Know thyself!
Be brutally honest with yourself about what you can afford in the worst possible personal circumstances. (hate to sound pessimistic, that's the economy these days)
Be brutally honest with yourself about what you can live with and what will drive you crazy everyday. ("I thought a 3rd floor walk-up would mean I'd get plenty of exercise, but now that I've lived here a year and I'm pregnant, I hate it.")
Be brutally honest with yourself about your DIY skills and time. ("We can re-do the kitchen ourselves on the weekends. It'll be fun.")

Take a first time home buyer class, even if you are just thinking about starting to search. I know both Cambridge and Boston offer them monthly. I took it in Cambridge and it was 2 hours, once a week for 4 weeks.

Each sesion had brokers, bankers, home inspectors, etc as guest speakers. It was tremendously helpful with information that I didn't even know to ask about. The classes are free and I ended up getting a discount from the home inspector who I loved and was highly recommended by everyone I asked.

The classes are also required to enter any of the City's affordable housing programs, which I'd be happy to talk about at length to anyone who is interested- I cant say enough great things about the program and my condo!

http://www.cambridgema.gov/~CDD/hsg/own/hsg_own.html

Hi. Used to live in Somerville for a few years, but other than that I'm a lifelong New Yorker, so my advice might be a little too NY-specific for Boston -- not sure. But since I just this week moved into my first home, I figured maybe someone could benefit from a few of the things that worked (and didn't) for me.

1. Do a *lot* of pricing research yourself. Don't trust what the real estate agents tell you. If Boston's anything like NY, realtors will try to keep prices artificially inflated. I visited places off and on for more than a year, and I scanned Craig's List real estate listings *every week* for about 2.5 years -- I knew *exactly* what the market looked like. (I have very, very little money, so I needed to find something affordable in a city that is known for never being...) Also, real estate agents here notoriously lie about the spaces -- they say something is 900 sq. ft. when it's really 730, they call studios with L-shaped layouts "one bedrooms," etc. Ask for an accurate floor plan.

2. Come up with a list of what your must-haves are, what your preferred neighborhoods are, and what your deal-breakers are about a space. Then, compare and contrast -- what are you willing to give up in order to have more of something else? For example: Is a large space your highest priority? Or, would a small space in your favorite neighborhood be your highest priority? Do you need charming details (bay windows, hardwood floors, lots of sunlight, a desk/rooftop access, etc.) or do you need a very quiet space? What is your absolute max financial ceiling (factor in closing costs, too). Know these things when you look, and know what you're willing to compromise on.

3. For my price range, I had seen so many depressing, tiny, unlivable spaces for so long, that when I saw my current apartment I fell in love, instantly. The owner was an extremely motivated seller, and wanted to close the sale ASAP. I made an offer within fifteen minutes, and within a month, I had moved in to my co-op. This is highly unusual -- prepare yourself for a closing to take a lot longer than you expect. But, to speed things along, make sure you have *all* your financial documents in one file ready to go if you're looking for a condo or co-op, as opposed to a home (you'll have to be "approved" by the condo board). These should include:
-- your taxes, two or three years worth
-- bank statements
-- investment accounts
-- letters of reference from employer, landlord, personal
-- first-born child (not really, but it began to feel that way)
-- between 10 and 20% of the purchase price up front, as a down payment, depending on what the seller requires.

4. Do NOT allow yourself to get discouraged. After more than a year of looking, I thought I was going to buy a co-op in a different building. A small-ish, old apartment in a quiet but boring-as-hell neighborhood, with cranky, uptight neighbors, but it had a lot of sunlight and I could afford it. It was far from ideal, but I kept telling myself, "I can make this work. I need to stop paying rent... I can make this work." The seller accepted my offer, and my down payment check, and then the co-op board kept stringing me along for about five months, only to finally reject my application to buy into their building. They didn't even give me a reason why (in NY, they are legally allowed to reject applicants for any reason other than discrimination, and discrimination is very hard to prove.) I could have gotten really depressed and thrown my hands up and said that home ownership would be an unattainable dream for me pretty much forever, but that same day that I got word that they made their final decision, I went back into my search. And within 24 hours (talk about karma) I found the perfect place I'd been looking for, and made the offer in 15 minutes. Now, I'm typing to you from my beautiful, 950 sq. ft. apartment in my office area, and I couldn't be happier. Moral of the story: don't let setbacks stop you, just stay focused and have faith and perseverance. Be incredibly motivated. Imagine that it will take a long time -- and then be prepared to have it take even longer (but also be prepared to JUMP in an instant if you find something ideal, which could theoretically happen in your first month of looking... you just never know).

