Planning to buy a new home in bay area in 6-12months. What should I know before? I am pretty sure I can learn from Blind community expertise. Appreciate any tips from people who bought a house in the past. This post can be helpful to others as well. You do not need to be in bay area to give tips. It is free of cost. TC: 350k YOE: 5 years
1. get max bank loan approval 2. find agents who can give u 2% back 3. find out how much can u have as loan, get per month estimate 4. be ready for hidden costs taxes,insurance,water,electricity bills etc 5. always do home inspection 6. check school ratings 7. check best n worst commute times. do dry runs 8. check crime reports about the area. 9. dont give in to peer/spouse pressure of buying 10. IMO, u shud absolutely love the house cos u wud spend most of paycheck in loan 11. find about the builder, what is covered wats. not 12. u can choose only 2 most of the time commute vs loan vs house condition(old or new)
Get a copy of your tax transcripts from the IRS so there are no surprises during the underwriting process. Don’t take out any new credit if your credit score is marginal. Keep utilization on your existing credit cards etc low if you’re planning to stretch your budget on your purchase. If your agent doesn’t make you feel like you’re their only client, get another one. When searching in the Bay, assume you’ll end up paying 30-50K more than listing due to a competitive market.
Move fast. Market is picking up steam.
Yes, the housing correction is over. With both interest rates and unemployment rate at these low levels, housing is bound to pick up. There is some data coming out about new mortgage applications on the rise and home construction starts on the rise as well.
I see homes going pending in 5 days now and many are now hot homes on Redfin.
Don’t get emotionally invested in houses you see. You’ll lose out on multiple houses before someone accepts your offer.
That’s a good one. Thanks. How many did you see before finalising yours?
We bid on 5 houses then gave up and bought new construction because there isn’t bidding wars for new construction.