Condo shopping for my first home! :)

[Coronet]

Exciting news! I'm in the process of starting to look at condos to purchase in the next 2 months! I'm super excited. I'm starting my search on Realtor.com and have found about 20 properties I'm interested in taking a look at and have started to contact realtors to schedule showings.

As of right now I'm strongly leaning toward a condo since I'm 24, a working professional, and going to graduate school part-time so I don't have the time for yard maintenance. Since the housing market has dropped pretty far it's a great time to buy for me since my PITI+HOA fees is actually going to be LESS than what I pay for a 1 bedroom apartment (I currently pay $1055, but it's going up 5% if I choose to renew in 2 months to $1108).

Since I'm not 100% sure I'll find exactly the home I'm looking for I have a few questions:

1. Should I get pre-approved for a mortgage? I got pre-approved about 7-8 months ago just to make sure I'd be qualified through my lender for a loan and I was, but I believe those expire after 6 months.

2. What should I look for in a realtor? I found a few properties I liked on Realtor.com and have contacted 3 different realtors to show me various homes in the area. I figure since I don't know which realtor I'll like I should see a few to find the one who will be the best match for me.

3. When I visit the condos what are some major things I should look for? I've heard that asking about the HOA's finances is important, but do I ask the realtor about this? I want to make sure I'm buying into a well-maintained and well-budgeted property.

4. Are realtors generally going to be honest about the area? If I ask questions about the condo development should I expect true answers or answered skewed into getting me to buy?

5. If I do happen across my dream home what would you advise I put in an offer for? I know homes are selling very, very slowly around the area and have depreciated in value over the past 2 years, but are stabilizing in price. Since it's such a buyer's market I was wondering if I should offer lower than the asking price and if so, by how much?

Thanks in advance.

[nick__45]

If you can afford it, get a detach single family home, even a small one, and pay someone else to cut your yard. Condo fees will kill you and will be like additional taxes. Around here, condos are laughed and young people tend to opt for either townhouses that takes care of everything or detach single family houses and pay for someone to do the yard work for first few years until things settle down. I opted for single family house and just pay for upkeep which has been less than 1500 dollars a year and that is upgrade and repair to the house itself. The yard is something I get to it when I get to it since it is not something you can cut. That is a cost of wanting to live on a nice hill and I am in the process of looking for someone to cut it for me and I just work extra hours to cover that cost.

[97guns]

Originally Posted by Coronet

Exciting news! I'm in the process of starting to look at condos to purchase in the next 2 months! I'm super excited. I'm starting my search on Realtor.com and have found about 20 properties I'm interested in taking a look at and have started to contact realtors to schedule showings.

As of right now I'm strongly leaning toward a condo since I'm 24, a working professional, and going to graduate school part-time so I don't have the time for yard maintenance. Since the housing market has dropped pretty far it's a great time to buy for me since my PITI+HOA fees is actually going to be LESS than what I pay for a 1 bedroom apartment (I currently pay $1055, but it's going up 5% if I choose to renew in 2 months to $1108).

Since I'm not 100% sure I'll find exactly the home I'm looking for I have a few questions:

1. Should I get pre-approved for a mortgage? I got pre-approved about 7-8 months ago just to make sure I'd be qualified through my lender for a loan and I was, but I believe those expire after 6 months.

2. What should I look for in a realtor? I found a few properties I liked on Realtor.com and have contacted 3 different realtors to show me various homes in the area. I figure since I don't know which realtor I'll like I should see a few to find the one who will be the best match for me.

3. When I visit the condos what are some major things I should look for? I've heard that asking about the HOA's finances is important, but do I ask the realtor about this? I want to make sure I'm buying into a well-maintained and well-budgeted property.

4. Are realtors generally going to be honest about the area? If I ask questions about the condo development should I expect true answers or answered skewed into getting me to buy?

5. If I do happen across my dream home what would you advise I put in an offer for? I know homes are selling very, very slowly around the area and have depreciated in value over the past 2 years, but are stabilizing in price. Since it's such a buyer's market I was wondering if I should offer lower than the asking price and if so, by how much?