5. If possible, see as many for-sale-by-owner listings as you can: at least in NY, owners tend to be more flexible in terms of lowering their prices, or fixing things, etc. -- real estate agents don't tend to want to lower prices because they work on commission. Also, the fewer middlemen between you and the home, the better. (Then again, some people have buyers' agents, working only on their behalf, not on the sellers' behalf -- I don't know much about that, but a good friend had great luck with that kind of arrangement.)

6. Do not take a mortgage you cannot afford, or that you have to stretch to make. Make sure you get a fixed-rate mortgage, and that you know you can continue paying it if you lose your job. It's a tough time right now, you don't want to find yourself in an even tougher position based on housing.

7. Many sellers will lower their price in a *major* way for an all-cash deal for a variety of reasons. Not something most of us can do, but that's something I heard, so I will pass it along.

Good luck! Let us know how your search goes.

3 things: improve your credit score, save up (or borrow) for a down payment - these two things really affect what you can buy and how much it will cost you each month. And 3rd - get a good mortgage broker. They can scour all the current lenders for the best deal and it costs you nothing (they get a commission from the bank). At least that's how it works in Canada - the US may be different.

don't pull the trigger too fast (normally people say the first place you see). there WILL be other places you love, even if you think you love the first one. don't get sucked into the process and feel like the last place you saw will be the best ever and you're never going to find one better because you will. especially in this market.

you shouldn't have to compromise on anything - before you start seeing places, create a list of what you want/don't want. once you start seeing places, refine this list so you know what you're looking for.

if you're in an apartment building, check the soundproofing and ventilation. visit at different times of day. you could hear your neighbors and not know it if you visit while everyone's working.

if only you could test drive homes like you can test drive cars.

If you buy before December 1st, you may qualify for the first time homeowners federal tax credit of up to $8000. My husband and I just bought in NY and our mortgage payments are the same as our (stabilized!) rent was. Of course there were the down payment and closing costs, but we'd been saving for years for exactly that. Mortgage rates are really low right now - especially if you have good credit - but banks are still wary of lending to all but the best applicants and a traditional 30-year/20% down mortgage (if you can't put down 20% you must get mortgage insurance which will add to your monthly expenses.)

You might investigate if there are any additional incentives for your area for first time homebuyers. In NYC there is a grant for lower-mid-income people (i.e. full time jobs but not rolling in the dough) to help with down payments to encourage people to stay in their communities. You have to stay in the house for ten years and some other stipulations, but I have friends who are using this. Also, you might consult with a real estate lawyer about the legal ramifications, or intricacies, of buying with someone if you are not married.

And if you would be moving to a larger place, keep in mind the costs of any furniture you will need or any new appliances or renovations you would want to do.

We just bought a place (not in Boston though) and I concur that some sort of first time homebuyer class would be helpful.

A few of the biggest things we learned:
1) Don't use lendingtree.com or similar sites to check what interest rates you qualify for. The more people check your credit, the lower your credit score gets. The same applies to "shopping around" for mortgages. We had a broker run our credit scores once and then called banks to ask them to give us interest rate estimates based on what we told them about our scores/income, etc. They might not like it, but they can do it, if they want to.
2) Be super picky about your realtor. You will spend a lot of time with this person and you need to have a lot of trust in him/her. If your realtor is pushy, doesn't explain things, or offers unsolicited opinions designed to influence your opinion, it's ok to kick them to the curb. I think too many people are afraid to do this and it keeps too many bad realtors in business, giving the good realtors a bad name.
3) Go to the home inspection, and ask a ton of questions (esp. if you don't know a lot about care and maintenance of a house)

Good luck!

In today's market you are not likely to have the opportunity to easily resell a residence with flaws you find difficult to live with, so don't settle for a place you are less than excited about.

Ignore any urges to "jump" on what appears to be a great deal unless you had otherwise decided to buy the property. This is because you can just about rest assured that tomorrow there will be another great or greater deal.

The value of researching a potential property cannot be overemphasized. Test your commute, meet the neighbors, observe the house, street, and neighborhood weekday and weekend morning, midday and evening. Examine all utility bills (electric, gas, oil, propane, water), taxes, maintenance and other potential costs. Accompany your home inspector during their inspection and ask lots of questions, no matter how insignificant they may seem.

To echo MaeEast's comment, be brutally honest about your ability to do or pay for repairs. Our single family home was in very good shape when we bought it 6 years ago, but things come up. My husband and I are not at all good at even minor repairs so we have spent a small fortune hiring handymen. It's expensive and a hassle. I cannot wait to sell and return to renting.

Try to NOT fall in love. It clouds your judgement, and in the end can be VERY expensive. (You tend to overlook important problems because as a renter, somebody else took care of them, and you just adore the crown molding and hardwood floors...)

Don't be seduced by staging! Use it as a guide to see how your furniture will fit, but force yourself to look beyond it to the structure you will actually buy! (That fantastic MCM credenza won't BE there any more after you close!)

