Book or other very reliable source for learning about home buying basics?

[Anonymous]

I'm a millennial who never expected to be able to make a real estate purchase. Throughout my life, I've ignored any discussions related to buying a house. However, I've recently come into an unforeseen sum of money that might allow me to enter this realm.

How can I educate myself about buying a home, or more likely a condo? I'm struggling to comprehend even the initial payment. What exactly are closing costs? Additionally, would it be appropriate to inquire with my financial institution about the array of mortgage options available? It seems there's a flexible correlation between the interest rate and the initial payment amount, where one decreases as the other increases. Is it possible for me to approach my bank to obtain a range of possibilities? Would seeking this information result in a "credit pull"?

Sorry, I got off track. My real question is: where do I find about all this? Is there a book that is considered the gold standard? Or a guide specific to Washington, DC? The options on Amazon all look like self-published BS or have few reviews. I don't want to sift through countless online articles from dubious sites who might be attempting to secretly market to me. I'm ill-equipped to communicate with a real estate or bank representative, or whichever professional is the starting point. Ultimately, I'm seeking a resource that can provide insight into whether pursuing this avenue is even a viable consideration.

I beg your pardon to ask something so basic. And sorry for asking something that may have been answered before. Truth be told, I find it painful to read this board because everything here seems out of reach and overwhelming, so I don't have the stomach to search through threads. If my ignorance puts you off, sorry and please click past. Thank you, DCUM.

[Anonymous]

The government has a website with lots of tools: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/owning-a-home/

But this site is almost just as useful if you use it correctly in my experience

[Anonymous]

NYT has a good rent vs. buy quiz for questioning homebuyers. It might help to check it out (I tried to link but it didn't work) so just google it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a millennial who never expected to be able to make a real estate purchase. Throughout my life, I've ignored any discussions related to buying a house. However, I've recently come into an unforeseen sum of money that might allow me to enter this realm.

How can I educate myself about buying a home, or more likely a condo? I'm struggling to comprehend even the initial payment. What exactly are closing costs? Additionally, would it be appropriate to inquire with my financial institution about the array of mortgage options available? It seems there's a flexible correlation between the interest rate and the initial payment amount, where one decreases as the other increases. Is it possible for me to approach my bank to obtain a range of possibilities? Would seeking this information result in a "credit pull"?

Sorry, I got off track. My real question is: where do I find about all this? Is there a book that is considered the gold standard? Or a guide specific to Washington, DC? The options on Amazon all look like self-published BS or have few reviews. I don't want to sift through countless online articles from dubious sites who might be attempting to secretly market to me. I'm ill-equipped to communicate with a real estate or bank representative, or whichever professional is the starting point. Ultimately, I'm seeking a resource that can provide insight into whether pursuing this avenue is even a viable consideration.

I beg your pardon to ask something so basic. And sorry for asking something that may have been answered before. Truth be told, I find it painful to read this board because everything here seems out of reach and overwhelming, so I don't have the stomach to search through threads. If my ignorance puts you off, sorry and please click past. Thank you, DCUM.

Oh my god, I stopped reading after the first sentence. Stupid Millennial.

[Anonymous]

I think there is a home buying for dummies book. DH and I read that and other things close to it on the shelf at the library. Eventually we found we were reading the same things over and over so we figured we'd learned what we could. Looking at this website can be helpful be be a ware that DCUM offers a warped perspective on affordability, meaning people talk about high incomes and low mortgages. My main advice for your peace of mind is to 1) build a monthly budget that includes 1% of the purchase price per year for home repairs, and 2) be sure your monthly budget is based on what you have a track record of spending, not "I'm going to stop eating out once I buy a house." 3) Be sure to have an e-fund of 3-6 months. If you don't have that yet and just got a windfall, set some aside for your e-fund. 4) talk to multiple realtors, choose the one that best knows the area you are interested in but remember a realtor doesn't know your priorities like you do. IMO a good realtor will help you think of things you hadn't considered and give you information to consider, but that doesn't mean you have to agree with them. 5) do your own research on neighborhoods. A realtor cannot tell you if the schools are good, and even if you don't care about the schools now you might later and it will impact your resale value so don't ignore it entirely. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

What kind of millennial are you OP? Always expected to be poor so you didn’t plan on buying a house? Sounds like a troll.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think there is a home buying for dummies book. DH and I read that and other things close to it on the shelf at the library. Eventually we found we were reading the same things over and over so we figured we'd learned what we could. Looking at this website can be helpful be be a ware that DCUM offers a warped perspective on affordability, meaning people talk about high incomes and low mortgages. My main advice for your peace of mind is to 1) build a monthly budget that includes 1% of the purchase price per year for home repairs, and 2) be sure your monthly budget is based on what you have a track record of spending, not "I'm going to stop eating out once I buy a house." 3) Be sure to have an e-fund of 3-6 months. If you don't have that yet and just got a windfall, set some aside for your e-fund. 4) talk to multiple realtors, choose the one that best knows the area you are interested in but remember a realtor doesn't know your priorities like you do. IMO a good realtor will help you think of things you hadn't considered and give you information to consider, but that doesn't mean you have to agree with them. 5) do your own research on neighborhoods. A realtor cannot tell you if the schools are good, and even if you don't care about the schools now you might later and it will impact your resale value so don't ignore it entirely. Good luck!

This is great advice! Thank you!

[Anonymous]

We may have gotten lucky but when we started house hunting, we began at open houses. After seeing a few houses that we liked, we stopped by a new house that we knew we couldn't afford. The agent was talking to other people when we arrived and asked us to wander through the home. We loved everything because we couldn't afford it and told the agent the same thing. She asked what we could afford and rattled off 5 houses that were in the large area and told us to drive by them.

We didn't understand protocal, so we sent the agent telling her what we thought of the houses -- we had no idea that this was not typical behavior.

She called us later that night and thanked us. DH (again not knowing that this was not typical) asked if we could have coffee with her. We met the next Saturday morning and she spent about an hour with us. She basically told us everything we needed to know and gave us the name of several loan officers to get prequalified. DH's sister-in-law is an agent so we had to use her to buy the house and told the agent. She asked us to email her when we found something.

The sister in law turned into a dud (she is no longer an agent) and I called the agent several times for advice. She was very helpful and even told us that the house we eventually bought was coming on the market.

A few days after moving into the house, the agent left a nice housewarming gift at the door with a nice note.

Again, maybe we got lucky.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We may have gotten lucky but when we started house hunting, we began at open houses. After seeing a few houses that we liked, we stopped by a new house that we knew we couldn't afford. The agent was talking to other people when we arrived and asked us to wander through the home. We loved everything because we couldn't afford it and told the agent the same thing. She asked what we could afford and rattled off 5 houses that were in the large area and told us to drive by them.

We didn't understand protocal, so we sent the agent telling her what we thought of the houses -- we had no idea that this was not typical behavior.

She called us later that night and thanked us. DH (again not knowing that this was not typical) asked if we could have coffee with her. We met the next Saturday morning and she spent about an hour with us. She basically told us everything we needed to know and gave us the name of several loan officers to get prequalified. DH's sister-in-law is an agent so we had to use her to buy the house and told the agent. She asked us to email her when we found something.

The sister in law turned into a dud (she is no longer an agent) and I called the agent several times for advice. She was very helpful and even told us that the house we eventually bought was coming on the market.

A few days after moving into the house, the agent left a nice housewarming gift at the door with a nice note.

Again, maybe we got lucky.

Wow, so you used her services for free. What a-holes.