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My fiancee and I have decided to buy our first home together! We're very excited and I'm very impatient. We want to move in in either April or May, after my fiancee finishes grad school in another state. We found a home in a neighborhood we love, with a price we love and the features we want. So...my question is...I am so tempted to put an offer on the house now. But, is there any way to do that without moving in until the spring? I know most sales close in about 60 days, give or take, but is there any way to extend that length of time? How soon is too soon to put an offer on a house?
Location: Halfway between Number 4 Privet Drive and Forks, WA
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As a seller, there'd be no way I'd entertain an escrow 7 months out, even if you made me a full price offer, and even in this market. So yes, I think it's too soon for you, especially if you can't get financing yet...
Location: Mokelumne Hill, CA & El Pescadero, BCS MX.
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The worst thing about a long escrow is that the world situation moves on a daily basis. If you can convince the seller to have a long escrow, go for it! Beware that the real estate agents will totally hate this for a variety of reasons. You may also find out that YOU don't enjoy the process either, because your world will change too. (That's just an old mans perspective on life, you may ignore it if you want!)
You could also make the offer to purchase and close in a normal time period and then have the seller lease it back from you until you're ready to move in.
Or make offer and give option of long escrow OR a discount for the x # of months until you move in. (with the rent/lease option to the owner to cover that out of pocket or to actual rent the house from you back) Win win if you must have this house. But my guess is in 7 months that house is worth 90% of current value depending where it is.
It's your life, but personally I think right now is way too soon to put an offer on the house. I wouldn't recommend getting into a contract to buy a house in your situation. You really should wait until your fiancee is done with grad school and has a full-time job locally. A lot can happen in 6-7 months.
I am impatient too, but I am waiting to buy myself. I rent in a really cute neighborhood, and there is a house for sale at a great price that I am drooling over. But I am waiting to buy since I can't afford it right now. I have faith that when I am fully ready to buy a house the right one will be available.
All the thoughts are great, and it all comes down to, what do you want. Possibly you could do a lease purchase, and wait until your finance graduates, and then your credit will take a couple of months, with him working, and if they will do a lease purchase, a win for both. I expect if you are comfortable with and agree on a reasonable price, its not going to change that much, but I am no proffit, and of course it could go down, so you could loose you option, as when you get ready to buy, it will need to appraise for what you need to borrow.
I think you're letting your emotions get the best of you. How do you plan to qualify for the mortgage ?
Do you think RE has stabalized where you are ? Is there a shortage of homes on the market where you MUST buy now ?
With what is going on today in the economy and the world I would wait.
Right now is not the time to rush into buying a home. Do you have a down payment? Do you have an emergency fund? Do you both have full time employment? If the answer to any of these is "no" then you're not ready financially to buy a house.
You will be just as happy renting a place together.
Thanks for the advice-- please know that my fiancee and I would never be considering buying if we weren't in a good position financially to do it. We have put much thought into this decision and gotten both personal and professional advice. We have been pre-approved for a mortgage that is about $10,000 over the asking price of the house we love (this pre-approval is based solely on my income; it does not consider my fiancee's future income). We have money for the down payment and have calculated that the monthly payments will be absolutely affordable for us. Sorry if my OP was confusing-- I wasn't asking if we should buy or not, I was asking if there was any way we could put an offer on a home now but not move in until March. Thanks to those who gave advice already!
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