If you think you love a place enough to make an offer, tour it a second (or third) time with a contractor or home inspector, and LISTEN to them when it comes to how much repairs or remodeling will cost. Repairs you might get done by the sellers or deducted from the price. (Including new carpeting, paint, etc.) Remodeling that will be required for you to REALLY be happy might not be a smart move at all, or might make the price of the home too high. (Our first house, we blithly assured ourselves we could add a greenhouse sun room, two car garage, enclosed deck... it was nuts. None of it ever happened. For selling, we converted the one car carport into a one car garage, but that was all. And if we had done all the changes we dreamed of, it would have made ours the most expensive house on the block, and harmed us at resale.)

Try to find a buyer's broker (real estate agent) you really trust, especially if you aren't going to study up to be an expert yourself. They should be honest about what you can afford and how much you can negotiate.

Research online. There are a ton of excellent tips on the net you can find with Google, and they will help prepare you. House buying is usuallly the most expensive purchase you will ever make, and you have to pay taxes and maintenance costs and condo fees and snow-plowing and many other things, so you need to be careful to be able to afford everything.

And things change, too. We built a house in a development that technically is a condo association, although we own the lot. The road is "private" and we pay for street lights, fire hydrant access, plowing, landscape maintenance (mainly because the other homeowners chose to do that part), etc. We were told when we started the process that the condo fee would be $50 per month. As of yesterday, it's $150 per month, after 6 months,and on top of a hefty mortgage.

But happy hunting! It is scarey and exciting, but satisfying if you find what you want.

We just closed on our house on last Fri, here are a couple of tips

1) go to a couple of mortgage brokers. we were able to get lower rates and better fees after consulting w/ a few different brokers. i wd suggest working w/ someone whose sole practice is mortgages, rather than a financial planner who is also a mortgage broker. Someone who is only doing mortgages will have time to be dedicated to scouring for the best interest rates and typically works with a lot more lenders. We worked with our financial planner, initially, unfortunately, it became a little unpleasant.

2) I will echo the suggestions for making sure you really know exactly what you want. Having your main priorities & knowing your deal breakers re: space & neighborhood. Also, if you are moving from an apt to a home, the upkeep and maintenance is going to be considerably higher, you really need to keep that in mind. What's the yard like? Do you have to do any updates yourself? HOw old is the furnace, the A/C, the water heater, the roof?

3) Do the extra inspections like the sewer scope, radon if that is applicable to where you live (we have radon here in CO), and if the the seller hasn't offered a 5-year certification on the roof, have a roofer come out. (The estimates are often free). It could save you a lot of money in the long run.

3) Be sure to get the Blue Ribbon Buyer's Warranty (The sellers sometimes purchase, sometimes agents will purchase as the house warming gift) If anything major goes wrong within the first year, like the furnace blows up, it will be repaired or replaced (w/ a like model, not typically brand new..)

Don't want to repeat a lot of already good-advice that other commenters have given. But happy-hunting. It had it stresses, but it was also exciting. Especially, since we really find exactly what we wanted.

Buy in the best location possible, both for your needs and for resale.
Anything with a nice view (that includes any nice street view), anything with a nice outdoor space is a plus. In the long run, it's simply great for your psychological well-being to be able to look at something nice out your window or have dinner on your deck. You will forget about the outdated bathroom.
Lots of good advice above: check all FSBO offers; we had an agent show us a lot of homes, but found our house on an FSBO website. The owner always knows more about the house than the agent, and is way more flexible in negotiations.
Take the smallest mortgage you can; it's crazy how the money starts flying once you move in.
Great advice in the first comment: be honest with what you can/cannot live with, can/want/cannot fix yourself. There has not been handyman work at our house that cost below $500.

Although I live in Idaho, I think much of the experience is translatable.

First-time homebuyers classes (or like me, one 8-hour class to get it all out of the way) are great resources. They are usually free or very cheap and provide great info.

Do your research and ask LOTS of questions. Search various websites and listings to get an idea of prices and locations. Check the county assessor's website (if there is one) to see tax assessment values for the properities and to get an idea of what sort of taxes you'll be paying each month. Not sure if Boston has tax breaks for homeowners, but in Idaho we get our taxes cut by 50% for property that is our primary residence.

I had a great realtor who didn't mind answering all my questions. Look for a realator like that. Also look for a realator that actually shows interest in your needs. My realator discouraged me from jumping after the first property i viewed and spent a lot of time talking to me about what i could afford, what kind of time i had to spend doing repairs, what my schedule and personality were like, etc. and she showed me a good variety of properties (condos, townhouses, single family houses, etc).

That being said, don't ignore your instincts. If you find a property you love, make it happen. You might look at a few other places and come back, but in the end, you'll be buying a home as much as a house, so make sure it's somewhere you'll love living.

