How do you roast your carrots? I tried it a couple weeks ago and it just didn’t work.

Just make sure you get pre-approved for a loan before you start looking, so you know exactly how much money you have for a house.

We did a FHA loan, which required a 3.5% down payment and approximately another 3% in closing costs. However, you can always try to negotiate with the seller to cover the closing costs unless you’re purchasing a foreclosure.

Owning a home is the best 🙂 You’re going to love it!

GL with house hunting. We have lived in ours for 4 years and now are tackling the challenge of building a house (they just cleared the lot!)
its def not as scary as you think, but you are right, get as much down as you can. avoiding PMI iin your payments is awesome!

Good luck looking for a home. That’s exciting! I’m still living at home and finishing school, but I still fantasize about my dream home!

Roasted carrots (well, roasted vegi’s in general) are my favorite as well.

Baby HTP??? How exciting — even if it won’t happen for a while. I love love love House Hunters — and I can’t wait until Jason and I look for a new house. Hopefully we’ll be doing that in the next year or so.

o_O BabyHTP? Ooh. 😉

BabyHTP! Hehe. So cute!

Wow, you pack in so many fruits and veggies. I had five servings today, which for me, is GOOD 😉

I love House Hunters! Realistically speaking though, my hubby and I probably won’t be in the market for a house for another 3-5 years! 🙁

I need to try roasted carrots!

Yum! I love roasted carrots! I wish we were ready to buy a house!

My hubs and I love House Hunters (btw, they have tons of episodes on Hulu.com) and Property Virgins, too. I owned a house with my first husband. When I left, I gave him everything (because all he wanted was me, seemed only fair). It’s hard to now be starting all over again with my awesome new hubby, but I’m willing to wait. Buying your first house is amazing and so friggin exciting. Just don’t settle until you find the one that gives you giggly feelings (like your hubby does!). 🙂

Very excited for you! I love House Hunters, but Property Virgins and My First Place give some really good first time home buying advice, and of course there’s always Young House Love, but of course you know that 🙂

Good luck!

Good luck with the house hunt. It’s very fun. My advice – take your time. Make a list of all the things you want, ie. number brms, garage, finsihed basement, and number them in order of priority. I even started a spreadsheet once we really started looking. It can be overwhelming trying to remember all the houses.

Do you put anything on your veggies before roasting?

Keep a few things in mind when buying a house:
What are the additional monthly costs of the house? Taxes, homeowner association fees, insurance etc. I live in NY and my taxes are nearly the cost of my mortgage and I pay $110 a month to FEMA for Flood Insurance. We knew this going into the buying process but if we didn’t ask, we could’ve been strapped for cash.

There are also energy star rebates for lots of things – I believe it varies by area. So if a home you are looking at needs new appliances, windows, doors, etc. some of that can be a tax incentive.

Keep in mind you can deduct the interest of your home on your taxes AND you can claim most of your home as a business expense.

Aside from decorating, think of what it would cost to get into a house. We did not realize we would have to buy a lawn mower, leaf blower, etc. until we had that house. Those little things can be a few thousand dollars in a year.

Lastly, factor in some money every month to a home repair budget. We save around $150 to cover big costs like trees being trimmed (we spent $2K this summer), furnace maintenance, new window/door, plumbers, etc. This is also helpful to not be overwhelmed when something does happen.

Good luck and like everyone else said — you can get a FHA loan and you can usually roll your closing costs into your mortgage if you want. Literally, you can spend a few hundred bucks and be in a home. I think we paid just for the attorney and inspections about 5 years ago. We didn’t mind rolling in the cost because over time it was negligible. I’m not a fan of paying extra on my mortgage. The interest rate is lower than my student loans and I also make more in my investments so I would rather pay extra on my loans and invest more for retirement. Plus, the extra payment to the principle is not tax deductible.

I love that show! Make me want to sell our house and start all over. Then I remember all the ups and downs of buying and I am content!

SOOOOO obsessed with house hunters!!!!!!

I used to always watch House Hunters at the gym until they changed the channels. 😛 I miss it now!

I think because of house prices in your area, FHA would not be a bad way to go. My BF & I thought about doing FHA in Northern CA, but we could not find the house we wanted in that price range. Call banks/lenders in your area to see what kinds of programs they have. We used our credit union since they offered a 5% down conventional loan. They also only charged a flat fee for the loan origination charge, while I believe most lenders charge a % of the loan. We also used a realtor that was part of their “circle” and got a rebate that we used towards closing costs.

You should get pre-approved before you start looking, too. If you get pre-approved for less than what you were looking at, it can kind of get disappointing. Make sure the lender gives you a breakdown of all the costs. There are lots of things besides the home price that are factored into your monthly mortgage payment and what you’ll need at closing. And just because you’re pre-approved for up to $xxx,xxx doesn’t mean you have to buy a house that costs that much. You and your husband are young, so this probably won’t be your first house, which means you might have some “give” on what your list of must-haves. When we bought our house, we told our realtor this was our die in/retire house so we were going to be very picky about the things we wanted. He was cool with that. So, make sure you have a realtor you like and who listens to what you want. If you have someone showing you houses in areas you don’t want to live or without items that are on your must have list, it’s a waste of time. And even though you have a realtor, look on your own. You won’t be the realtor’s only client. I was the one who found our house.

You also might want to re-evaluate your budget to see if there are areas where you can save a little more. I know it’s hard. Other than utilities & groceries, we went on a spending lock-down for 4 months before we bought our house. We did allow ourselves dinner out a few times a month and a weekly beer with friends, but that was about it.

Buying a house is a huge investment (financial, emotional, time-wise), but it’s worth it in the end. Good luck!