r/FirstTimeHomeBuyer

After a surprisingly quick search when we moved up our timeline, we were able to secure a house that we loved! This is our first house as we start to expand our family.

Not only a new homeowner, but now also a landlord!

Peter Piper Pizza 🍕

We bought our first house! We got unicorn sellers and they left us so much for no additional cost! They even paid to get our house professionally cleaned, and gave us free lawn care, pool maintenance, and bug spraying until December 🥹 we are SO lucky!!

After 3 months of waiting we finally got our keys!

2 bed 2 bath. 10 year old building.

Richmond, bc, Canada

233k for a 3 bed one bath and 20 acres in rural Illinois, 7.25% 8/6 ARM w/ 20% down. It’s going to need a lot of TLC but we are very happy with the purchase. However; the mortgage process was a bit of a mess. I started with the bank that I invest with to make the down payment transfer easier. However almost immediately after I started the process the Fed raised rates.
They offered to lock in a 7.25% fixed rate. I shopped around to two other banks and they couldn’t beat that without making it a variable interest rate.
So I decided to move forward with them. Well that quickly became a mess. It is a long story but overall it was a very painful process but the real kicker was that at the last minute 3 days before closing my lender sent a document for me to sign with no explanation. It was another loan estimate but it said it was changed to a 7.25% rate for 8 years then was subject to change every 6 months and could increase to 12.5%. Sounded like a variable rate to me, so I called him and asked and he said that the only way he could keep it that low was to switch it to an 8/6 ARM.
However; he said I could refinance if rates drop to a fixed and 8 years is a long time.
My question is, was this a normal experience or should I be more worked up than I am about this or just be thankful I have a house?

This post is twice delayed. The picture was taken a week after close (but our first night in the house together) and the post is being made 12 days after close, so I apologize for the currently unrealistic rate. We were lucky and locked shortly before the recent hikes.
We went from dreaming of the remote coast to what initially felt like as big compromise (but it got us out of West Texas!) to really falling in love with our new city and home. Hours closer to mountains and water than I was, and a better cultural fit as well. Looked at 30+ places and finally found this 1978 3/2/3 w/ 2 woodstoves and a massive patio on .25 acres on the day it was listed. Lots of work done, lots of work to do, but I'm so happy to be doing it!
PS I've had good pizza at a few local places here, but Blackjack's is not going to be a repeat, sorry!
PPS we were planning to get rid of a lot of our mix&match furniture so happily allowed the estate to be left behind. Other than the plants and dogs that's what's here.

*Disclaimer: I used Gemini to organize my thoughts and the information for readability.

Hey everyone,

We are under contract on a 1925 two-story colonial in Northern NJ. During inspection, significant insect infestation/damage was found in the basement structural framing.

We hired a structural engineer who estimated a budget of $15,000–$20,000 for structural remediation. The sellers provided a contractor quote based on their engineer’s report that came in at $9,100.

Looking closely at both documents, the core scope of work is almost identical:

• Replace ~12 ft insect-damaged flush beam with a new engineered lumber (LVL) beam.
• Replace ~15 ft of infested sill plate with pressure-treated lumber between the main/adjacent basement.
• Remove and replace/sister 2–3 infested floor joists under the dining room.
• Temporary shoring of first-floor framing, site cleanup, and debris removal.
• Both exclude finished hardwood flooring repairs in the dining room.

The catch on the $9.1k contractor quote:

1. It explicitly states: "Please note any concealed-condition and permits/inspection fees are not-included in the total. It is not anticipated there are any permit fees being this is a repair."
2. Termite treatment/monitoring is handled under a separate contract.

Questions:

1. Is it realistic to claim that replacing a 12' flush beam, 15' sill plate, and floor joists in New Jersey does NOT require municipal permits or inspection fees?
2. Given the "concealed conditions" exclusion, how often do these jobs blow past the initial $9.1k bid once you open up the framing and subfloor?
3. Does $15k–$20k sound like a realistic real-world total once permits, engineering sign-offs, and unforeseen damage are factored in?