r/FirstTimeHomeBuyers

Basically, we fell into a really lucky window to buy a home. We found one we love at the higher end of our budget in a great location. Inspection was yesterday and the house basically couldn’t be in better condition. We feel very confident about this house and it could possibly be a forever home.

We want to withdraw from a 401(k) to ensure financial security after closing but there is so much uncertainty in the rules. How does the company verify your need? What if we request a certain amount and then negotiations and terms change before closing? We want to withdraw a little extra to be sure but don’t want to get in trouble later on. Can anyone explain this part of the process? Not seeing any posts that specifically discusses supporting documentation or possible audits and/or penalties.

Hi everyone! I’m just looking for advice for purchasing a home in Philadelphia or the surrounding areas. What should
I do/don’t do? How much should I save? Any programs or grants available?

It’s pretty expensive out here and I’m nervous looking at the market. I just want to make the best decisions possible. I’m not looking to move right away but hopefully by next year sometime.

Thanks in advance!

I’m so confused on how to provide a statement on these requests. It’s frustrating too because I didn’t have to provide this last home purchase but that was 6 years ago and TikTok wasn’t popular. She’s asking for my TikTok purchases but that along with Klarna which has a 0 balance and Apple Pay which is linked to my card are all shown in my chase account.

Hello, please be kind. I recently purchased a home two months ago and have been getting severe stress and anxiety thinking about the financial burden I have given myself purchasing a new build home that I am not ready for. I’m afraid my mental health is declining and I wish I never bought the home. I understand that selling it is a bad option and would lose thousands from closing costs. It’s a 500k home with 3% down at 6.25% interest. I’m not sure I can stick it out for two years if it’s already affecting me so much already. Would you sell and eat the costs to save your mental? health? What else can I do to deal with this? Advice from anyone who has been through this would be appreciated. I know I’m a dumbass for impulse buying..

My wife and I are considering purchasing a home in Northern California, East Bay to be exact. We reviewed the solar documents and are trying to understand whether this is considered a good setup or something we should negotiate harder on.

Here’s what we know so far:

• Solar is NOT owned outright (appears to be PPA/third-party owned)
• Monthly payment: about $365/month
• Escalator: 0% annually
• Long-term agreement (~2050 timeframe)
• Includes batteries/powerwalls
• SolarEdge inverter warranty through 2050
• PG&E statements show strong production/export credits and very low electric bills in some months

Questions:

1. Does this actually sound like a decent solar setup for California standards?
2. Is a 0% escalator considered a major positive?
3. Would you try to negotiate:
   • seller payoff/buyout,
   • seller credit,
   • lower purchase price,
   • or just assume the agreement?
4. How important is the current buyout amount in evaluating this?
5. Would inheriting this type of PPA scare off future buyers later?
6. Anything else we should specifically watch out for before moving forward?

Trying to be thoughtful here since this is our first home purchase and we also have a young child, so just trying to make a smart long-term decision.

Appreciate any insights from people who’ve dealt with similar solar agreements.

EDIT:
One additional detail we learned after reviewing the actual signed agreement more carefully:

It appears the system cannot be purchased/bought out until after the 5th anniversary of the commercial operation date (system appears to have gone live around late 2023, so roughly 2028 timeframe before buyout eligibility).

So unless I’m misunderstanding the contract, it seems like we would need to assume the PPA first and could only potentially buy the system later at Fair Market Value (FMV).

We’re also planning to ask whether they can provide:

• estimated current FMV,
• projected buyout estimates,
• or examples of how EnFin typically values systems at buyout time.

For those familiar with PPAs:

• does this materially change how you’d evaluate the setup?
• Have FMV buyouts generally been reasonable in your experience?

We have good income and a well funded emergency fund, just not as much saved for down payment. We would have no issues financing the loan or being approved by the bank because our credit scores are amazing and our finances are in order, but of course the seller doesn't know that and maybe we're jumping the gun too early. Would prefer to move sooner than later, but wanted to see if there was any real current experiences anyone has had purchasing a home with a lower down payment.

Beautiful home, our dream home in fact. We offered over asking price with 10k closing. We still have to pay $14k in closing. The inspection was this morning and these are the things we’re worried about
-galvanized pipes
-clog in master bath
-dishwasher issues
-electrical panel not up to code
- water heater needs replacement and ac in the next couple years
- needs a roof

My husband works for a roofing company so we aren’t worried about that. The rest of it. Should we ask for more closing or for these things to be fixed, or walk away? We are a family of one income, and though my husband makes enough money, big items are going to be tough to swing since our housing & bills will double.

