #20  
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Default Re: Buying a house in the US

Hm, interesting point!
You're right, I obviously have no US credit history whatsoever as I 've never lived there, but my husband's should be fine - he's never been in debt and he has a regular income (and I think he said we'd get a slightly lower mortgage rate as he's a government employee).

I guess the best thign to do is get some temp accommodation that's as central as possible so that we can scout out the area!!
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Old Aug 30th 2011, 3:09 pm
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Default Re: Buying a house in the US

I'm with Bob on this one - spend a few years renting and find an area that agrees with you.

Depending on where you are looking in Maryland, house prices are affected by the DC reality distortion field and decent places tend to be rather expensive around there.

Also, shop around for a good home inspector. If you want to know why I suggest you watch a couple of episodes of "Holmes on Holmes" or "Holmes inspection" on HGTV on Sunday night.
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Old Aug 30th 2011, 3:11 pm
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Default Re: Buying a house in the US

Originally Posted by katjoeuk
Hm, interesting point!
You're right, I obviously have no US credit history whatsoever as I 've never lived there, but my husband's should be fine - he's never been in debt and he has a regular income (and I think he said we'd get a slightly lower mortgage rate as he's a government employee).

I guess the best thign to do is get some temp accommodation that's as central as possible so that we can scout out the area!!
Never been in debt (in the US) = no credit history/no credit score. So in other words the same issue that you have.

A decent mortgage broker should still be able to source you a mortgage but you'll end up paying a little more than those with a high "I love debt" (FICO) score.
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Old Aug 30th 2011, 4:37 pm
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Default Re: Buying a house in the US

[QUOTE=Also, shop around for a good home inspector. If you want to know why I suggest you watch a couple of episodes of "Holmes on Holmes" or "Holmes inspection" on HGTV on Sunday night.[/QUOTE]

Second this. You learn a helluva lot about how American houses are put together. Do not underestimate how important a home inspection is - even on a new home.

We offered on a house which was a short sale. We were keen because the house really was the cheapest house in the best area. Part of the deal was that we'd clear numerous debts the sellers had over and above the mortgage. The seller's agent wouldn't budge on this, and was miffed because we still wanted a home inspection. We knew it needed some work from the viewings, but the inspection revealed a bottomless pit horror story, with the potential to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Best $400 I ever spent. We walked.

It's funny how things work out, as just a few weeks later hubby's job got transferred two hours away. We decided not to rent in the new location as we already knew it pretty well and knew what kind of house we wanted. Found a great realtor, and bought a much better and bigger house in a nicer location for less money.

Friends of ours love new houses. They wanted to buy a new build, and their home inspection showed the house was built on sand and was already sliding down the hill (it had only been built a couple of months earlier). They also walked.
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Old Aug 30th 2011, 5:12 pm
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Default Re: Buying a house in the US

Originally Posted by MadRad
Friends of ours love new houses. They wanted to buy a new build, and their home inspection showed the house was built on sand and was already sliding down the hill (it had only been built a couple of months earlier). They also walked.
Spit and sawdust.

I don't quite get the American obsession with new houses. We bought a lovely 1950s ranch house, it's solid and the inspector was really impressed considering its age.
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Old Aug 30th 2011, 6:30 pm
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Default Re: Buying a house in the US

Originally Posted by sir_eccles
Spit and sawdust.

I don't quite get the American obsession with new houses. We bought a lovely 1950s ranch house, it's solid and the inspector was really impressed considering its age.
Part of it is that the way houses are being built here limits their lifespan compared to the way they're built, say, in the UK.

The other part is that only "new and shiny" is good. When some relatives of ours retired and moved from NY to Florida, their friends in NY thought they were crazy that they were willing to live in a house that was already *eight* years old. They're still living in that house 15-odd years later .
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Old Aug 30th 2011, 6:31 pm
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Default Re: Buying a house in the US

Originally Posted by MadRad
Second this. You learn a helluva lot about how American houses are put together. Do not underestimate how important a home inspection is - even on a new home.
If you've got any interest in DIY on a house here, it's very valuable. Just keep in mind that Holmes is in Canada and IIRC the building codes up there are stricter than down here in the US .
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Old Aug 30th 2011, 9:58 pm
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Default Re: Buying a house in the US

Originally Posted by TimNiceBut
If you've got any interest in DIY on a house here, it's very valuable. Just keep in mind that Holmes is in Canada and IIRC the building codes up there are stricter than down here in the US .
I've seen some of the electrics some of these DIY folks have done, as we're looking for another apartment.

All I can say is, I wouldn't even consider renting for a few weeks, never mind think about buying a lot of these places
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Old Aug 31st 2011, 7:51 am
  #28  
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Default Re: Buying a house in the US

DIY isn't an option for us as we both suck at it; I don't necessarily need a new house - we were just thinking that potentially, with the market down as it is, we might get a bargain, in which case it's nice to buy a new house because they'll customize it for you (or so hubby says, I know nothing about this as I'm from Germany, where a lot of people rent for life - I've only ever rented as I lived in Munich, where you can forget buying a house unless you're stinking rich!!)

We'll definitely get a good inspector, that's for sure! We know quite a few people in the area, so hopefully, someone will be able to point us in the right direction - most of our friends own their houses (well, the part of it that the bank doesn't own - they all bought years ago while my husband rented in downtown DC - he was single at the time and didn't feel like living in the burbs, understandably..)

I guess we'll end up renting for a while after all...guess I was being a little optimistic with my plans...Is it possible to rent a house with a view to buying it at all??

Also, that whole credit rating thing is a bit of a mystery to me - are you actually saying that it's easier to get a mortgage if you've already been indebted before?? Strange - I would have thought a clean slate would be better!! But there's obviously a first time for everything...
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Old Aug 31st 2011, 8:58 am
  #29  
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Default Re: Buying a house in the US

Originally Posted by katjoeuk
Also, that whole credit rating thing is a bit of a mystery to me - are you actually saying that it's easier to get a mortgage if you've already been indebted before?? Strange - I would have thought a clean slate would be better!! But there's obviously a first time for everything...
I think the idea is that you are more use to credit companies if you have to pay interest on your debt. So if you are the sort of person who conscientiously pays off your credit card every month (on top of never having had a mortgage, car loan etc.), they don't really want you.

Last edited by Apfelkuchen; Aug 31st 2011 at 9:01 am.
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Old Aug 31st 2011, 10:18 am
  #30  
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Default Re: Buying a house in the US

I am obviously too naive for this system...aren't people not being able to pay off their loans / mortgages what got us into this humungous mess in the first place? Wouldn't it be desirable for someone to be good about paying back their debts?

Oh well, I'm sure there is a nice bridge somewhere that we can camp under (with the cats )!!
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