After years of renting, my husband and I are ready to buy a little piece of the American Dream. I plan on chronicling our experiences of buying a place for the first time. From getting a mortgage to decorating, we'll cover it all! Cardboard already owns her place and is an expert, so I know I will be relying on her for lots of help and advice.
Over the weekend we popped into a couple open houses in our neighborhood just to get an idea of what was out there and how much they went for. We met a great real estate agent at one of them who specializes in first time home buyers and took some time to talk to us about a lot of the ins and outs. She emphasized getting our credit reports pronto, see what's on there and then do whatever we needed to do about clearing up any possible blemishes.
Step one: Get your credit report and finances in order!
Next we'll meet with a realtor and start doing some serious looking. Wish us luck!
7 comments:
I am so hardly an expert on anything (except, maybe, creative ways to catch or divert water). I am excited to see what advice other people will have. Let's do it, ya'll. Let's help Porcelain find her "perfect condo."
Oh, congratulations! I'm of course not an expert, but the thing I'm glad we did was to save some money for paint, curtains, lighting fixtures, etc. I've still had to budget like crazy, but it's been great being able to buy the things we need to make our house into our home.
Oh good tip Nicole! Thanks!!!!
I'm a lurker on your site, who just had to respond to this post. I worked for a real estate attorney a few years ago and have to tell you, absolutely hire one when you put down an offer. So many people think this is a waste of money, but it'll save you problems in the long run. You wouldn't believe the problems that could be buried in a title. Ours would have put us in position to be liable if the former owner didn't pay his contractors while rehabbing our place, and our attorney saved us from that issue and many more.
Good luck! Condo hunting is sooo fun and think of all the fun ideas you'll get when you walk through people's homes.
Oh Wow! Thanks for that tip wonder spaz (love that nickname!). Good to know, definitely!
I have checked out your site on occasion for cool stuff. But as long as I saw this post I thought I would offer my services as a real estate professional in Chicago! If nothing else I can be a reference if you have any questions about the process. Feel free to contact me if you would like.
Patrick Owca
Sudler Sotheby's International
Lincoln Park/Old Town Office
312-804-5161
PS: Looking forward to the show at Hejfina! Have a great day.
Thanks very much Patrick! That's really really nice of you. We'll see you at the party!!!
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