What we've learned.

If you follow me on FB, you know the first house we offered on fell through.  I promise it was not our fault, at all.  Instead of giving you the details that continue to make me mad, I wanted to share what we've learned through this process.  By the way, we've already been approved again, and offered on what we hope is our home, last night!

Interest rates are awesome right now.  We didn't want to go over 5%, and we got a 4%.  Glorious.  This effects your payment so, so much.

USDA is an AWESOME program if you don't have any money to put down, or just don't want to put any down.  The home must be in a rural area, i.e., outside city limits.  Perfect for us.  We want space.

Catch, USDA does not mean you don't have to have any money saved at all.  We are first time home buyers, so that was a plus for this program, but most underwriters want to see a few mortgage payments saved.  EVEN if you are in an apartment or another home.  We didn't save in the beginning like we were supposed to, and I take blame for that.

If you aren't going USDA, FHA is 3.5% down, period.

Closing costs.  EW.  Our realtor said from the get-go, all of the contracts we put in will be asking for closing costs.  I love him for this.  Side note:  not all bank owned homes will have ALL closing costs covered.  Be prepared to come up with something for closing.

It is a buyers market.  There are SO many homes for sale though, it's overwhelming.  We've looked all over central Ohio.  Our realtor also said average time for a home to sell right now is a year.  This scares me if we decide to sell prior to ten years in our first home.  The market just isn't on a big upswing yet.

Our realtor is my Uncle.  Brownie points.

There is always SOMETHING you wont LOVE about a home.  Always.  Can you make it work? Can you make it appealing to you?  Is everything else up to your standards?  School district, driving distance, and square footage were are top priorites.  We did not want to end up somewhere we knew we would want to leave in 3 years.

Subdivisions aren't all that bad.  Land is expensive, and on top of sewage, permits, yadda yadda, it was going to be outrageous.  We had to be realistic.  And when building, money is also wanted for a down payment, usually around 10%.  BOO.

It's been a long, long process.  A long, depressing, exciting, rollercoaster of a process.  But we'll get there!

***A quick edit.  I almost forgot.  Student loans play a big role.  Well, any debt you owe.  Debt to income is a huge thing for USDA (or buying a home in general).  Even if you aren't paying on student loans (for example) because they are in deferrment, your monthly payment is still included in your debt to income ratio, mostly because you can only defer them 12 months at a time, for up to 36 months.

Nevermind...

Void the last post.  That house wasn't ours :(  We are still on the hunt and wont give up!