Wanting To Buy The Evil Starter Home: (expensive, state, buy a house)

[GBCommenter]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

1. You need to find a buyer's agent to represent YOU. It's their job to help you find a house you like and can afford and to advise you through the negotiation and closing processes. Ask some friends or coworkers who recently bought starter homes for realtor recommendations. Certainly someone you know has a great realtor to recommend. And stop reading crap on the internet...interview a couple of recommended agents and pick the one you feel the most comfortable with.

2. No, not all realtors are jerks. There are some bad ones just like there are bad teachers, office workers, etc. The majority of realtors are hard-working and helpful. Remember , they don't get a salary. They live 100% on commissions from selling houses. So they like to help sell and buy houses !

3. It's key to find a realtor who's an expert in your market. There are realtors out there who do most of their business in starter home neighborhoods and that's a better person to use than someone who is usually selling $1M homes in other neighborhoods. They won't be as up on pricing and other info in the starter home areas.

Originally Posted by jayrandom

Best way is to ask a friend who's bought recently to recommend one. If that doesn't work, search reviews in your area and pick a few that look promising. In either case, call them, talk to them and explain your expectations and pick the one that you think will be the best.

Buyer's agents are generally paid by the seller, but not always. Discuss payment with any agent you work with.

I pretty much echo what they say - you need to find a realtor that will represent you first. Ask friends, family and co-workers for recommendations on realtors - they would be your natural first go-to's on if they liked a realtor and found him/her helpful. If that isn't an option for you next options I'd look to would include these:

• Google something like "(your city or neighborhood) first time home buyer realtors" ideally will connect you with realtors who specialize in your area and with buyers like you as mentioned more less by TC80 above (BTW, this is probably a good search to do anyway as it also directs you to lots of helpful information on what questions you should be asking on the whole home buying process).
• Call a few of the big realty companies in your area and tell them you are a first time home buyer and are looking for a realtor that will help find a house in your budget. Ask them for a few recommendations and then talk to them to see which one you feel most comfortable. I'd be surprised if they didn't give you a list of agents, but if not then I wouldn't waste time on that company. Plenty of other agencies out there.

Once you have a realtor, my experience was two things:



1) they will ask you to sign an exclusivity agreement with them for a set amount of time (such as 6 months) so they don't spend time and money on you to watch you jump to another realtor last minute.



2) They usually have mortgage broker connections they can connect you with to help you get the mortgage process started. Just like an exclusivity agreement, this isn't purely altruistic on the realtor's part - they again want to make sure before they spend time and money on you that you are going to be able to actually finish the transaction - both from the viewpoint of your credit worthiness and from the viewpoint of the broker being skilled/legitimate on getting the paperwork done on the mortgage.



This also speaks to your question on how they get paid. Jayrandom touched on this but your realtor (generally, be sure to ask) gets paid part of the commission the seller pays as part of the sale. In my experience, the seller agrees with their agent to pay a percentage of the sale (6% when I was in the home-owning/buying/seling game) and that amount is split between the seller and buyer agents at closing (which they negotiate between themselves - you don't have to worry about that part).



Hence, your agent somewhat works for free until the sale closes - which is again why they want to make sure you will stick with them and can actually get a mortgage. However, it's a win-win because they have incentive to close the sale and keep you happy so they can get paid.

[davebarnes]

too many emoticons
what is with kids these days?

[mkarch]

Half-million is a starter home. You should expect some big compromises at that price point.

[edshaw4947927]

When looking for a house or asking about realtors, home prices, etc., it is sometimes a good idea to let people know where you are.

[Jukesgrrl]

You seem woefully uneducated on the subject of home buying. Go to the library, get some good books on this topic, and read them. No matter how inexpensive a home you buy, it's still a major purchase and not the time for mistakes.

NOLO's Essential Guide to Buying Your First Home by Ilona Bray
Home Buying for Dummies by Eric Tyson
100 Questions Every Home Buyer Should Ask by Ilyce Glink
106 Common Mistakes Home Buyers Make and How to Avoid Them by Gary Eldred
Etc.

[Sunnydee]

First determine what you can afford and what you want. Make a list. (Our list had 28 items and it took awhile, but we did find a house that met all of our criteria.)

Next decide where you want to live. If you're smart you'll pick a location that is close to where you work because commuting quickly becomes a chore and gas is expensive. Check out predator maps, crime stats, school scores (even if you don't have kids because neighborhoods with better schools have better resale value), insurance rates (you may not want to be in a flood zone, etc.), commute times and patterns (it's good to be travelling in the opposite direction of everyone else), proximity to things you use a lot (grocery, gym, friends, etc.), and anything else you can think of.

Use the MLS to get an idea of what's out there and what it costs. Realtor.com lets you plug in your criteria and filters through the available houses to find those that match your budget and criteria.

