First Time Homebuyer Classes? (Seattle, Bellevue: real estate, apartments, foreclosures)

[violeteyes1988]

My roommate and I will be moving to the Seattle area in mid-June. We are flying out from Nashville, TN in early May to attend a first time homebuyer seminar in order to qualify for down payment/closing cost assistance. My questions are:

Has anyone attended one of these classes? If so, did you find it helpful? Were you able to secure a loan and assistance through the program? Also, were you able to successfully find a home in your price range?

As far as prices go, we are looking for a home on the lowest end of the spectrum. We are young (24) and don't mind putting some work into a house if need be. Therefore, fixer-uppers/foreclosures are not out of the question, as long as they are currently livable.

We are pretty open to neighborhoods surrounding Seattle including Bellevue as I also have a job interview at the local animal shelter there. Any suggestions on pet friendly (one cat and one large breed dog) housing would be greatly appreciated. We would prefer a 2-3 bedroom house, as opposed to an apartment, if at all possible. We would like to keep our rent under $900/mo. if we are not able to buy immediately. I have checked out apartment prices and know that this will be difficult to find but I'm still hopeful.

I greatly appreciate any and all information and apologize if these questions have already been answered elsewhere.

[seattlenextyear]

I don't want to be discouraging, but...

[Ira500]

From what I understand, there are some programs for first time homebuyers, administered by variousbanks, where if you're income qualified( not more than 80% of the median income) they will assist you in coming up with downpayment money by contributing three dollars for every one dollar you save, up to a 5000 savings or a 15000 dollar match. And that you're required to go to a first time home buyer's class.
But finding a 2-3 bedroom to rent for 900, while not impossible, is going to be hard to find. You won't find it in neighborhoods that people talk about as being cool or desirable. Doesn't mean you'll be in danger or that you'll be in a bad place if you rent in a neighborhood that has 900 dollar rents, but there's usually a reason why rents are lower . They're run down areas or lower income areas or bad schools, or lots of industry around, or a little too far from stuff. So, rule out neighborhoods like Ravenna and Capitol Hill and Queen Anne and pretty much anything north or east except maybe Mountlake Terrace in the north or Everett., In the south end look at the towns/neighborhoods of Auburn, Kent, Tukwila, Sea-Tac, Boulevard Park, Skyway, Renton, White Center, maybe Delridge, Highland Park, parts of Federal Way.

[Botev1912]

There are apartments in Lynnwood and Edmonds for 900 a month

[tylee]

It's not impossible to find a place to rent in that price range, but it probably wont' be a house. Not a 3 bedroom house anyway. And you'd definitely sacrifice the whole nice neighborhood aspect.

If you're looking for a short commute to Bellevue, try looking in Renton.

[violeteyes1988]

Thanks for all the help everyone. Much appreciated

[seattlenextyear]

I guess I'm going to have to be the bad guy here?

You have to borrow money to pay your CLOSING COSTS.
You are not going to be making much more than minimum wage at an animal shelter
You are planning on buying a house in one of the most expensive areas in the country
Because you aren't going to be putting anywhere close to 20%, you're going to have additional fees

To me, these are all warning signs that perhaps you are about to make a terrible financial decision. It's your life, but you're really young and you have plenty of time to save up money, settle down and buy houses.

[jojo7]

Here is a seminar you can attend when you are ready. The next one is March 31st but I am sure they will have others scheduled when you are ready in the near future.

Seattle & John L. Scott Washington Area Real Estate, Listings, Agent

Good luck!

[Ira500]

Just a word of warning: If you're going to attand a first time homebuyer's class, see if you can find one that's not taught or sponsored by a real estate brokerage. Yes, you might learn stuff and gain information, but the primary purpose of giving the class isn't so much to provide information but to gain clients. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but the slant is going to be how wonderful home buying is, how you can't go wrong, how it's a great time to buy, etc. If that were all true, there wouldn't be so many houses out there that people lost to foreclosure. Just take what they say with a grain of salt.

[violeteyes1988]

Originally Posted by seattlenextyear

I guess I'm going to have to be the bad guy here?

You have to borrow money to pay your CLOSING COSTS.
You are not going to be making much more than minimum wage at an animal shelter
You are planning on buying a house in one of the most expensive areas in the country
Because you aren't going to be putting anywhere close to 20%, you're going to have additional fees

To me, these are all warning signs that perhaps you are about to make a terrible financial decision. It's your life, but you're really young and you have plenty of time to save up money, settle down and buy houses.

I do appreciate your honesty but I should clear a few things up.
I don't HAVE to borrow money to pay closing costs; I'm attending the class to gain a little more knowledge on home buying (since I am so young, after all). The certificate that comes with attending the class is valid for two years should I need assistance in the future. While I would love to be able to purchase as soon as I get to Seattle, I realize that it probably won't happen. I'm anxious to buy not only because I would like to have something to call my own and not throw away money every month but also because it had proven to be very difficult to find a rental that allows a 110lb Bullmastiff mix (despite Seattle supposedly being dog friendly). Finally, I'm pretty confident that LVT's make a bit more than minimum wage.