Since you are looking for a condo, when you have found a couple that you like, go thru the condo documents VERY CAREFULLY. Have someone with experience of condo docs look thru them with you. Understand every little detail as they can get annoying, depending on what is important to you. Pets, ability to use outdoor spaces, etc are very important matters, also when it comes to resale.

Check the condo's balance sheet. Know exactly what they spend, how much they have coming in each month/ year in fees, special assessments, what the reserve is & if the reserve will cover any problems with the building as they come up. Check the history of the fees & assessments, find out from the board if there are any special projects & assessments coming up. They are required to provide accurate information. Obviously, things come up. You must do due diligence. If it's a new building, condo fees will seem low. Because it takes about 5 years for a building to get established (more or less, depending on building size), be wary of unclear or missing condo doc info.

When you share a building, you share the building's problems. So if you have tree roots destroying the water/ sewer lines to the street, you will be responsible for the $10-15,000 in repairs along with the other owners. New roofs are expensive on a big building. Brick masonry repair on a whole building... plus all the regular maintenance on a building. Just understand what you'll be getting into & make sure you have plenty of savings for repairs/ assessments. As many people above have stated, repairs do come up. Often.

Since you are a 1st time buyer, you will learn a lot during the process. If you work with a buyer's agent, make sure you find someone that you trust & can give you good advice about buying a condo & all that it entails.

Good luck!

-put at least 20% down, not only is it a more stable loan but you look better to whoever you're trying to buy the property from and to the banks you're borrowing from

- get a fixed rate mortgage from a good loan broker who tracks the market and knows the best time to lock in your loan. Thanks to ours, instead of locking in at 5 %, he told us to wait a bit and we ended up locking in at 4.625%

-take into consideration everything from HOA fees to property taxes...sit down with an accountant (not a mortgage broker) to crunch the numbers to see what you can and cannot afford

-do your research, we looked all over San Francisco and took into consideration neighborhood, commute, relative price range, future development opportunities, ammenities etc. before deciding

-Tax incentives are great but do not include them into your budget. Treat them as bonus money for furniture or savings for the future. Can you afford the place without them? If you can't, walk away.

-work with a real estate agent...there are so many things that you need to know to buy a house and unless you have time to do it full-time, you should work with a professional. But, check in with a bunch of people to make sure you're 100% confident in the person and that they have your best interest in mind and can get you what you want. We went through a few before ending up with our guy, who was highly recommended by friends (always a good sign) and is amazing and goes out of his way to do everything for us to make the process as easy as possible

goodluck!!!!

Get all your loan paperwork in order before you start looking.
Then interview more than one realtor,Try not to get one that acts like they are your best friend.
We had a realtor that just did not listen to what we said. She took us to houses that she wanted to see. Then she kept saying I would do this or I would do that. Finally my husband told her then maybe you should buy the house. Then she took us to a house where she locked us all in the backyard and the key was on the inside of the house. My husband had to climb the fence which was over 6ft high. We still laugh about that.

What it comes down to is will you be happy in the house and the neighborhood. We hate the neighborhood we live in so we will probably be moving in a couple of years. Plus drive by the house at night and when kids get out of school you will get a clear picture that way.

We looked at over 60 houses we took pictures and made notes. Yet we still didn't get a house that makes our soul sing. It is a house not a home.
Good luck with your search.

Make a list of what you're looking for in a home (location, price, size, condition, layout, etc.) and share it with your realtor/agent, when you choose one. (Since you'll be spending a lot of time with that realtor/agent, get recommendations from people you trust.) A good realtor will ask you a lot of questions based on your list so they can target the search to areas and homes that meet your requirements; he or she can also give you a realistic picture of the market so you're not aiming for something that's not in your financial grasp.

Be brutally honest with the realtor and each other when you look at properties. Don't waste time rationalizing things that you know will bother you or that really just won't work for you, your budget and your DIY skill level. And you never know when you'll find something you like or even love so make sure you're approved for financing through a reputable lender and that you have all your paperwork together -- that will make it easy to move the process quickly if you need to.

Early on, I went to the library and spent some time reading through the books for home buyers. Take a home buyer class so you're familiar with the process and different terms and common mistakes and how to avoid them.

Though you're looking for yourselves and the home that suits you, always keep re-sale in mind. Of course you're going to personalize your space, but if and when you need to sell, does the home have attributes that will make it attractive to a large pool of buyers? Could you sell it fairly easily if you had to move? I'm currently about to sell my first home -- I had planned to be here much longer, but circumstances change. Think very hard about the homes you're considering in those terms.

Stay positive but realistic and good luck!

Research, research, research. Knowledge is your friend.

Start with a book or class that gives you the overview of buying a home. Know the terms, the steps in the process, the main players, trends in the area, etc.

