Questions by users purchasing a home for the first time, and questions relating to the various first-time home buyer credits.
Questions tagged [first-time-home-buyer]
358 questions
60
votes
9 answers
Why are 30-year mortgages seen as unwise, if you can pay off the loan in a shorter period of time anyway?
I'm slowly working towards buying my first home (yay!), and have been playing around with the numbers. As far as I can tell, there's literally zero advantage for getting a 10 or 15-year mortgage since I can just get the exact same mortgage in a…
user44315
57
votes
7 answers
How big of a mortgage can I realistically afford?
I'm 25, and I'm in the process of closing on a $260,000 mortgage for a very nice condo in downtown Salt Lake City. My salary is $80,000 right now, which I feel is pretty solid, but I'm starting to get cold feet as I am a first-time homeowner and the…
Charlie
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44
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12 answers
Should I buy a house now before prices rise even more?
We rent an apartment in Frankfurt, Germany and we are contractually bound to it for another 1.5 years. We are 33 and 35 years old and there will be children soon. We make around 110k € annually (after taxes) and we have no debt.
We are thinking…
8192K
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36
votes
7 answers
Is it smarter financially to buy a starter home or go for the long-term goal?
My wife and I are first-time home buyers. We both have fairly stable jobs and have no trouble getting a mortgage on any price house in our town.
We are trying to decide which is smarter financially:
Buy a starter home well within our means, pay it…
Village
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35
votes
8 answers
Cash in retirement accounts to buy a house?
My husband and I are looking to buy our first home. He is 39 and I am 37. We live in a major city and house prices are terrible. We are probably looking at a 500K-600K home. We were late bloomers, so to speak, so took a while to graduate and…
thumbtackthief
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35
votes
7 answers
How hard is it to sell a home which is currently mortgaged?
I'm looking to buy a house for the first time. I've done some homework, and from what I can tell...
Buying a house via mortgage in Kentucky is somewhat cheaper than renting an apartment.
I need to bring my credit score to at least 630 before…
Jerry Dodge
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34
votes
7 answers
First time buyer- How to decide how much to put toward a deposit?
I live and work in the UK, and am starting to look seriously into buying my first house. I have thought about looking to buy a few times over the last few years, but ended up deciding not to for various reasons.
Having had a cursory look at…
Noble-Surfer
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32
votes
11 answers
Should I wait for a recession to buy a home?
I am currently renting, but am considering buying a house in the future (1-3 years). I want to know if I should even consider waiting for a future recession to buy a home at a better price. Some would argue that we are due for a recession (seems…
Snowman8734
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31
votes
4 answers
Does a larger down payment make an offer stronger?
I'm a first time home buyer, buying in the Jersey City area. My realtor insists that, given two similar offers, the one with a higher down payment is viewed as a stronger offer. My realtor even said that some buyers would accept a lower offer if…
bcf
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6 answers
How Does Home Sale Transaction Value Get into the Public Domain?
Being a privacy conscious person, when my wife and I bought our first house a few years ago, knowing that I did not consent to the information going public, I was surprised and a little perturbed to start getting bulk mail listing the exact value we…
user44273
30
votes
4 answers
Tips on making a best and final offer
Me and one other buyer have been asked to make our best and final offers on a house after us both making initial offers.
I believe I am in a good position as stated here and I will reiterate this to the estate agent when I make my offer.
I have read…
Jsk
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27
votes
11 answers
I gifted money to my girlfriend for a down payment on a house and we broke up. Am I entitled to my money back?
I'm writing to ask a question about gifting my fiancé a down payment for the home we currently live in and bought. So when I gave her 14,000 for the down payment of our home we were engaged. At this time two weeks ago she told me she doesn't love…
richey anglin
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26
votes
7 answers
Emotionally driven to buy a house. Does it make financial sense?
I am a US citizen living in Europe, so this question might be complicated by tax laws, but let's just ignore them for now.
Basically, I am really emotionally driven to buy a house but am realizing that my decision has nothing to do with what makes…
lambda
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24
votes
9 answers
I earn $75K, have $30K in savings, no debt, rent from my parents who are losing their home. Should I buy a home now or save?
My parents have advised me to buy a home, as residential real-estate is still "cheap" (or what's considered cheap in my area). My parents have valid points, especially from an economic/investing perspective. However, I really do NOT want to rush…
overanalyzer
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5 answers
Why would a seller require a cash offer on a property?
My partner and I are looking at a house in an area that would be interesting to us. It's a fixer-upper that would require quite a bit of work on the inside. She's previously owned a house and personally done renovations of that sort; I have not.
The…
Daniel R. Collins
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