Your first house
- Thread starter RoJoHen
- Start date
I'm still in my first house. Hubby and I are late-bloomers and have only been married for 6 years. We were both apartment dwellers, and he had just moved back into his mom's house when we met.
The big things on our checklist were
1)price. Absolutely could NOT go over budget.
2)floorplan. He needed an office space and so did I, plus a good master bedroom for our king size bed. We also wanted at least one spare room for our visiting friends and relatives.
3. Location, location, location. We wanted a neighborhood that was safe, attractive, quiet and family oriented. And, most important in the Houston area, one that did NOT flood on a regular basis. This was VERY hard to find, but we stumbled on our current subdivision on the advice of a professor hubby works with.
We love it here, but it has HUGE HOA fees (you'd be shocked), but it also has wonderful parks, two waterparks (one within walking distance), good schools, a library, a community college campus, horse stables, local sports teams for kids, and a free gym. The area is on its way to eventually being it's own township, since we are just outside the nearest town limits.
The drawbacks of our new home is that the construction quality turned out to be a lot LESS than what we had been led to believe. The side walls have hardly any insulation, the dry wall has cracked in a few places, the linoleum is discolored in places and the floors creak. We are also 40-45 minutes away from Houston, so everywhere is a drive; we spend about 25 bucks a week on the toll roads alone.
Still, we have a nice little house, in a wonderful neighborhood that's extremely quiet and has almost everything we need. And, we pay less for our mortgage than we did for our apartment in town.
But...I am looking forward to the day when we upgrade to something bigger with better quality construction.
The big things on our checklist were
1)price. Absolutely could NOT go over budget.
2)floorplan. He needed an office space and so did I, plus a good master bedroom for our king size bed. We also wanted at least one spare room for our visiting friends and relatives.
3. Location, location, location. We wanted a neighborhood that was safe, attractive, quiet and family oriented. And, most important in the Houston area, one that did NOT flood on a regular basis. This was VERY hard to find, but we stumbled on our current subdivision on the advice of a professor hubby works with.
We love it here, but it has HUGE HOA fees (you'd be shocked), but it also has wonderful parks, two waterparks (one within walking distance), good schools, a library, a community college campus, horse stables, local sports teams for kids, and a free gym. The area is on its way to eventually being it's own township, since we are just outside the nearest town limits.
The drawbacks of our new home is that the construction quality turned out to be a lot LESS than what we had been led to believe. The side walls have hardly any insulation, the dry wall has cracked in a few places, the linoleum is discolored in places and the floors creak. We are also 40-45 minutes away from Houston, so everywhere is a drive; we spend about 25 bucks a week on the toll roads alone.
Still, we have a nice little house, in a wonderful neighborhood that's extremely quiet and has almost everything we need. And, we pay less for our mortgage than we did for our apartment in town.
But...I am looking forward to the day when we upgrade to something bigger with better quality construction.
This is the big reason I'm really wanting to buy a house sooner rather than later. I look at homes every day, and the thing that I keep getting surprised (and annoyed) by is that mortgage payments, even if I put zero money down, would be significantly less than the rent I'm paying.
^Oh, and you definitely want to put money down. I think most places ask for 20% down; we put down 20--but that was only about $6,000--since property out here is so cheap.
Another bonus to owning a home is that you can use the sale price as the down payment on your next place. Although...I'd hate to be selling in this market. It's definitely a buyer's market.
Another bonus to owning a home is that you can use the sale price as the down payment on your next place. Although...I'd hate to be selling in this market. It's definitely a buyer's market.
When we bought our first house 28+ years ago we said we'd live there for 5 years, fix it up and move.
28+ years later we are still here.
I would have liked to move into something bigger but it just wasn't meant to be. Soon our daughter will be off to college and we'll be looking for something smaller, in another state, and most likely it will be a condo type thing. Oh well!
28+ years later we are still here.
I would have liked to move into something bigger but it just wasn't meant to be. Soon our daughter will be off to college and we'll be looking for something smaller, in another state, and most likely it will be a condo type thing. Oh well!
I've owned two homes. Both of them started with me buying a piece of property that I liked. and then having the homes built from the ground up to my specifications, which pretty much eliminates the "deal breakers". Sacrifices were having to choose between two different features you wanted when you could only afford one of them.
I'm pretty sure that's not the route you're taking though and since I've never bought existing stock I can't really offer any personal experience or advice. I just wanted to bring up an alternative to the traditional approach.
Yeah, I'm planning to put money down. I just like to calculate what the price would be with no money down, and I'm always amazed at how cheap it still is. I'm looking for houses in the $60-75,000 range (which are surprisingly common). Property is really cheap around here, and you can get FHA loans that only require 3% down instead of the traditional 20%. Even with 0% down, my payments (including taxes and insurance) would still be less than my current rent of $525/month.
Even I wanted to go this route, it's pretty impossible around here. It's an old area, and there really isn't much in the way of new development. The houses around here are 80+ years old.
My then wife and I bought our first house 20 years ago. It was a brand new 2 bedroom, full basement cape on Cape Cod. In the 6 years I lived there before I signed off the deed in the divorce, I never had to do anything to it except mow the lawn. It seemed at the time like a "dream home," but I look back at the experience as a complete waste. After 6 years and $72,000 I never even broke into the principle. STOOPID 
The planning and purchase of the house I mortgage now (which was built in the 1950's) was a MUCH smarter investment. We bought just before the crash and just after the house dropped $60,000 in asking price AND when neither my wife and I had any credit card debt. We've refinanced twice and the value of the house due to the improvements we've made with our own hands has increased the equity substantially both times. And we're not done. This little bungalow in the woods of Plymouth, Massachusetts is the real dream home - not because it is the biggest or the best but because we set ourselves up for success by making an affordable purchase and committed ourselves to making it a true investment.
