Tips on buying a house

[Kujako]

You're young and not married. Get both of your names on all the paper work or you could be paying for his house when you break up.

[Niteynite]

1. Make sure you are truly stable. If you can't pay rent, they evict you. Pretty simple. If you can't pay the mortgage, it's much more complicated and the implications of that stay with you a very long time.

2. Realize if anything goes wrong with the house, you and your boyfriend are responsible to get it fixed. That's one thing about apartments that spoiled me a few years ago.

3. When you actually go out and look at houses, don't let the glamour get to you. You may see something that you must absolutely have, but costs well above what you were willing to pay. Be practical, and give it time if necessary.

4. If the factors are right, put your biggest and best offer up front right away. Where I live (Arizona), it has become a buyer's market with prices increasing around 8% last month, and 20% from this time last year! Cash investors are swooping the area, and many homes are turning into bidding wars. Make your first offer your best offer, so you have a shot on your first go.

[belfpala]

Are you sure you're throwing money down the drain by renting? Mortgages aren't cheap, and buying means you become responsible for things you might not currently consider (insurance, repairs, lawn work, utilities, etc. etc. etc.).

Just as an example, I'm currently paying an amount of money on my mortgage. Let's call it $1500 per month. I'm responsible for everything that happens here. Everything. Previously, I was paying about $1500 per month to rent a place about the same size and everything, but I had free power, gas, lawn care, and anything that went wrong, the landlord would deal with.

I plan to live here long term, and I expect the housing market to go up, but right now I'd actually be better off renting.