It is very stressful. There always seems to be something that is needed and sometimes you are clueless about what is supposed to happen next. My first home buying experience was horrible and I am now a proud owner of a home that is worth $42K less than I owe, there were undisclosed issues with the home and constant repairs. Here is what I learned from my experience. Get a home inspection the $350 to $750 you will spend on an inspector will help you in two ways. It may help you decide to walk away from a rat trap and allow you to discover repairs that need to be made that would be a major expense to you with-in the first two years of owning your home. You can negotiate having the repairs made as a condition of buying your home. Put some money down, the more the better. If you finance 100% of your loan you will more than likely be required to buy PMI or mortgage insurance. This insurance protects not you but your lender incase you default on your mortgage. PMI cannot be cancelled unless a certain percentage of the loan is paid, usually 20% or more and having PMI will prevent you from refinancing your home in the future. Do not use Homesite Homeowners insurance company to insure your home, they will not cover claims as advertised and your rates will increase 36% every year even if you have no claims history. Check out Liberty Mutual, Farmers, State Farm, or Erie Insurance. IF you go to closing and no one is there to represent you, walk away from the purchase. If you do not take possession at closing, schedule a walk through two weeks before you close and two weeks after you close in case there are problems or terms of your negotiations are not honored. If a home warranty is offered take it, if it is not, demand one be included. HER Realty offers a home warranty with every sale, the company they use is HMS and the policy is renewable. The cost is $550 to renew with a $100 deductible for all claims. Don't buy anything on credit during the home buying process and pay all of your current debts as billed on time. Watch your spending on current credit cards and other lines of credit, increased debt during the home buying process can hurt you. Set aside money for home inspection ($350-$750), home insurance ($500-$800, you may not need this if you are required to have an insurance escrow account), home appraisal ($200-$400), moving expenses($200-$6000), utilities, and good faith deposit.