Interview several real estate agents before deciding on one. We spent more time with our agent than with our family the spring, summer, and fall we were looking for our house. He was fantastic, answered all our questions, gently steered us away from bad decisions, and knew lots about the old homes in our area. You'll be amazed at the differences among agents after your interviews. Pick someone who's honest, willing to go at your pace, and knowledgeable, and who is someone you can spend HOURS and HOURS and HOURS with.

Go to as many open houses and on as many house visits as you can. Take notes and pictures, ask lots of questions.

If you find a place you're seriously considering, meet the neighbors -- it will give you a sense for the kind of community (or lack thereof) on /in the block/building, possibly some inside info about the seller, inside info about the house, etc. Most people, I think you'll find, are really friendly about helping you out during the process.

Good luck!

Thanks so much to everyone for their comments so far! I'm feeling a bit more confident knowing that we've already addressed some of the things people have mentioned. We're signed up for the Boston first home buyer's class and have a buying realtor whom we've known for a couple years and definitely trust. We enjoy and are pretty good at light handywork (painting, replacing light fixtures, installing window treatments, minor fridge and stove repairs) and have a support network that includes more skilled folks more than willing to lend a hand. We've both got steady, decent paying jobs and have recently had frank discussions with each of our bosses about job security.

I'm so glad folks have stressed asking lots of questions and basically staking out prospects. The 3 apartments I've lived in, I'd planned to do this, but I tend to chicken out. Since buying is much more of a commitment, I need to psyche myself up and let my inner neurosis out. For example, I always want to ask to turn the shower on to check water pressure. That's normal, right?

Jplee - At what stage did your portfolio in your third point come into play? Did you have it ready when you made an offer? Did you move into a large condo building, or it this type of preparation necessary even for a unit in a triple decker (what we're shooting for)?

John H - Who do you approach about bill history? The selling agent? The current owners?

i just bought and i agree with everyone. would add to work as your own "buyer's agent". scout out properies yourself, realtor.com and the like. Use the seller's agent to see the house, etc. why pay commission for leg-work you can do yourself?

also, don't sign a commitment with an agent unless you are certain you want them to do all the work for you. that's permission for them the charge their commission and also makes it sticky if it doesn't work out with them.

my advice, and i am learning this now, the hard way, is don't buy something that has been vacant for long. our house was vacant for a year (part of an estate and the son had many properties to sell off so it took a while) and as a result, we didn't know a few things about the house that have turned into VERY expensive repairs.

for example, since nobody had been living in our house and running the water, a week after we moved in, no water that we used would leave the house. it dumped into the basement instead. apparently we have roots in the pipes that have gotten really bad. since nobody was using the water consistently, it didn't show up in the inspection.

also, compare compare compare. compare mortgage lenders, contractors, other condos/houses in the areas. don't be afraid to get as many quotes as possible to make sure your rates are competitive.

About a week ago I heard a great report on NPR about how real estate agents are going far beyond the "baking cinnamon buns and washing windows" route when it comes to making a house feel livable.

They are now hiring actors to play neighbors, and these people interact with potential buyers in a casual way. They even stage Little League games with child actors, full church services with actors, and actors to jog around the neighborhood and wave to you as they run by. Crazy! Obviously this isn't so much of a concern in Boston, but it's very interesting to think about the lengths that agents are trying to go to especially in those neighborhoods that have tons of foreclosed homes.

They had a report from a family who didn't realize until they moved in that the entire neighborhood was basically empty, because it had been stocked with actors during every showing.

I had the portfolio ready when I made the offer on the second place (the place I now own). Having all the documentation ready helped the process move really quickly. When I made the offer on the first place, I didn't have my portfolio ready, and it took about a month to assemble. The owner's real estate agent was not very organized and kept telling me every week that something else was needed -- it took about a month and a half for him to tell me everything that I needed for the application, which drew out the process (though it was the co-op board that strung me along for four months after that).

I don't really know what the requirements are for condos v. co-ops, sometimes there are similar needs, sometimes different. Requirements also differ by state. NY seems to be one of the only places that has co-ops (co-operative buildings), and a very reductive version is that with a co-op you are buying a share of the building rather than owning the literal physical space, so co-ops tend to be cheaper to buy than condos, but the monthly "maintenance" fees (which include water and heat and real estate taxes) are much higher -- mine are close to $600/month -- than condos. With condos, you pay a much higher price for the actual apartment, but the monthly condo fees can be very, very low.

Take your time. I went to 143 open houses (seriously), because I thought that was the best way to see what was out there and get a sense of what things were worth. I knew that we wanted to stay in the same neighborhood that we had lived in for six years, so every Sunday I looked at every apartment in a broad price range around our own price range. It's a good way to figure out what is available and what you actually want/need.

As a result, when we saw the place that we are now living in, we knew immediately that it was priced fairly and that it had what we were looking for.

