First time home buying advice (Boston, Springfield: real estate, 2014, lease)

[kvader]

We are slowly getting ready to dip our toes in the scary process of home buying. We have zero experience with home buying and find even car buying stressful. We more or less narrowed down our area to 5-6 towns. Any suggestions on mortgage lenders or RE attorneys? I think these will be the next steps, then finding a RE agent. Is it too early to get pre-approved for a loan now? We might not be able to buy before april-may 2014. Any words of wisdom are appreciated! I've already learned a lot by reading the forum - hire your own "team", don't rely of the RE agent to do it for you!

[MikePRU]

Personally, I don't agree with your "hire your own team" philosophy. A very smart real estate agent once taught me that successful agents are "an expert of the experts" meaning if you don't know squat about let's say plumbing for example then you better know a great plumber to refer your clients to. In fact, there's no better resource for recommendations to use in building your team than your agent. How many of your friends, coworkers, etc. participate in multiple real estate transactions annually? My guess is none. So, your agent is really your best resource for reviews. In fact, the only times my clients complain about another "team member" seems to be when they find them on my own. I also find I spend a lot of time cleaning up messes when dealing with unfamiliar "team members" as well. This is really neither here nor there but I wanted to throw out my two cents for any future readers of this thread.

Back on track....what part of the state are you in? I'm sure if you live in Springfield you don't want a lawyer based in Boston for example.

[jfitt]

Oh my, kvader. You can have anyone pre-approve you but make your real estate agent the next person that you find. I agree with MikePRU. Real estate agents have their own "team members" whom they know will get the deal closed on time. If you start assembling your own team, and they do not play well together, you could be in for a lengthy closing. I would love for someone who is a buyer's agent, and if possible, someone who has an ABR designation. They are trained to work with buyers. I would not call the agent who has a sign in front of a house as their responsibility is to the seller, not you. They need to treat you ethically, but ultimately, they are there for the seller. A buyer's agent will have your best interest at heart. Good luck!

[miu]

Having just bought a house in NH, I'd say to have a good amount of money saved for moving and also fixing up your new place. And whatever amount your bank or you think that you can afford to pay for a place, buy something for much less. In other words, don't max out your buying budget.

[495neighbor]

Originally Posted by miu

Having just bought a house in NH, I'd say to have a good amount of money saved for moving and also fixing up your new place. And whatever amount your bank or you think that you can afford to pay for a place, buy something for much less. In other words, don't max out your buying budget.

^This, based on my own experiences.

Miu, best of luck on your relocation. Massachusetts's loss, New Hampshire's gain.

[MikePRU]

One other thing . . . when you go to hire your agent start by interviewing three. You can certainly source your agents to interview from internet reviews and personal recommendations from friends, etc. If after reviewing all three you don't like any of them, don't feel obligated to hire one of these three. Go out and find 2 more to interview. Eventually, you'll find someone you think will do a good job representing you and who's personality works well with yours.

Originally Posted by jfitt

I would love for someone who is a buyer's agent, and if possible, someone who has an ABR designation. They are trained to work with buyers.

I'll let you in on a real estate industry secret . . . the whole alphabet soup thing is a bunch of BS. When I say alphabet soup, I'm talking about the letters/acronyms on a real estate agent's card that stand for designations they've earned. They're basically a marketing gimmick and a way for the National Association of Realtors (NAR) to suck money out of us. The majority of them have no continuing education requirement and to keep them you just pay an annual fee. So if you got your ABR for example 20 years ago and you're still paying to maintain it, chances are what they taught you in the designation course is quite outdated. The other thing is . . . I've taken a few of these classes and I'm quite convinced a lobotomized monkey could pass most of them. I can honestly say earning my designations was an absolute joke and I learned pretty much nothing from the class that I didn't already know.

Originally Posted by jfitt

I would not call the agent who has a sign in front of a house as their responsibility is to the seller, not you. They need to treat you ethically, but ultimately, they are there for the seller. A buyer's agent will have your best interest at heart. Good luck!

Excellent advice. This is one place many buyers trip up. Some buyers who do this end up quite happy afterward, but many end up regretting going this route. Especially first time buyers who really need the extra help.

Originally Posted by miu

Having just bought a house in NH, I'd say to have a good amount of money saved for moving and also fixing up your new place. And whatever amount your bank or you think that you can afford to pay for a place, buy something for much less. In other words, don't max out your buying budget.

Solid advice. Owning a home is almost always more expensive than people think it's going to be. Make sure you have a good cushion of savings to fall back on.

[Beachcomber4]

Be realistic in what you can afford, and what you NEED and what you WANT. That not only includes what you want and need in your home but also your personal life. Do you want to go on vacations or do you really need to go on vacation to decompress and truly get away from it all? (this is a lesson I learned about my husband- we can walk to the beach but he can't relax there- he truly needs to get away) So if you are accustomed to a certain lifestyle that makes you happy, find a home that allows you to continue that. Happy people make a happy home.

I totally agree about interviewing agents. While someone might be a "best" agent in the area, they may not be the "best" for you. You already know that buying a house is very emotional. As important as it is to have a good business person guiding you, it is important to have someone you are comfortable with during the process. A great example is MikePru. He takes a lot of time on here to answer questions. He's not doing business here he just seems like a good guy who is happy to help people out on a public forum. It is important to have an agent who will guide you and understand your point of view and needs in the process.

Good luck on you purchase and I hope you keep us updated.

[tikaram]

I think the next step is split between talking to a mortgage broker, and finding a re agent.
Talk to several mortgage professionals, 3 is a good number (just as Mike suggested talking to re agents)
You may not need the preapproval letter just yet, but you need to have a clear idea what can you borrow, and under what terms. And it's always better to "underbuy" than stretch and overbuy.

Talk to re agents. If you find someone you trust, it will be great help for you. If you don't trust them - their expertise, their professionalism - then don't work with such agent, and look for another one. I think it's very sad when people are not thrilled with the agent to begin with, yet they work with him/her against their gut feeling (or obvious signs of a bad match), then things take wrong turns.

It also will be of great help if you can narrow your choice of towns to 2-3 rather than 5-6. It takes time, and no one except you can decide which towns to eliminate. Other people (agents and not) can help you with facts, but ultimately, you have to make that decision. Also, most good agents specialize in certain geographical areas (and beware of agents who work "anywhere" - they can't possibly know all towns equally well), so once you know which areas you are considering to move to, you can find an agent with matching expertise.

Read forums = plenty of advice here. There's a "real estate" forum, but I would actually recommend you stick to Boston forum. Thing is, real estate is very local, and different states within US will have different laws and rules how the real estate process works. It may be very confusing.

best of luck

[jfitt]

To Mike, they have changed the requirements for ABR designation. It is not as simple as sitting at a computer for a few hours and passing a test. So, this designation, does have more meaning than most as there is an actual field component.

[Cape Cod Todd]

Kvader. It is important to find a great Realtor that is a good fit for you. As mentioned above A great Realtor will have people in place that can get the job done and get you into your new home. Here on Cape Cod there happens to be a lot of real estate that falls under the quirky label that has left off Cape banks puzzled and left the borrower without funds. A few of these quirks are unimproved dirt roads, 3 season properties and leased land condos.
Another thing is you will want an attorney that specialises in real estate. We once had a deal where the buyers attorney was dragging the process along. He was chosen by the buyer because he was a friend. We finally got a hold of the attorney and turns out he couldn't get to the paperwork because he was tied up in a murder case.
Find a great agent (good fit) by interviewing several, remember you are hiring them for the expertise so don't be afraid to take advantage of it. You will be happier in the end with a smooth transaction.
Good luck.