Thanks for advice!

Looking to purchase a home that's older, 1965, and needs 3 bathroom remodels in addition to leaking cast iron sewer lateral, linoleum torn out, a wall put up to revert an office back to a bedroom.

I was going to offer asking BUT then put $25k credit for repairs and use that money, essentially boring $25k against the house already. Our lender is advising NOT to put any credits requests for repairs BUT just put the $25k be applied to closing costs. If there's a surplus of funds once closing costs are taken away, that will buy the rate down.

If I can't use funds for repairs I think I'll just ask under asking by $25k then.

Any thoughts on either way?

FYI...my agent is related and not really that in tune as it's not their 9-5 job.

Hi Everybody,

Upstate NY 26M, have a girlfriend, no kids. No car loan. No student loan. No credit card debt. The big day is tomorrow. 11 am sharp. I’m going from a shared 800 sq ft apartment to a ~2000 sq ft house. My apartment has been awful lol. We’ve had: 17 mice, mold on every window, half the outlets don’t work, no parking in the winter, surprise apartment showings from the landlord (coming off nights), constant cars, 2 packages stolen, and heroin dealer neighbors underneath me. I don’t know how to feel about finally being a homeowner. The lead up to this moment has been a huge swirl of emotion and I’m just ready for it to be done. I’m so ready to get out of here. How did yall feel when you went from your apartment to your house?

Anyways here are the numbers if anyone is interested.
Purchase Price: 280000
Interest Rate: 5.875% Fixed for 30
DP: 56000
Closing Costs/Prepaids: ~7000
Emergency Savings: ~15000
Parents Help (they gave me part of my inheritance while they’re alive): 10000

Hi, we just got sent an initial loan disclosure but I’m a little bit confused. What does this mean for the estimated cash to close? The lender said that this is just examples and stuff but how did we land $207,381 for down payment/funds from borrower?

We were planning on putting a 140k down payment.. so I don’t know how we got these numbers

Is there something I’m missing? Thank you (PICTURE IN COMMENTS)

Me and my husband have been going back and forth about a spare key. He believes that it is normal to give a neighbor a spare key and I believe we should hide a spare key and if an emergency arise we can inform our neighbor where the spare key is hidden. I grew up in NY he grew up in a suburbs of Pennsylvania. We live in the suburbs of Jersey. What do you guys think?

This is in South Florida. I was under contract for a house with a 7 day inspection period and 3 day escrow. Did the inspection, submitted the escrow funds.

Did the inspection day after signing, got the inspection report back day after and it found a couple major issues including flagged safety issues with bad wiring throughout, and an HVAC system deemed to require total replacement including ductwork, and a bunch of minor issues or at least seemingly so (bathroom vents directly into attic??? Dryer jury rigged to electrical panel in backyard??? Like c’mon).

But it’s all less important now.

Deal fell through, I cancelled well within my inspection contingency.

Now I’m waiting for my escrow money to come back to me. I’ve signed the release but apparently need to wait for the seller to also sign the release??? I wasn’t aware of this.

I probably wouldn’t be worried if it weren’t for a pattern of loosely dishonest, deceptive business practices, and generally just not being reasonable with the inspection results.

I’m now wondering, is it possible to pressure them to sign the release via effectively threatening reporting their unpermitted work?

I also know they’re having an open house again soon. Is there any problem with me going there and confronting them in person (the selling agent to be clear, not the seller themselves)?

Just wondering about any issues I might run into here and if I should just leave it to an attorney.

I’m not worried about not getting my money back, but rather when I will get it back. It’s super annoying to not have access to it to continue the search.

so yeah, did the whole thing. saved for years, got the keys, felt like an adult for like a week. now im just tired lol

the house is fine i guess but every weekend is home depot. like seriously. the previous owners did some weird diy stuff that im still finding. last week i pulled out a drawer and found a hole to the outside. just a hole. with leaves in it

everyone says owning is better than renting but nobody tells you about the 8pm panic googling -why is my water heater making that sound. or the feeling when you realize the previous owner painted over mold instead of fixing it

idk maybe im just venting. im not selling anytime soon probably. but man. i understand now why some people just cash out and walk away

maybe im just tired. or maybe homeownership is overrated. or maybe i just need a weekend where i dont touch a hammer

