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My husband and I are in the process of trying to purchase our first house, and I’m going nuts! It’s so stressful, and there’s been so many emotional highs and lows, I don’t know how people do it! *lol*
First there was the stress of trying to find a house. Then when we saw a few, it was the constant ‘Is this ‘the one’?’ Then when we found one we really really liked, there was the stress of putting in an offer and waiting to see if it was accepted.
It was! Happy dance! But then our bank tells us that we need X-amount of money in our various accounts in order to qualify for the loan. Thanks to some very generous family members, we’re being gifted the money for the down payment, but apparently we still need to have x-amount of /our/ money available in our accounts for the loan to be approved. Money that he and I have earned.
So we have 3 weeks to raise over $1,000 in order to buy this house. This house is already under our contract, being inspected, all of that is underway…and if we can’t raise this money in the next few weeks, it could all be for nothing.
I’m a middle school teacher and my husband is in sales, so it’s not like we have much to begin with. So I’m selling a bunch of my Windstones in the flea market. But in this post I just needed to rant a bit in the hopes it calmes down my stress.
How did everyone else’s first home sales go? I’m both excited and terrified! XD
I’m sorry, Steph. It sounds really stressful! I don’t remember that part of the process, but we never had anyone help us so the money was always in our account.
*HUGS* It’ll all work out!
Buying a home was one of the most stressful, awful, exciting things I’d ever done!
Before I continue I should give the disclaimer that laws and procedures vary a great deal from state to state (and bank to bank etc) but this was my experience.
My husband and I started home shopping right after the housing bubble burst; suddenly everyone was going into foreclosure and the banks were getting very, very alarmed. The banks went from giving everyone with high credit risk huge loans to only giving people with the lowest risk smaller loans! Everyone was freaking out (and for good reason… what wall street did to the housing market is nothing short of evil. That is a rant for another time).
So, despite the fact that my husband and I had perfect credit and a good amount of money saved up to put in as a down payment and such, we couldn’t even find a bank to give us ANY sort of loan! We were turned down everywhere.
This is why it can be so important to get pre-approved for a loan. It’s not a guarantee, but it really helps to know that the bank is willing to loan that amount to you. It also helps one to search for homes within their price range… nothing is worse than putting a bid in on a home and ‘getting it’ only to find out that no bank will actually loan you that amount of money!We finally found a bank that approved us for a loan and they told us the maximum they’d loan us. With this number in mind, and also bearing in mind that closing costs / inspection costs / survey costs/ etc were our responsibility, we had a good number in our heads to start shopping with. It’s also really important to sit down first and make sure that the loan amount is something that you can reasonably expect to pay; figure out all your bills, costs, (heat/water/electric/gas/phone/internet/cellphone?/tv?/car and car maintenance/gas money/groceries/any outstanding debt/etc), and also look at your new home and try to figure out what misc costs and maintenance costs you might expect. Add this to any repairs or work the home needs, and DOUBLE IT! I am so glad I did this. Our home was in move-in condition and was immaculate. Until the hot water tank died immediately. And the stove went out. And… and…
If the numbers you come up with are still meshing with the amount your bank is willing to loan, awesome. If not, then aim for a lower price. The amount the bank is willing to loan should not be your cue for a free-for-all to spend that amount.
The only down side to getting pre-approved is that it checks your credit each time, and if you have it done by too many banks in a short period of time I’ve been told it can lower your credit score.After being pre-approved, and having our offer accepted, it was simply a matter of signing the contract(s) and then getting the bank to actually approve our loan for real. Since we were pre-approved this was a pretty easy process, though I should warn that you will want to make sure your credit history is where you want it to be. People can get nasty surprises when the bank digs deep into a credit history. I had an outstanding ding on my credit that I never even knew about– DESPITE running a credit check before– for a bill that wasn’t even mine, from a place I didn’t even go! These sorts of things can get your loan denied and so be prepared. Luckily I was able to work it out, though it really hurt to have to pay a bill that was erroneously linked to my SSN. Very frustrating.
Anyhow, then we just had to put in our ‘good faith’ money, which… depending on the value of the home, can be a thousand or more dollars. Is this what the bank is having you put money in your account for? The good faith money probably varies from state to state, but here we have to put it on the contract to prove that we are serious about buying the house — but after closing, we ‘get’ it back and it just goes toward closing costs. Then we had a survey done, and a home inspection (always do this. It’s 100% worth the cost).
I hope this helps!
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My art: featherdust.comYup, Jen, that’s the process we’ve done too! Pre-approved, got our budget, figured out what our monthly mortgage could be and then worked backwards from there to a loan amount. Went through our credit history and everything!
Sounds like we’re taking all the right steps, then! So long as the bank approves our loan for real, all should be well! 😀
Thanks for your insight!
Is this what the bank is having you put money in your account for? The good faith money probably varies from state to state, but here we have to put it on the contract to prove that we are serious about buying the house — but after closing, we ‘get’ it back and it just goes toward closing costs. Then we had a survey done, and a home inspection (always do this. It’s 100% worth the cost).
Nope. Our good faith money does count towards this total though. It’s just that as a condition of the loan, my husband and I have to put up 5% of the purchase price of our own income towards the down payment. It can’t all be gifts.
Hence the sale! 😀
(And our inspection is on the 10th! Whee!)
Oh!! I understand now. Yes, I seem to recall that as being a stipulation on our loan approval too. I dunno know if it started before or after the market crashed, but banks are pretty worried that if the money is all gifted that the new owners will have trouble making payments on their own, etc. In one way I see the point of it, but I agree it can be frustrating given the circumstances!
Volunteer mod- I'm here to help! Email me for the best response: nambroth at gmail.com
My art: featherdust.comOh yes, I totally understand the reasoning behind it. But I was a bit flabbergasted to hear that /after/ we had pre-qualified, put in an offer, and had our offer approved.
All of a sudden it was, “Wait. We need /what/?!”
Such is the home buying process I guess!
Congradulations Stephanie and husband.That is wonderful news!
Every act matters.No matter how small💞
(Wanted......Brimstone Lap)
Male Hearth....one day🤞Dream on.Congradulations Stephanie and husband.That is wonderful news!
Thank you! Things are progressing along nicely. 😀
Thanks, everyone! My husband and I just got home from signing the papers, so we should have the keys tomorrow or Thursday!
YAY! I am so happy and so excited!!!!
*bounces around* XD
WOW!CONGRATS STEPHANIE & Hubby!! :bigsmile:
Every act matters.No matter how small💞
(Wanted......Brimstone Lap)
Male Hearth....one day🤞Dream on.Thanks, everyone! We picked up the keys today, went over there and just laid on the carpet for a while, beaming. XD
So exciting!
Now it’s just time to move! *lol*
Well the house is purchased, all the paperwork is done, and we’ve moved in! I’m so exhausted and so, so excited and happy. I love this house. We have a big yard, with a bunch of trees and shrubs and three rose bushes that are blooming beautiful pink roses. 😀
It’s big and open and I’m having fun decorating and unpacking, especially finding places for my Windstones! Though many of them need to stay in their boxes until my Dad comes out to visit and helps me put up my L-bracket shelves, where lots of them will live in MY office!
Yes, I have my own office now. *GLEE*
I’m so happy. 😀 I’ll post some pictures as things progress!
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