And it sucks. Any tips for a first timer.

In my personal opinion, the house buying process is absolutely miserable. We bought our house (first one) April '13 and the entire process is just a pain. The only way I'm ever moving again is when I finally get to move home to TN.

Make sure your realtor knows what there doing. If you say your budget is 100,000 and they start showing you listings for 120,000 show them the door. Your paying for it so buy what you want. And my personal opinion, get a foreclosure. Oh and finding the house is the easy part, the bank is a B!@CH! Have copies of your copies, and always bring more info than you need.

This exactly.

if you finance through bbnt they have or had a program called the drop program if i remember correctly, it is a zero down fixed interest rate home loan for first time home buyers. i bought my house with it in 2011 for 4.5% interest on a 30 year loan

oh and before you even go to the bank to get pre approved for anything, you will probably need, last 5 years of tax returns, where you have lived for the past 5 years, 10 yrs employment history, 6 months of pay stubs, birth records, medical records, dental records, stool sample, and proof of vaccination for your dog. if you are looking at houses make sure you have $1000.00 for your earnest money so you can put an offer on a house and also make sure you have 4 or 500 bucks for an appraisal. also be prepared to lose that appraisal money if the house appraises for less than the current owner is willing to take or less than their payoff(it happened to me). be prepared to want to cuss everyone who works at the bank for making your life a living hell.

We just signed our contract for the house we are buying and are set to close on 5 Sept. While we were looking our realtor said they had been only pulling up houses that started at a certain amount becuase that was the lower end of my budget. I had to let him know that my budget had no lower end; if I found a house I liked that was cheap that was a win/win. I also pushed the issue of being allowed in the house two weeks prior to closing to start cleaning and moving stuff in. He said we would have to compensate the sellers for rent and I told him I wouldn't buy the house if we couldn't get in early. His options were to either pay the two weeks himslef or lose the entire commission...we are moving in two weeks early. The big thing is to remember that the realtor works for you. Good luck and remember that it should be an exciting time, my wife and I have had argyments over all three of the houses we have bought. Discuss what you must have and want you want to have.

Do a drive by in the neighborhood you may be considering if you're not familiar with the area after school hours. I had an agent once taking me around at specific times to miss the neighborhood commotion. Both neighborhoods would have had me as a minority. Also look through the local MLS and see if you see something you like and have them show you. For sale by owner without an agent was by far the easiest transaction I ever made. You still get the home inspected and stuff, just less costs for everyone.

See a lender first and get pre qualified! Remember the agent is most likely representing the seller if it's his company's listing or a transaction broker (representing nobody) unless you specifically hire him as a buyers agent. Do your own homework in researching listings. Some agents will guide you to listings where they make the most commission. Deal with an agent YOU TRUST. Get a home inspection by a professional and make the offer contingent on you accepting this inspection. If you have kids check the area for sexual predators online. Ask for comparable sales in the area before making an offer. Remember EVERYTHING is negotiable

We had a good experience when we bought our first home. We did a lot of the research and home searching online to figure out exactly what we wanted, in our price range, and figured out areas we would like to look. And our realtor was incredibly helpful, patient, did exactly what we wanted/asked, and wasn't pushy at all. Even the lender we dealt with wasn't much of a hassle. I thought it was a good experience, but certainly don't expect it to go nearly as smooth the next time.

I guess the only tip I have is do a bit of the legwork/searching yourself if you have time and know what you want and have reasonable expectations for whatever your price range is. The tip above about scouting the area you're interested in is a good one too!

This is a terrible idea for many reasons, I hope you reconsider.

Do a little research yourself.... Find areas and houses you like... Don't accept..."This house will better suit your needs"... It's your house and your needs....not what they think...

If you get in with a low down payment, be sure and ask about mortgage insurance.

Do your own search via MLS. Use a realtor to represent you, not the realtor representing the seller. Remember that most people will take 10% less right out of the gate. Use the for sale by owner websites as well. Homes for sale by owner can be cheaper because they don't have to pay the realtor commission fees for selling.

MAKE SURE you are pre approved before you make an offer. By this I mean setting down with a lender not just over the phone and get it in writing. When you find one negotiate the closing cost with the seller. Make them pay at least half. I

If it's a foreclosure then don't be afraid to low ball an offer. You never know what the bank will take, especially if it's been on the market for a while.

Get a home inspection from someone of YOUR choosing.

It's a huge misconception that the for sale by owners are typically a better deal because they don't have the realtor commissions to pay. In reality most FSBO homes have firm top dollar prices.

Moving in was a bad choice of words; no modifications to the home or belongings are will be moved in. We are going in early to start cleaning and deciding what we want to do once we close.

X2, I just sold a home and the closing date was July 11th,I still owned the home until July 11th,there was no way in hell I was gonna let somebody move into MY home until the papers were signed and it became theirs,would you sell someone a vehicle and let them drive it for 2 weeks before they paid you for it?my advice would be do not demand to move in early,I would have told my buyers to find another house to buy if they demanded that to me,some people aren't in a hurry to sell their homes and don't have to sell them if they choose not to,get the inspections,do your homework on neighbors and schools, and move in when the papers are signed and the house is yours.

If you find a home you are pretty serious about, try to go by there when it's raining to see if the area is prone to flooding.

not nessecarily true! I am a realtor and operate the majority of the time as BUYERS BROKER. I represent the BUYER...the listing agent represents the seller.

i SPECIALIZE in negotiation of real estate. My job is to get the BUYER the best deal...that $120,000 house I can usually get for $100,000! I ALWAYS ask their budget, what THEY are looking for..then get them the BEST DEAL I can.

They love spending 100,000 for a huouse that WORTH MORE. that way..they get instant equity!

By the time I was 27 we had already bought/remodeled one home (forcosure) sold for about a 45% profit and purchased the home I plan on retiring in. It's an older fixer upper too that was my grandmother's but has a decent piece of property for this area.

. I don't know your income or budget but the main advice I would give is look at forclosures and older homes where either a significant profit can be made or you can see yourself living there forever after some work is done. My mind is BLOWN when I see the prices people pay for homes. Those notes last 30 years and buying a house at the high end of your budget is a very bad idea. Imho.