Before you buy the house you must get a Real Estate Lawyer to ensure you are not being taken. The seller has a lawyer, and you need one to look out for your interest.
Cost in NY -$650.00 to$750.00 You pay it upon closing the deal.
Then there is the house insurance. That covers your house in case of fire, flood, and a number of other things, but it varies, I pay for flood insurance along with the rest because I am in a flood zone.
Now the thing is there are variable deductibles, so if you have a 5, 000 deductible then that is all you can claim unless you pay more.
Total for Insurance is about$800. A year
Then there are the Property taxes.$800 a year. Of course this depends on size of property.
Approx.$167.00 for the appraisers!
Mortgage co. asks for:
Rent Receipts from two years back. And credit card history.
They do a TRW (credit check.)
I got my best credit ratings from Fingerhuts Aysys National Bank. They give almost anyone a credit card, so start shopping at fingerhut.com, and you will establish credit.
We bought our first house seven months ago, it was$89, 900 We ended up putting down approx. 7, 500. Approximate total from beginning to end, 15, 000.
We are also doing a big renovation, still not finished, and it already was re-appraised at 140, 000.
Buying real estate is one of the best investments one could make.
Once you find a house this is what to look for before you buy it!
When looking inside the house, you have to look at the ceiling to see if there are any water stains. If there are then you have a leak in the roof somewhere. It may not be in the exact spot that the water stain is either. You need a professional roofer to look at it. Depending on how many layers of roofing there is you may need a new roof.
According to New Jersey law you cannot re-roof after two layers.
According to New York law it is three layers.
Depending on if there is a leak, it may have to be re-roofed.
Holes can also come from animals getting in under the eves. Look in the attic for any holes or droppings from birds or squirrels.
Water Damage Outside the House:
- See if there are any cracks or water stains in the concrete around the foundation.
2 Make sure you can get under the house to see if you have access to the plumbing.
If there is a basement, check for water damage again looking along the sides of the walls carefully for water lines. Ask how old the boiler is.
Rodents under the house:
See if the flooring in the crawl space is rat-proof. That is, under the house-if there is no basement it should be cemented to avoid rat infestation.
Termites in the basement:
Check for termites by looking for trails of wood shavings along the beams. It looks like what you used to see in cartoons, the long lines of trails of wood shavings. Termites themselves are long with wings that move very fast. It is a must that you get a professional termite inspector to check for your own peace of mind. Also make sure you know what kind of pesticide he will be using. Make sure it is not an illegal substance. One of which is DDT, which used to be applied, but is now supposedly banned.
If you see any of these before you commit to the dotted line, the seller has to fix it. Or lower the price.
All in all, the home buying process can take from onset to the final closing, 3 months to a year and a half.