So my fiancé and I bought our first home, we are 21 and 23. The house is super cute, fits all of our needs, and buying it was a super great/easy experience. It’s not an expensive monthly payment, we bought our house for 143k, our payments are 1,100 a month. It’s in a small town, so we thought everything would be fine. We also liked that we are able to save and live at the same time. The main issue is that the sellers lied to us and our neighbors are terrible. I work in healthcare, so I am gone during the early morning hours to late afternoon and my fiancé works overnights. It was important to us that we get a home that was in a good area where I could feel safe at night since I am alone most nights. Ever since we moved in I have not felt comfortable, neither has my fiancé. We have a violent schizophrenic neighbor who is in and out of jail and the neighbor in front of us is always trying to get into our business/make problems. He has tried to call the city on us for one of our pets (we own a potbelly pig), our city doesn’t have any ordinances against it, but our neighbor has nonstop threatened our pig and is constantly harassing us. Our pig is just like our dog and stays inside our yard, also comes in the house whenever he wants, they don’t bother anyone at all. The newest thing has been that our neighbor across the street is coming into our yard and knocking on my door nonstop at 11-12 at night. He doesn’t do this when my fiancé is home with me, just when I am alone. He will sit and watch me constantly and somehow knew every single piece of information about me, including where I work, where I travel, my phone number, etc.. We’ve also found our shed door and back door wide open, prompting us to change the locks. We’ve tried to assert boundaries, put up cameras, and we are now putting up a privacy fence, but I am still unsettled. Also dealing with a crazy parking situation that we were not informed about until we were threatened with towing. The previous owners said they parked on the easement for years and that we could too because we owned a small area outside of the fence line, but as I said we were threatened by the business next to our home with towing because we were taking up a parking spot, even though they have a parking lot, they just don’t seem to use it. I have cars parked all along my fence line, most days I cannot even get to my own gate to park my car in my yard. I feel like we have no privacy and everything is extremely hectic.. We own land that we were wanting to put a tiny home on and homestead, it has much more privacy(it’s 4 acres in the middle of the woods near our family’s 120 acres) and we are genuinely thinking about going there and cutting our loss here. I don’t know what else we can do..

I finally got pre-approved as a first-time buyer, but the rate they gave me is honestly way worse than I expected. The lender basically said my income is okay, but my credit is what’s hurting me. My score is in the mid 600s right now, and I’ve got a couple old missed payments plus higher utilization than I’d like. I’m not in a huge rush to close tomorrow, but I was hoping to buy sometime this year. For anyone who was in a similar spot, did you pause and work on your credit first, or just move forward and refinance later? Trying to figure out what actually makes the most sense.

First big rain and the garage is damp. The driveway slopes straight toward the door like it was designed that way. Looking at NDS trench drains vs some of the ACO stuff.

Starting to realize those rugs weren’t for storage... they were basically flood control. Welcome to homeownership, I guess! Anyone else only realize their garage has drainage issues after the first heavy rain? Did you end up fixing it yourself or bringing someone in?

My husband and I (and baby) are first-time home buyers trying to decide between two homes in the Richmond/Sugar Land (TX) area and would love some honest opinions from people familiar with these communities.

Right now we’re between:

A 5 year old Highland resale in Harvest Green.

vs

A brand new Perry home in Candela.

The Perry is about 600 more sq feet and 35K more in price. It definitely feels more “luxury” and spacious, and seems like a really good value for the size/finish level. But Harvest Green feels more established, closer to Sugar Land/Telfair where our family is, and maybe better long-term for resale/location.

Husband works from home and my work will be around 15 minutes from either home.

A few things important to us:

-Safety/community feel

-Long-term resale value

-Schools (even though that’s still years away)

-Build quality/reputation of Highland vs Perry

-Whether Candela still feels too “early development”

From reading around Reddit, it seems like Harvest Green gets praised a lot for community feel/location, though people mention overcrowded schools and traffic concerns. Perry also seems to generally have a strong reputation in Houston for move-up homes/value.

If you were in our shoes, which would you pick and why?

TIA for any insight!

My husband and I recently had an offer accepted on a house and the monthly budget due to the interest rates going up yet again! Like many we have very generous people in our lives who are willing to help us with the inital down payment costs. My question is what is normal to have in your savings after all said and done? We have a good amount in our accounts but I am nervous as this is the most money we've ever spent lol. I am not looking for a textbook 2-3x your monthly payment stuff, give me the honest truth of what you had left!

For reference we are buying in NJ which is CRAZY to begin with.