First Time Home Buyer! (Naperville, Westmont: 2013, rent, credit)

[KingKon]

Hello Everyone,

I am a first time home buyer. I moved to USA from India in December 2013 and we have been living on rent in Naperville since then but would like to stop paying the amount we pay to someone else (~1850) and put that much in buying a house or a townhome.

I dont have kids in school. My daughter is in college and son is back in India in med school and good schools dont really matter to me.

We make around 11k before taxes ( we expect that to increase in a few months by 50%) right now and are looking to get a house within 300k range. PLAYING IT SAFE. Dont want to get into too much debt. Narrowed down on westmont because taxes are low and houses are cheap and i guess homeowner gets property tax exemption upto some extent if he lives in the house (?).


I am 57 and wife is 54 , I am not sure how much that would hinder us in getting a mortgage. I plan on putting a 20-25% downpayment.


I personally like townhomes because of their no frills ownership. Both of us are medical professionals and work long hours and dont get much time to landscape and other stuff.

I am looking at 3bd 2+ba with basement (must). Most homes are see have a 2 car garage but we have 3 cars and i hated it this time when my brand new car had to be out in snow

What do you guys think about this :
[url]https://www.redfin.com/IL/Westmont/31-S-Adams-St-60559/home/18024072[/url]

How does home buying work in America? Any room for negotiation.

This will be my first ever loan. We were fairly well to do back there and havent been in any debt but the very low interest rates in America do seem lucrative

What is the procedure to buy a home and extend the existing garages? I guess that would affect property taxes.

I would love your suggestions and help on finding homes and if i should get a house or a townhome.

I plan on re-doing the kitchen of the house i buy if its old.


PS : Do 3 car garage townhomes even exist?

[vishkey]

I've never seen a 3 car garage town home, maybe a few of them exists. But with a budget of 300k I doubt you would find a decent house with a 3 car garage leave alone a town home.

You can definitely negotiate on the price, look at what similar homes are selling in that area and see what the seller has extra to offer if its higher than the rest and start from there.

Adding a garage can be possible in certain cases, but you need to look at city codes, setback, get permission etc. You just cant buy a property and start adding a garage to it like folks do in India lol

Your age wont matter, but the fact that you moved to the States in Dec 2013 means fairly new and or little credit history. This might affect the interest rates I believe, you may not qualify for the best rates... Something to keep in mind...

Good Luck!