My other advice is to buy a place because you want to live in it (ideally for a looong time) not because you think it is a good investment. We bought in early '07 when the market (in Brooklyn) was extremely strong, but we have no regrets, not only because our place was reasonably priced, but because we love living here. We have a backyard and a woodburning fireplace. We are never leaving. That (and again- we got a good deal) really insulates us a lot from the stresses of the market.

Good luck!!!

Not to repeat what others have said above (which is all very accurate) but when buying in Boston specifically, think in advance about what kind of repairs/renovations you will want to make. My husband and I bought a condo in JP a few months ago and because Boston's permit regulations are extremely strict when it comes to renovations, we didn't actually move in until several months later! Explore the permit process, fire-sprinkler rules, you name it, it's all relevant.

Since moving to JP though, we love our condo and our neighborhood so hope to see you in the area soon!

Turn on every light, turn on every faucet (and leave it running a bit), run every appliance, open/close every door. . Do this alone, and go to the inspection as well. Go to the house many many times, at different times of the day. Take your most negative friend/relative. It's not to talk you out of buying, but to help you see the negatives and make an informed decision. It's one thing to know of a problem and be willing to deal with it, it's another to get an expensive surprise.

Cynthia,

I got really excited when I read your comment - and all the responses are fantastic, but I think some of the suggestions are good and some are not so good. I am a Buyer's Agent in Jamaica Plain. I have lived here 16 years and there are very few folks out there who know the area as well as I do.

Some people seem to be confused as to what the role of a Buyer's Agent is exactly. In addition, there is some inaccuracy in regards to how we get paid and the impact that has on a sale.

Let's talk about money first because that's always the most important piece for people. There is a 5% fee associated with almost all real estate transactions. That can vary depending on a lot of things from 4-6%, but usually it's 5%. No matter who writes the offer (the buyer or the seller agent) that commission will get paid. The issue is really whether you will choose to have someone advocating for you or not. Each respective agent will have a fiduciary responsibility to their client. The seller's agent will be happy to sit down and write an offer for you, and they will likely be very friendly - but THEY WORK FOR THE SELLER. Keep this in mind n matter what you end up doing. Think Poker face.

Now, a Buyer's Agent cobrokes or shares the fee 50/50 with the seller's agent. So it's important to understand that Buyer's Agency doesn't cost you anything. Ever. A (good - this part is very important) Buyer's agent will provide you with a long list of resources from attorneys, contractors, inspectors, etc. to help you make an educated decision. They will give you a heads up about property before it ever gets to the market, inform you about an area, and provide you with a comparative market analysis so you can approach an offer situation from an intelligent position rather than throwing arbitrary numbers around. For instance, I usually give my clients the CMA and then say, "okay, this is a good number to start at, and don't go past this number".

Don't rely on my words however - but rather the clients we've worked with. Check out what they have to say on Yelp, for instance:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-boston-home-team-jamaica-plain

Also, check out our website and blog here:
http://www.thebostonhometeam.com

A lot of what is said above is very good advice, but a lot of it is just plain wrong. Consider interviewing us for the job of being your Buyer's Agent!

My DH and I are looking to move from Chicago to Indianapolis. Are the first time home buyer classes specific to the area where they're held or would it pertain to all areas?

We just bought our house in Portland, but I think there are a lot of things that is pretty much the same everywhere.

Make sure that your down payment money is sitting in the account where it is for at least 2 months with no unexplainable movements or transfers. We didn't know that it would be such a pain to explain just because we moved around our money to wherever there was the highest interest, but it's something to keep in mind.

Try to get preapproved with someone who can provide a preapproval letter once you start looking so that you can put in an offer at a moment's notice. When you get into contract, you can then start looking for the best deal in terms of rates and fees. Make sure you do tons of research on all of the different aspects of the mortgage loan. A good resource would be the finance forum of Fatwallet.com and also take a look at bankrate.com for a good mortgage calculator.

As everyone already said, your agent/broker is really important, make sure you find someone who picks up their phone right away when you call. I think the same goes with your loan officer. We went with Bank of America and although they offered the best program at the time, the pain and hassle of dealing with a large corporation where lack of communication and no one answering phone and no one really cares may not be a compromise everyone is willing to make.

Good luck!!

To Javagrrrl: I bought my condo three months ago in Baltimore. The city has a Maryland Mortgage Program and 3% grant, which helped me purchase my place. In order for me to apply for the program, I had to take a first time home buying class that was specific to the county I was purchasing my home. I had to completed the counseling session 15 day prior to settlement date. If you are looking at incentives that your city offers to first time homebuyers, look to see if you have to take a counseling session and what location. I hope this answered your question.

