First time home buyer and out of state

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BarrackO

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BarrackO
Oct 30, 2020 5 Comments

Live in OR, buying up north in WA.
Chose rural WA because housing price is low enough (~450k) that down payment+mortgage won't hit me hard even if the property is a mistake and worst case goes to 0. Want to use this as a test-drive for a real home later when I have kids.

Some first-time home buyer questions -
1. How to find a local buyer side agent if I am new to that area? Go with reviews or can I chat with them first and then commit?

2. Can the lender be in OR or I need mortgage pre-approval in WA itself?

3. Some rural places come with large lots of land (ranging from .25 acres for a big house to one house I liked at 500k with accompany 5 acres of land). What are the pros and cons of this and is there a headache to having extra land attached (e.g. protect against encroachment, tree and vegetation management)

4. Any quick reads for first time home buyers and/or out-of-state home buying?

5. I can do a max of 4-5 trips up north before buying there and can't rent in the area beforehand (unusual personal circumstances, have to move fast). How should I structure those trips? Planning to do 1-2 for lender + buy-side agent, 1 for visiting properties, 1 for home inspection after contingent.

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TOP 5 Comments
  • New
    SaBx22

    New

    SaBx22
    1. You can and should chat / meet up with a local realtor. Personal recommendations from others are best. Make sure you understand how the agent gets paid and make it clear what exactly you want him/her to do. Just push papers or actively search out properties based on your criteria.
    2. Do it in WA. They will be able to line up appraisers etc quickly. You only need to talk to your lender on the phone, everything else is via DocuSign / online
    3. Never seen such large swaths of land, I’m in the Bay Area :)
    4.
    5. Buyer agent (one trip, meet everyone in a couple of days) , 2-3 trips for visiting properties, 1 more for inspection + misc.
    Oct 30, 2020 2
    • New
      among who?

      New

      PRE
      Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation
      among who?
      3. Originally from NJ, grew up on half an acre. It's nice to have with a family, but it's a lotttt of work to maintain and keep it looking beautiful. If you enjoy garden work, then maybe it's for you. But half an acre takes ~1.5 hours a week to mow with a ride on mower (3 hours with a push mower), so scale that up for larger lots. That being said, the space is absolutely fantastic for kids and dogs. So I would probably keep to a smaller lot for now, and then once you make the move again for the real deal, consider the bigger lot
      Oct 30, 2020
    • Google
      BarrackO

      Go to company page Google

      BarrackO
      OP
      Thank you both!
      Oct 30, 2020
  • Uber
    d47gj8

    Go to company page Uber

    d47gj8
    Aint now way gonna appreciate faster than closer to work locations
    Oct 30, 2020 1
    • Google
      BarrackO

      Go to company page Google

      BarrackO
      OP
      Don't care about appreciation.
      200k-400k gets the family an awesomely large place to work/study from home now and vacation 3 months a year later (if remote doesn't become a thing) - that's value for money enough
      Oct 30, 2020