First time home owner advice.

The real estate market goes in cycles so I'm glad that your fiance and you aren't ready to buy yet. I would recommend waiting even longer than six months because prices are going to bottom out and there will be deals on the market but I don't think it will happen that fast. Paying that much money for a 3 bedroom house is outrageous and, in all liklihood, the value of a home like that will not increase much in the future. Your best bet, when you start actively looking, is to look in other areas where home prices are more reasonable. Also consider buying a home that needs some fixing up...that lowers the selling price and gives you the opportunity to make your home truly reflect your style. Foreclosed homes are also good deals, especially when owned by a bank. My step daughter is working on a deal to buy a duplex down here in Florida that listed for $250k several months ago but, now that the bank has foreclosed, they're willing to let it go for $30k. If she wasn't already interested, my husband and I would be snapping up that deal! As far as your age goes, you are not too young to buy a house but you do have to make sure that your credit is good. Pay off the balances on your credit cards every month if you can and, whatever you do, don't be late with any payments between now and the time you apply for a mortgage. Make regular deposits to a savings account, too, that looks good. I wouldn't recommend putting down more than you have to. Many states have first time homebuyers programs where you don't have to put down anything other than the good faith deposit when you make an official offer to buy. Why spend money that you don't have to spend? The usual down is 10% but check on those programs I just mentioned first. It's also a good idea to have a real estate agent helping you. As the buyer it costs you nothing and an agent is usually very familiar with different neighborhoods and can help match you to the right community. When I bought my first home it was my agent who directed me to the home buying programs and to the best neighborhoods for me based on my needs and my budget.

Ok well we are also young I am 22 and he is only 24, and we took the step to buy our first house unfortunelty right before things started to drop we closed in October. It was our first house as well, and we orignally were going to do it on our own, but got overwhelmed and chose a real estate agent. She was very helpful showed us lots of houses and gave us lots of advice on what we should offer the seller and what conditions we should have. We were looking and looking and couldnt find what we wanted, then we thought we did but it was a private sale, we called the people and they wanted us to fill out the papers for an offer, so we went out to staples (I live in canada by the way) and bought the disk we needed I filled it out to the best of my ability, but we weren;t able to negotiate a price we were both conftorable with so we walked. I am glad we did because those form were a mess. So then our real estate agent being as great as she was told us about a private sale, we met with the guy and we agreed on a price in person immediatly, I wasnt trying those papers again because they are so legal and final and so easy to mess up and cost yourself a fortune, so I went to a lawyer, and they told us what to do from thier on out. So weather you go through a real estate agent or not really just depends if you want to look at these houses by yourself and arrange the appointments and not pay commision, or let them do all the hard work and pat them the commision. In my experience i liked saving the money and only paying the lawyer! As for banks and loans I would reccomend this being your first investment going to a bank because you dont want any private lenders backing out and then being stuck running around to get a loan before tou loose your house. I would however shop around for the type of mortage that suits you. We personally decided it would be in and budget and better for us to pay the higher interst for the first seven years and have a cash back because we needed things like applicances, and firtnature lamps, some things you never think of. But that would be something you would have to decide for youself. I would however suggest paying bi-weekly or weekly payment accelarated or other wise to shorten to actual term of your mortage ex we have a 30 yeat mortage we pay by-weekly so it will be paid off in 25 years 9 months actually. However a couple months a year your morgage will need to be paid 3 times a month according to the way dates fall. Hope this was helpful!

i think it's really great that you are starting to think about this great adventure first, rather than just jumping into it. i say adventure because being a homeowner is not a static situation. there is always something to do or to plan on doing when it comes to home ownership. one of the things i would suggest is that before making a final decison, ask yourself if you can see yourself being there for the next 10 or 15 years. look at the neighborhood in both the daytime hours and the nighttime as well. drive around the neighborhood on the weekends to get a feel for the kinds of neighbors you will have and the types of recreational activities going on. does it feel safe or secure to you? can you see your children growing up and being involved in neighborhood teams or community groups there? is it close to places you like to shop or visit? is the house itself conducive to supporting the lifestyle you intend to create there? i know a lot of people don't look at these things or even give them a thought when making such an important decision. for may people, the only concern is location, location, location. and while location is an important variable in the choice of your living space, it should not be the only concern; after affordability, of course. it takes more than just a building and the things inside to make a house a home. you need to have a level of comfort in your surroundings and a sense of belonging to turn that house into your dream home. good luck in your choice. i wish you peace and blessings in this most important endeavor.

My best advice would be to shop around for a good lender. Preferably a bank that has been in business for a while. Don't fall into the interest-only loan trap. That's where a lot of first-time home buyers are finding trouble. If I were you, I would go with a 30-year fixed mortgage. With this, your payments will never change. With the interest-only, your payments aren't very high to begin with, but you are only paying the interest...not towards the principle. And then, a couple of years down the road, when you start paying the interest AND principle, the payments can double or triple. Then, more often than not, you face foreclosure. You can't sell the house and make a profit, because you haven't paid against the principle. Next, find a realtor who you trust. They can help you find the perfect house. Have you thought about looking into foreclosures? I just found one here where I live that would normally have cost me around 250-300 thousand....it's listed for 11,900. That's one great way to get more for your money. Also, there are HUD homes. They are the homes for low-income families that are being sold by the gov't. There are quite a few 1st-time buyers' incentives and tax breaks. Look on your local HUD website for some useful links. They can give you a lot more info on the numbers. Also, they have a really neat mortgage calculator. It can help you figure out how much difference a higher down-payment will make on your monthly numbers. I hope this info has helped you. It sure isn't helping me. I have my rea-estate license, but in this economy, it's doing me no good. Most houses are just sitting on the market. So, if you can get a loan, now is a great time to buy. It is definitely a strong buyers' market, with the home prices dropping drastically every day. Good luck!!!