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When buying a condo, consider how many tenants occupy the building. If the condo building has a lot of vacancies, note that this will effect your condo fees. Fewer tenants may mean a pricier condo fee to maintain your building. Moreover, if the building cannot find buyers, those vacant rooms may become rental units.

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In regards to your condo fees, ask what they will cover. Generally they cover the your water utilities and the maintenance of the structure and the exterior landscaping of your building. However, you are still liable for the interior fixtures and construction. Similar to renters insurance, consider getting condo insurance to cover your personal property.

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I just want to reiterate what TheBostonHomeTeam has stated, get a buyer's agent. A really good one is an invaluable resource!

Consider why you're buying - Just because everyone says "Paying rent is a waste of money" doesn't make it so because even if your payments stay the same, your expenses will go up (property taxes, HOA dues, maintenance, etc.)

Don't base your shopping list on what you Want, but instead what you Need. Why insist on 3 bedrooms when you and your spouse have no children? Why do you need a marble-lined jacuzzi bathroom and walk-in closets? How are you going to furnish 2500 square feet? What good is having 1/2 acre and a swimming pool when your commute is over an hour each way and you'll never see your place in daylight except for those few hours on weekends when you're not running errands? Why do you need a 2-car garage when you have only 1? What is a "Bonus Room" for anyway?

Don't make an offer until you've had a thourough home inspection and have seen the neighborhood more than once - including a weekday evening and a Saturday Night. Make sure the commute is not only reasonable, but that grocery stores and other support facilities are nearby so you won't spend you life in a car.

Don't buy with less than 20 percent down - Otherwise you'll be paying PMI. Also, keep at least 5 percent in the bank available for unforseen expenses, updates and repairs.

Pay attention to how the place is heated and cooled: Ask the power companies (gas and electric) for the average bill for winter and summer.

I rarely ever post messages, but I thought I'd give my few tips after recently buying back in November.

The first time homebuyer's class is an absolute must! Not only does it provide 101 information for people who have no clue on about buying a house, but even people who think they think they know everything from watching HGTV can learn something new (e.g. what is a homestead?).

Also in Massachusetts, there is a very helpful loan program called the Soft Second Loan. It allows individuals who fall under a certain income level to qualify for separating one mortgage into 2 separate loans. Why?

If you don't put at least 20% downpayment, you will have to pay private mortgage insurance (PMI). Every lender will tell you that's the dumbest thing to do...it's a cheap way for banks to make money off of ill-prepared borrowers.

If you qualify for the Soft Second Loan, you can split your mortage into 80% and 20% loans. That's means you can avoid paying a PMI since the requirement of 20% downpayment of the total mortgage amount has decreased. Yes, it sounds confusing, but you'll get to avoid paying a PMI even if you can't put the full 20%.

The housing lottery is another option, perhaps not for Cynthia. If you're looking to buy, but not for a year or two, then you can always enter the housing lottery sponsored by many cities in the Greater Boston area. A majority are condo units, but they may also include houses in many redeveloped, up and coming neighborhoods in Boston. Remember the whole NoWa district that's now too overpriced for anyone? They had a lot of units sold through the housing lottery and people get to buy 50% of the price for them and they're just as good as market price units. An additional perk is that these units typically only require a downpayment of no more than 5% if you meet the income requirements and can be further reduced to 3% if you have a first time homebuyer's certificate.

I'm glad the Boston Home Team explained so clearly why you should have a buyer's agent (I know the original poster has one, but for other people reading this for advice). As he/she said, it doesn't cost you as a buyer anything; the fees are paid by the seller. I did much of the research and footwork to *find* the condo we bought in Cambridge, but once we were ready to make an offer and deal with the craziness of the seller and seller's agent our agent really came to the rescue. She was awesome and definitely saved the sale. Actually, we're going out to dinner with her tonight (we bought in 2007)!

And TailSarah's points about a condo building's reserves is a really important one. Our building (1901 building with 29 units) was in the midst of serious repairs when we bought, and the seller ended up putting the remainder of our unit's assessment in escrow so we didn't get hit with a $14K bill two months after buying. But it can be pretty annoying dealing with other people's problems.

If you do buy a condo get involved ASAP. My husband joined our board, which means we are aware of everything that is going on and have a bit more of a say.

This is specific to buying foreclosures (I've been in an interminable process since February trying to close on a two-family foreclosure in Medford--and as far as buying a foreclosure goes, everything above totally applies, but you've also got to be prepared for pretty much anything and everything to go wrong, and have virtually no ability to negotiate, which is incredibly frustrating), but there was a recent court case in the Massachusetts Land Court (March 26, 2009) that essentially invalidated the title on a huge percentage of Massachusetts foreclosures (its intent was to force banks to be more diligent about paperwork, which is great, but by making it retroactive, it put hundreds of properties in limbo, utterly void of title, where banks are unable to legally sell them but the previous owner can't own them either). We were supposed to close a week ago (well, three weeks ago, but it got pushed back, and back, and back...), and the day before closing found out that we couldn't get title insurance because our foreclosure was one of the ones affected by this case. It's scheduled to be reconsidered on May 20th, but in the meantime, the odds of being able to close on a foreclosure are much slimmer than anyone would like.

