On Buying My First House
In September 2018, I bought a house in Tampa.
I really had no idea what I was getting into and it was a learn-as-you-go experience.
Let me start off by saying that I’m glad I did it because it finally started paying off. It was a headache and I was really inexperienced. Honestly though, my mistakes weren’t bad enough for it to fail.
The house was structurally sound and in a great location, close to the base where I worked. Since it’s a military and college community, I knew there would be plenty of renter prospects in the future.
Yes to the VA loan. And refinance with the interest rate reduction loan when the rates are good as soon as you can.
I’m renting mine out now since I didn’t live in it long enough to make a big enough dent in my mortgage to make a big profit. I think i would have profited about $5k selling now. Which isn’t worth it to me haha.
Have $10k-$20k for the closing costs. With the VA loan you don’t need a down payment but that doesn’t mean there won’t be up front costs.
I didn’t love my realtor because she didn’t negotiate enough for me. My house was listed at $219,000 and I got it for $212,000, including a new roof, but I also had to replace the HVAC and water heater within the first few months which was about $7000 I didn’t have or plan on spending
Stick up for yourself and get as much as you can paid for by the owner. I wish I would have had more time to wait out the market because there were a lot of good houses in my budget a year after I bough mine. BAH had also gone up by then so I could have afforded more
Get a warranty through American home shield and try to have the owner pay for all or part of it. The owner paid for a warranty for me but it was a shitty company (hence the water heater and HVAC coming out of pocket.)
I also had to buy a new stove because I settled and didn’t push for more stuff.
Don’t fall in love with a house because you’ll lower your standards. I wanted that house no matter what. I think if I had stood my ground I could have gotten it for $205,000 OR with all the updates I wanted. It had been on the market for a year and I should have used that to my advantage
At the same time, no house is gonna have all of your wants so be rational. And it’s not your forever home cuz ya know, military.
I did a good job of seeing my house as an investment, for the most part. I’m planning to hang onto it as long as I can and sell when the market is really good. I’m hoping to renovate it in 15-20 years when I’m ready to seek and get at least $300k for it because the area is developing.