Find a good buyers agent (realtor) who will take your list and comb through listings to find the ones that meet your criteria. This agent will then send you listings to look at and will take you to tour those you are interested in.

You might want to go to the bank/credit union and get preapproved for a loan, so when you find the house of your dreams you'll be able to act quickly.

Please make sure you get a home inspection prior to buying because some flaws are deal breakers.

Best wishes.

[luv4horses]

If it makes you feel any better, your 'starter home' might be the same one a retired couple or any single person (age 20 to 100) might want to move into. As said earlier, the reference is generally to a house where adults without children would want to live. However, sometimes adults with children have low funds and will also chose the smaller home, despite the inconvenience, particularly if they have family in the area.

The term is unfortunately emotionally laden. It implies that if you start with that home it will grow in value enough to catapult you to the next level in some sort of tiered magical system of home ownership. We know that is not true, although building equity will allow you to have a larger down payment for a 'next' house.

In days gone by, some folks would stay happily in their starter homes until they were paid off. They helped to make their neighborhood be the kind folks wanted to live in. Today the same homes might suggest lots of turnover. Drive around a lot to look for well-kept neighborhoods. Pride of ownership is a good thing. Then contact realtors who have lots of homes in such neighborhoods. Until you find an agent who you are comfortable with, let the agents you contact know that you are not ready to sign an exclusive representation document.

[Jkgourmet]

Originally Posted by Sunnydee

First determine what you can afford and what you want. Make a list. (Our list had 28 items and it took awhile, but we did find a house that met all of our criteria.)

Next decide where you want to live. If you're smart you'll pick a location that is close to where you work because commuting quickly becomes a chore and gas is expensive. Check out predator maps, crime stats, school scores (even if you don't have kids because neighborhoods with better schools have better resale value), insurance rates (you may not want to be in a flood zone, etc.), commute times and patterns (it's good to be travelling in the opposite direction of everyone else), proximity to things you use a lot (grocery, gym, friends, etc.), and anything else you can think of.

Use the MLS to get an idea of what's out there and what it costs. Realtor.com lets you plug in your criteria and filters through the available houses to find those that match your budget and criteria.

Find a good buyers agent (realtor) who will take your list and comb through listings to find the ones that meet your criteria. This agent will then send you listings to look at and will take you to tour those you are interested in.

You might want to go to the bank/credit union and get preapproved for a loan, so when you find the house of your dreams you'll be able to act quickly.

Please make sure you get a home inspection prior to buying because some flaws are deal breakers.

Best wishes.

I'd agree with list except for the first sentence. It should read:

First, find a mortgage broker who will determine what you can afford and how much you qualify for. He will pull a credit report first and make you complete a full application.

Why am I putting that first on the list? Because I have a stinking feeling thecOP has a rotten credit score, too little income to afford what he wants, and no cash for a down payment, reserves or closing costs. If I'm right, Why waste any realtor's time?

[semispherical]

Originally Posted by In_Correct

I want to buy a starter home. I like to get the most house for the least money. But these houses are hard to find. One reason is there aren't many starter homes around anymore. Another reason is whenever I search on a real estate site the "featured properties" always are shown first. These are half a million dollar McMansions. And I am not interested in McMansions or gated communities and certainly not interested in HOA. I guess the "American Dream" means you should spend too much money.

It's like on that one episode of the Roseanne show where they had the new neighbors Kathy Bauman. (Blonde woman resembling Diane Chambers from Cheers) When they got into an argument Roseanne said to Kathy "No You're Not! ... You are just some [IDR] who paid way too much for a house."

I am kinda getting the impression that Real Estate agents will not talk to you if they find out you only want to find the most house for the least money. I did Internet research and that is probably because the real estate agents only spend their time on houses where they make the most money with Real Estate Fees. And the fees on a "Starter Home" would not be enough pay for the Real Estate Agents.

Is this true? And if it is true, ... if r?ealtors do not want to help sell the Starter Homes, then why don't they just make up another dumb rule where realtors can't sell "Starter Homes"? And why doesn't a realtor just be honest and tell you "No, I am not interested in showing this house."?

Is it ture that most Realtors can be jerks? Do they want you to spend too much money? Is it wrong for me to not spend too much money? Even if I had Millions per year, I still would not want to buy a McMansion. (But if I had Billions per year, then I might want to buy McMansion. )

Uh, you're trolling, right? I can't imagine any other reason for such a disjointed list of inflammatory statements.

Originally Posted by In_Correct

And why are some homes so inexpensive? Is it because somebody died in them? Or perhaps was there a Meth Lab?

So you want to complain both about houses that are too expensive and are too cheap??

[AZJoeD]

And stop watching Roseanne for your real estate advice.