Buying A Home Can Be Really Easy – And Affordable
On 10/21 I contacted a friend’s realtor. Told him that I wanted either a condo in the $150k range or a single family home up to $250k in a few selected neighborhoods.
I kept my criteria simple. No major damage, but didn’t really care about any cosmetic problems, basically things that just needed to be visually upgraded. Location was important, close to a grocery store, a library and work.
On 10/23 we looked at 2 condo’s. I loved the first one but they had just accepted an offer that morning. So my realtor and I communicated back and forth a few more times. But not a lot of properties on the market.
On 11/4 we went and looked at a home a bit further away but with a price of $240k. Great condition and because of its ranch style it would have been easy to maintain. I walked the neighborhood the following day and it just didn’t feel well. It was a great investment but I wasn’t looking for an investment, I was looking for something habitable.
On 11/5 a condo popped up for $135k. We looked at it the following day. I phoned my financial adviser and told him that I loved the condo and wanted to put in a cash offer for $135k. My awesome-ass FA ran the math and said to go for it. I placed a cash offer for $135k at the same time as another couple so I upped it to $140k.
I contacted 2 mortgage companies just to see what rates I could get, mostly in the 4% range. So on 11/20 I sold $135k worth of investments, got the money in my checking account just 2 days later. I am signing the final documents with the escrow company today and the condo is mine. Total cost of the escrow is $1,070. I was lucky to sell the funds with a bit of profit which I’ll have to pay a little tax on.
In Summary
I kept my criteria very simple. As long as there isn’t any major damage a house can be upgraded with little money. This kept the haggling to a minimum, I didn’t have to look at 30-50 homes to make my decision. I bought cash so I saved a ton of time on paperwork and escrow/mortgage fees.