Bidding war on houses

[CS1983]

Save for closing cost too. You might find a great deal that the seller knows is a great deal, and wants to play hard ball on closing costs being shouldered by you.

[Vitesse304]

I'm still putting money in savings every paycheck. Have quite a bit of liquid cash after the bils are paid each pay period.

As a first time buyer w/ VA loan a down payment wont be required.

I am however saving for my earnest money when I get to the point where I go under contract.


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If your car loan is around 3-5%, stop paying extra and put that money aside for your down payment. Even though you don't need to have a down payment for your VA loan, anything you put towards it will help in lowering your monthly payment. Just keep in mind that 4% of $275K is going to be more than 4% of a $15K car note. So you're going to want to lower the loan which will accrue the most interest.

If a home is what you are betting on within the next couple of months, then focus on getting more money for that since you are already able to put money into your saving and more towards your car payment.

As for earnest money and closing, don't bet on the owner paying or even splitting it with you. It's a sellers market right now.

In all honesty, I would wait...keep socking money away and wait. Anything in the sub $300K range will be over valued and overpaid for. Don't get caught in the trap of wanting a home now. A home is an investment and you need to buy right with your investments otherwise you'll be upside down or paying for a pit.

Keep saving, build up a good down payment or pay down the car and wait. Home ownership ain't all it's cracked up to be...your rent might be $1K a month, but once you own your home, the mortgage, home maintenance, taxes, utilities, etc will add up and could cost you more in the long term.

[Jer]

If your car loan is around 3-5%, stop paying extra and put that money aside for your down payment. Even though you don't need to have a down payment for your VA loan, anything you put towards it will help in lowering your monthly payment. Just keep in mind that 4% of $275K is going to be more than 4% of a $15K car note. So you're going to want to lower the loan which will accrue the most interest.

If a home is what you are betting on within the next couple of months, then focus on getting more money for that since you are already able to put money into your saving and more towards your car payment.

As for earnest money and closing, don't bet on the owner paying or even splitting it with you. It's a sellers market right now.

In all honesty, I would wait...keep socking money away and wait. Anything in the sub $300K range will be over valued and overpaid for. Don't get caught in the trap of wanting a home now. A home is an investment and you need to buy right with your investments otherwise you'll be upside down or paying for a pit.

Keep saving, build up a good down payment or pay down the car and wait. Home ownership ain't all it's cracked up to be...your rent might be $1K a month, but once you own your home, the mortgage, home maintenance, taxes, utilities, etc will add up and could cost you more in the long term.

Pretty solid advice. I would add that that extra time will allow you position yourself better financially (pay off other debt, save more money to put down, etc.) in the long run. Don't make the mistake most make which is financing WAY more home than you should and also financing as much of it as you can. If you can buy a less expensive house and put half down the pay more aggressively you'll be set for life before long. Most people can't do the half down part but all can do the buying less house than they can "afford" monthly part. Somewhere between those is the house you should be buying rather than just going off of what a realtor/mortgage broker says you can afford.

[Squeeze]

I'm still putting money in savings every paycheck. Have quite a bit of liquid cash after the bils are paid each pay period.

As a first time buyer w/ VA loan a down payment wont be required.

I am however saving for my earnest money when I get to the point where I go under contract.


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I came to the table with $2,500 earnest money and that was the absolute bare minimum up here in Denver. The closer you can get to the $5K mark, the better.

[Great-Kazoo]

Going to the bank in 10 days to get pre-qual'd on a house.

I don't anticipate finding what I want will be a fast process in this market.

I have two realtors on standby waiting on my pre-qual paperwork.

I pre-qual'd last year for $248K house.

I just paid off three credit cards and a student loan last month.

I imagine that puts me in the $260,000 - $270,000 range now.

looking north of I-70 preferably.

no Denver, Denver County or Boulder city.

As far east as Byers. As far north as Windsor
Aurora is a last resort.

If anyone knows of a house w/ a 3 bedroom, 2 car garage and basement for sale around or under $275,000 plz let me know. I will pay a $200 finders fee to the person if it checks out and I buy it.


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Well if they say you're good for more, touch bases. You'd pay more for a lot more than the denver metro area. BUT................you'd save the $200 finders fee

[CoGirl303]

I came to the table with $2,500 earnest money and that was the absolute bare minimum up here in Denver. The closer you can get to the $5K mark, the better.

I have $1,400 of that now in savings. Next paycheck will easily put me there.


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[Squeeze]

I have $1,400 of that now in savings. Next paycheck will easily put me there.


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Well shoot! You are on the right track! Keep it up! Let me know when you close and if you need help moving.

[CoGirl303]

Well if they say you're good for more, touch bases. You'd pay more for a lot more than the denver metro area. BUT................you'd save the $200 finders fee

I'll ask the bank, but I just don't think I'd get that much of a loan on a single persons salary. But I'd for sure love to have that 3 car garage shed.




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[CoGirl303]

Well shoot! You are on the right track! Keep it up! Let me know when you close and if you need help moving.

One of my friends has a realtor who helped her find her house and is gonna help me find one.

Another friend works preparing titles and mortgage paperwork and knows several realtors and she said I may end up around Johnstown area or further north but they can find me what I'm looking for or reasonably close to it. Plus she said they been having a run on people getting transferred to other cities for their jobs and literally have less than 30 days to pack up, sell the house and move and they don't wanna spend a bunch of time and effort trying to sell or haggling, so that's what I'm hoping for. 🤞🏻

Thanks! I appreciate that!


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[StagLefty]

The problem you run into with (ALL) homes is the POS investors who come in with a cash offer and scoop it away before you can even put a bid on it. If you using an FHA loan you will have a lot more leniency.

This is what I've been running into since last August. They scoop them up and put some cosmetic improvements and the cost goes up from there. Of course I'm looking at a much lower numbers market than most of you folks.