Is It Too Late To Purchase My First Home in 2023 (real estate market, crime)

[Morpheuss]

Since we're pretty much in the middle of March is it too late to realistically purchase my first home this year?

If it's still possible can you experienced residential real estate folks give me detailed but simple step-by-step action plan I should take from now till the time I get my keys handed to me by the realtor

[ChristieP]

There are still 9 months left in 2023, so you have plenty of time left this year.

Step #1: find a great realtor who knows the area where you are looking to buy a house. They can help you with the rest of the home purchase process.

[Morpheuss]

...nice. Thanks Christie.

[ILTXwhatnext]

I'm not a real estate agent but when we were starting to look, I consulted realtor.com a lot. We wanted to retire to another state, so traveling there to get a feel for what houses cost etc. was hard.

Years ago I had a close call when they redrew the flood zones, thought I might not be able to sell my place. Luckily a cash buyer came along. Anyway, when you click on one of the realtor.com listings, you'll see a Google map below the lower right of the property photo. Click on that and...flood...and there's a map. Yep, I'm avoiding that at all costs. Click on noise and you'll see how quiet it might be. They used to have a crime map too but took it off.

Anyway, there's lots of interesting info in there. Good luck!

[Rakin]

If you take care of your business, it will take about 3-4 months (usually) to find a home, go under contract and close to get the keys. You have to do your work. Also I've had clients take many months because they are not realistic or in a hurry (and a dozen other excuses).

As Christi mentioned you need to find a good RE Agent who will sit down with you and explain the process, hook you up with a good lender or 2 and hold your hand through the process.

If you find someone experienced, it's not that hard and a valuable asset for you.

[Morpheuss]

Originally Posted by ILTXwhatnext

I'm not a real estate agent but when we were starting to look, I consulted realtor.com a lot. We wanted to retire to another state, so traveling there to get a feel for what houses cost etc. was hard.

Years ago I had a close call when they redrew the flood zones, thought I might not be able to sell my place. Luckily a cash buyer came along. Anyway, when you click on one of the realtor.com listings, you'll see a Google map below the lower right of the property photo. Click on that and...flood...and there's a map. Yep, I'm avoiding that at all costs. Click on noise and you'll see how quiet it might be. They used to have a crime map too but took it off.

Anyway, there's lots of interesting info in there. Good luck!

Thanks for the recommendation. My brother bought a new house in a fancy sub-urban area and he's selling to my other brothers that buying a home is the ultimate most complicated thing in the world, basically doing that to raise his status

When I visited their housing development I noticed that there are about 800 other identical or similar houses in that area. So as an engineer/data analyst I figured if there's a large pattern of repeating occurrences then the act/process that creates the occurrence should be decently common.

[hanex1]

Originally Posted by Morpheuss

Thanks for the recommendation. My brother bought a new house in a fancy sub-urban area and he's selling to my other brothers that buying a home is the ultimate most complicated thing in the world, basically doing that to raise his status

It is not "The Most Complicated thing in the world", but it sure is the most prized worldly possession for majority of the population and a decently complicated decision (outside of work related decisions), especially if one is married and have kids .
I do not see anything wrong with a little humble brag on your brother's part, may be you are reading too much in to it.

Originally Posted by Morpheuss

When I visited their housing development I noticed that there are about 800 other identical or similar houses in that area. So as an engineer/data analyst I figured if there's a large pattern of repeating occurrences then the act/process that creates the occurrence should be decently common.

There are millions of engineers on earth and by your logic, one should not be proud of one's achievement as its a repeating occurrence . Similar to how you had a unique story to achieve what you did, each person in that subdivision/development has a story that manifested in buying one of the largest investment in their lives.

[Morpheuss]

Originally Posted by Rakin

If you take care of your business, it will take about 3-4 months (usually) to find a home, go under contract and close to get the keys. You have to do your work. Also I've had clients take many months because they are not realistic or in a hurry (and a dozen other excuses).

As Christi mentioned you need to find a good RE Agent who will sit down with you and explain the process, hook you up with a good lender or 2 and hold your hand through the process.

If you find someone experienced, it's not that hard and a valuable asset for you.

Thanks for the tip Rakin. by the way, I'm an Army veteran and we have a bit of a difference in the loans we can get. Does this extend the typical homebuying process if you have veteran status?

[ChristieP]

Originally Posted by Morpheuss

Thanks for the tip Rakin. by the way, I'm an Army veteran and we have a bit of a difference in the loans we can get. Does this extend the typical homebuying process if you have veteran status?

My husband is also an Army veteran, and we used a VA loan to buy our house in 2021. When you meet with a mortgage lender, ask them to show you the difference between a VA and a conventional loan, and they can show you the pro/con of both. If you want to use a VA loan, it will usually extend your closing a little bit, especially if it is your first VA loan. The lenders say to allow 45 days, but our experience was that they were ready in 35 days. We also helped that along by being very quick to respond to inquiries and provided documents ASAP. The good thing about a VA loan is that you don't have to put down 20%, and there are also some closing costs that you're not required to pay. The bad thing is that those closing costs have to be paid by the seller, which can put you at a disadvantage in a competitive real estate market.

[Morpheuss]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

My husband is also an Army veteran, and we used a VA loan to buy our house in 2021. When you meet with a mortgage lender, ask them to show you the difference between a VA and a conventional loan, and they can show you the pro/con of both. If you want to use a VA loan, it will usually extend your closing a little bit, especially if it is your first VA loan. The lenders say to allow 45 days, but our experience was that they were ready in 35 days. We also helped that along by being very quick to respond to inquiries and provided documents ASAP. The good thing about a VA loan is that you don't have to put down 20%, and there are also some closing costs that you're not required to pay. The bad thing is that those closing costs have to be paid by the seller, which can put you at a disadvantage in a competitive real estate market.

I appreciate the tips @ChristieP. definitely helps.