Thanks in advance.

many realtors will not show properties without a pre approval letter.

i don't like realtors that are pushy and short on time, i also am courteous with them by not taking up any of their uneccesary time, ie. if i walk into a house and iimmediately know its not for me, i wont wast much time there.

consider a single family house, like you said no hoa and no neighbors on the other side of your sheetrock. in most markets you can get into a nice entry level home for the same price as nice condo's.

[MonkeyMama]

My first home was a condo. We just bought because single family home prices were insane and infinitely out of reach. But, I was surprised how much I liked condo living. Very low maintenance. We only looked at end units, to reduce shared walls/noise factor. I would think newer units must be AMAZING with sound proof quality, but no complaints when we lived in an older building. (One shared wall - never heard a sound from neighbors - obviously sound proofed).

I am a big believer in an excellent realtor. An excellent realtor will handle most of your questions.

#1 - Yes. Get pre-approved. If you find the *right* place you want to act fast, and realtor may not want to waste their time otherwise. Pre-approval means you are serious.

#2 - Absolutely choose a realtor by word of mouth. I would look for someone older/more experience, rather than the tons of fly by night realtors out there. My only advice if you can't get a solid referral. Stay away from popular realtors who are spread too thin. & avoid desparate/discount realtors. I have horror stories. IF they are cheaper than the rest - you usually get what you pay for.

#3 - Look at the state of repair with your eyes. Ask when the last time major replacements were done (roof, siding, etc.). Get the financials for the HOA. Do they have ample cash reserves? A lot of newer HOAs have been stuck because units are empty, fees aren't being collected, etc. Older ones maybe haven't built up enough cash reserves for predicatable maintenance. For reference, our current HOA is only a decade old, but has paid off all common buildings, and set aside huge reserves. The vacancy rate (foreclosure) is probably insane in past 5 years (uncollectible dues), but I have been really impressed with the financial management. Could easily be *much* worse. If I Were to shop around again, cash reserves would be very important to me. As well as state of disrepair of common areas. (If they don't have the cash - they assess fees on condo owners). I'd also ask how much fees have gone up in recent years. If managed well, they shouldn't go up a lot with time.

#4 - Our excellent realtor was honest and a huge wealth of knowledge. Ours steered us clear of several condo units with *issues.* Construction defects, HOA money mismanagement, etc.

#5 - I'd take the advice of realtor, who would know the local market. Sometimes, it just depends on the sellers. First home we bought? Price was a steal and we really wanted it. Seller realtor tells us that they have had several offers and refuse to sell below asking price (no doubt, since home was on market far longer than it ever should have been). So we offered asking price. Last house we put an offer on had an insane asking price, so we offered what we felt it was worth. I am sure the realtors discussed ahead of time, to make sure we weren't wasting anyone's time. If they were going to be insulted and not open to our offer - so be it. (They did accept!) It just depends on so many factors.

[MonkeyMama]

P.S. It's been so long since I house hunted, but I don't believe with a buying realtor that you have to sign any sort of contract or commitment. As such, shop around a bit. You can test the waters with a few before you find the right one.

[nick__45]

Originally Posted by MonkeyMama

P.S. It's been so long since I house hunted, but I don't believe with a buying realtor that you have to sign any sort of contract or commitment. As such, shop around a bit. You can test the waters with a few before you find the right one.

Around here they make you sign paper saying you can't buy anything they showed you via another realtor unless you want to pay them 3% of the sale price as a penalty. I can't believe they can do that. And it is useless having your realtor as realtors talk among each other to insure price is as high as possible.

[Coronet]

Unfortunately single family homes are flat out out of my price range. I live in a very expensive area. Any decent single family starter homes are going to be either in shambles at the price I could get a nice condo/townhome for or way out of my price range.

Thanks for all the additional advice though!

[danieldroga]

As long as you have the money to spend with it then why not. Congratulations for you anyway.