Please Help: Buying my first home

[snafu]

Buying a house is truly capitalistic since the buyer and seller negotiate the price often via realtors. Asking price and selling price can have huge variances. As buyers you can ask for anything you truly want. The seller is supposed to include anything 'permanently' attached ,[screwed/nailed] to the wall. you can ask for appliances or deduct the cost of new appliances from asking price for example. You need to be aware of traffic, noise, and do neighbours have dogs or non functioning cars in their driveway.

It's worth the money to hire a qualified, certified home inspector and to be on site while he carries out his inspection from roof, fireplace/furnace chimney to every nook and crevice in the basement or crawl space. Love the warranty idea, they don't do that here.

The rule of thumb is to set aside 1% of the home value as an Emergency Fund for the house. The big box stores do terrific Saturday AM "How To' programs. It really helps to be able to make your own repairs of at least know if trades are doing things correctly.

[snafu]

forgot to say...
We always ask for the highest month utility bills [heat, electric, water] to call each and ask the average usage/cost for square foot residence. That can tell you a lot about the invisible, behind the walls secrets. How effective is the insulation, do the window frames leak. Are there plumbing problems?

If you are negotiating an offer to purchase with the seller, it's critical to have a lawyer who specializes in real estate, review the offer and the final contract before you sign. There are so many pitfalls you must be protected.

[theoracle]

Not sure if you're buying a new-build or older property but in my experience, the most expensive things to replace in the house are the kitchen, bathroom, and heating system. Windows can also be expensive if you need to replace all of them at once. So if all of those are in good condition, general maintenance shouldn't be too expensive. Best of luck with the new purchase

[97guns]

97Guns "retired in 2009 at the age of 39 with less than 300K total net worth"

Why would you retire so early with such a low net worth?

because i can, why would you work if you dont need to? never understood the stance
of enjoying your job, try enjoying your life a free person.

my net worth has grown by 1 million since 2009 but i did inherit $125K

300K bought me 4 single family homes built post 2000 and added 1 more earlier this year
with the inheritance.

equity on my real estate holdings have gone up 250% and rents get socked away every month

[Gailete]

We always ask for the highest month utility bills [heat, electric, water]

To go along with this, try to find out from the seller, what they generally kept the heat at when home/at night. Sames with AC and if those were turned way down when the owners went out to work or was someone in the house all day usually (thus needing more heat during the day). Also how many were taking showers, etc. Since most water and sewer bills are based on water usage. If there are five people taking showers daily that water bill is going to be really different than a bill for only one person who travels a lot. We have a rental property where we get the water bill to pay. When the guy and has girlfriend broke up with her and her son moving out, the water/sewer bill went down about $80-90/quarter!

You don't need this info because you are nosy, you need it to know what sort of things you are basing your estimated utility rates on. Your own water/sewer bill assuming you get it and depending on if you have to water outdoors, should be about the same usage you usually have, but if you go from an apartment to a house with extensive yard and garden that need watered you need an idea of what it will take.

I grew up in CA but even there most Christmas days, it was cool enough to wear long sleeve tops, at least fall type clothes. Where I live now we have winter with a capital W and on Christmas we still need to wear warm clothes inside. I was looking through a book once and saw a picture of Jackie Kennedy at the White House (prior to the energy crises) playing with her kids wearing a sleeveless top and pants that would have been appropriate for summer as was the rest of the family. They either were keeping the White House extra warm or they had a warm snap that year. The point being if people keep their homes at 75 or higher in the winter like some older people may do and you keep yours at 67 like we do doing the day and put on sweaters, etc. if we get cold. Depending on your area that can make a huge difference in heating bills, so just finding out what the people had used before isn't enough. If at all possible you need details.

Huge heating bills and a family that claims they kept the house at 65 during the day and 55 at night, might also indicate a significant lack of insulation, leaky windows and doors, old faulty furnace and/or water heater, etc. which means a lot of replacing and money outgo and gives you a bargaining chip in negotiating a sale price.

[johnt78]

Owning your own place comes with a slew of new expenses, so good money-management skills are a must-have. If you don't have a household budget right now, start one.

[Eagle]

because i can, why would you work if you dont need to? never understood the stance of enjoying your job, try enjoying your life a free person.

my net worth has grown by 1 million since 2009 but i did inherit $125K

300K bought me 4 single family homes built post 2000 and added 1 more earlier this year
with the inheritance.

equity on my real estate holdings have gone up 250% and rents get socked away every month

Just saw this. Very cool. So you manage 5 properties you rent out. Nice.

[cashinasnap]

Buying a home is a dream that every person wants to fulfil, I believe you are already doing well with your budgeting, but I would insist you to get help from financial institutes. Who offers loan with low rate of interest, before that you need to do the market research thoroughly.