The planning and purchase of the house I mortgage now (which was built in the 1950's) was a MUCH smarter investment. We bought just before the crash and just after the house dropped $60,000 in asking price AND when neither my wife and I had any credit card debt. We've refinanced twice and the value of the house due to the improvements we've made with our own hands has increased the equity substantially both times. And we're not done. This little bungalow in the woods of Plymouth, Massachusetts is the real dream home - not because it is the biggest or the best but because we set ourselves up for success by making an affordable purchase and committed ourselves to making it a true investment.
I still have my first house, a good house in a very good location (which for me was the ultimate deal-breaker).
This is what I'm looking to do. As long as I can live in the place without being annoyed by things, I don't mind if it's not the best place in the world. I want to view it as an investment that I can improve over time, not necessarily something that is already in perfect condition.
I also hate my current landlord, and I have wasted so much money living in this crappy duplex just over the last month. One should not have to purchase a lawnmower so they can cut the grass in a rental.
I'm still in my first home (though I've bought other property since, which I rent out). It's a moderately large 2 bedroom flat within a sizable Georgian complex with maintained grounds. I bought this place in 2003. For me, it really was location, location, location. I needed somewhere near the city centre, but far enough out to be quiet, plus within easy reach of the main trunk roads and motorways. And I wanted a property with a degree of elegance and charm.
Combined with a budget that was decent and somewhat flexible but not infinite, that narrowed down the range of properties I looked at and so the place I found was only the second or third property I looked at.
I still love lots about this place - the location, the property's period features and the convenience generally. I dislike the sky-high maintenance charges, and I would like a little more room.
But I hate moving, and my next move will be - I hope - my last. I can't see it happening too soon (I have other projects to complete first), but probably in about 3-5 or so years I'll do it. I do keep a look out for interesting properties in the area that fit my list of requirements and if something pops up I'll check it out. But I'm not really planning on moving again imminently so for now am happy to keep building up equity in the property, so the next move can be financed with less borrowing.
I am tired of moving. I've done it too often. I also really can't stand this place I'm living now, but I was in a rush to get back to this area and couldn't afford to be picky. When I move again, I don't want it to be to another rental that I will just end up vacating again. I want to move to a place that I own so I won't have to do it again anytime soon.
It's a bloody nuisance - uprooting everything, then having to replace it all. Plus the hassle of changing your address on a zillion forms, getting mail redirected, notifying everyone, etc, etc, etc. Nightmare. I think you're right to want to just "get it done" this time.
^ No, you shouldn't. This is our third spring here and the first spring we've been able to actually create some "curb appeal" by defining a drive way and creating a lawn. Up until now, our "front yard" has only been a stony drive way with patchy crab grass. But over the past month we've begun the transformation -- in fact, last Friday night I bought our first lawn mower since the grass was finally full enough to mow.
Here is a "before" from 14 months ago with tree trunks and stumps (in the foreground) which we've since cleared...
and here is an "after" with our new lawn coming in just last weekend...
and reverse view with first spread of topsoil last weekend
We have a ways to go, still, on this curb appeal, but we are much further along than we thought we would be here in early June. The point is that we are determined to improve this property and capitalize on these labors in a favorable market. Trouble is we are really falling in love with the place so moving could prove more difficult than we ever imagine
Did you put down sod? I love sod. I want to put down stripes of different colored sod so that my yard looks like a baseball field.
I really want to buy a place so I can fix it up like that. I love doing that kind of work, but it's such a waste of money to do it in a place that I'm renting.
Your place looks awesome, though. You're doing exactly what I want to do.
I really want to buy a place so I can fix it up like that. I love doing that kind of work, but it's such a waste of money to do it in a place that I'm renting.
Your place looks awesome, though. You're doing exactly what I want to do.
That's an amazing improvement.
I'm not one for home improvements, myself, preferring to move directly into somewhere nice, but your example is pretty inspiring even to a lazybones like me. Nice one.
^ thanks, H 
In the area next to the car, like I said, we cut down a giant ash, a few scrub pines and various other large plants. We then laid down weed blocker (because ash is a pervasive, insidious beast to kill) over all that, then topsoil and seeded it. It worked perfectly so we're continuing that strategy across the rest of the front lawn. This is hard work and can get pricey - a baseball field lawn, though cool as hell, would take more time and money than I could commit 
RoJo, you are still young and you have plenty of time to aquire property. And we all know you have the desire. While DM and I had stellar fico scores (in the seven and eight hundreds) we put no money down. Refinanced to a 30 year fixed at 4.7% and the monthly payment is very low for a house between lakes at the doorway to Cape Cod. Do your homework, watch for deals, think about location, keep your debt down, and you will someday find your dream house
Nope, no sod
In the area next to the car, like I said, we cut down a giant ash, a few scrub pines and various other large plants. We then laid down weed blocker (because ash is a pervasive, insidious beast to kill) over all that, then topsoil and seeded it. It worked perfectly so we're continuing that strategy across the rest of the front lawn. This is hard work and can get pricey - a baseball field lawn, though cool as hell, would take more time and money than I could commit RoJo, you are still young and you have plenty of time to aquire property. And we all know you have the desire. While DM and I had stellar fico scores (in the seven and eight hundreds) we put no money down. Refinanced to a 30 year fixed at 4.7% and the monthly payment is very low for a house between lakes at the doorway to Cape Cod. Do your homework, watch for deals, think about location, keep your debt down, and you will someday find your dream house
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Wow... a $30,000 home with a Home Owners' Association? That makes my brain hurt.
And here I thought I had the cheapest house on the BBS at $45k.
If my landlord wasn't such a pain in the ass, I wouldn't be as anxious to do this, but right now I just want be rid of him.
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