I guess the main moral there is make sure you get title insurance, no matter what, and don't expect anything to go smoothly with a foreclosure.

if you're any good at researching yourself, going to open houses, arranging showings through the seller's agent, then you should ultimately choose Redfin as your realtor. they are low-overhead, mostly online but do have real and competent people, and the perk is that they give you a rebate of 2/3 of the buyer's agent commission. I bought my condo through them last year and 1 week after closing received a check for my $8000 rebate! they limit you to the number of showings/hours you can use them before submitting an offer, but once you are at the offering stage, they handle EVERYTHING, including arranging inspection, preparing documents, etc. i'm a little surprised no one here's mentioned them yet. www.redfin.com

I was also surprised not to see Redfin mentioned until the end. We did not use Redfin as our realtor, but the site is a great source for MLS listings because of the interface - lots or search options, mapping, etc. It can be a quick way to get a snapshot of a neighborhood and the properties available. Much better than other sites we scanned when we were looking almost 18 months ago.

Since you're looking at a condo, I'd recommend finding out as much as possible about the building neighbors. You'll need to work with them on building issues (and yard, if you're lucky enough to have one!), not to mention that you'll be sharing walls, floors, ceilings. Repeat visits will increase the chance of meeting them, and interactions with condo trustees will come up if you get serious about a place and want condo docs etc.

Condo docs can be helpful for figuring out how people work together. We looked at one place that we liked, but the docs had a no-pet policy. It turned out that almost every unit (of maybe 15) had a cat or dog but no one could be bothered to change the docs. We passed.

Good luck!

The advice already posted is great - but I'll add one more thing. By way of context, I just bought a condo in Davis Sq - the second place I offered on, a duplex condo in a two-condo association whose previous owner died recently. I'm now in the midst of (planned) renovations, having factored them into my budget.

I'd advise you to be prepared to *walk away*. You will find - even in this market - that some sellers are unwilling to be realistic about current market value, often because they bought when the market was 20 % higher than it is now. My agent geve me some great advice: a property is worth precisely what *you* are willing to pay for it. Today. If you can't negotiate a price you like, move on. It's tough, but don't bank on future value to explain away paying over the odds.

You will also find that - again, even in this market - some properties induce a bidding war. It's easy to get wrapped up in one, but really, in a buyer's market, you're best off moving on. Case in point: the property for which I made my first offer (asking price, about two months ago) received six offers in the first three days on the market. The sale closed two weeks ago - for 7% over asking price. The seller didn't even bother trying to jack up the price by playing bidders off each other.

fwiw I'd also strongly advise you to get a buyer's agent. There are many good ones around, and they can put you in touch with other good professionals (inspectors, mortgage agents, lawyers etc). Having good people will make your buying experience almost pleasant.

Good luck!

Cynthia,

In response to your question:

You can get utility bill information on a home by contacting the utility involved and giving them the address of the prospective house. Ask for the billed amounts for the coldest and hottest months (Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar and Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep) or if they're willing, ask for a printout of the utility costs for the last two years.

Assuming there is gas or oil heat, consumption should be high in winter months, while electric usage should be highest in summer due to a/c. Make sure your budget can handle these costs in addition to the mortgage and taxes. Unless you are considering the purchase of a highly energy efficient home, unusually low or high utilities are the indicator of a problem. Ask the utility company how the home's bills compare to neighboring homes.

If the house uses a supplementary heating system like a wood or pellet stove, confirm the cost of these systems. Frequently chords of wood and bags of pellets can cost as much or more than simply turning up the thermostat. The drudge factor of ash removal, buying and loading pellets, splitting wood, etc, quickly diminishes the romance of these systems.

Unpaid municipal water bills and property taxes have caused many giant new homeowner headaches. This is because many municipalities will attempt to bill the new homeowner for the old owner's unpaid tax and utility obligations. Before purchasing, confirm current billing status with the town in writing.

Contact the municipality and confirm both school district and municipal property taxes for the property. Further inquire whether the owner is receiving a senior citizen property tax reduction. If you are not a senior, this reduction will evaporate upon purchase causing a tax recalculation.

Good Luck!

For the more adventurous, I'd suggest looking into the future, and taking a chance. I bought a house one neighborhood south of a very pricey, historical neighborhood. I also knew that a large development was scheduled for an empty plot of land just a few blocks away. (After a few hiccups, the project is now underway).

In the past 5 years, the hood has definitely taken a big upswing. In another 5 years, I'll be halfway between the University of Arizona, and a university-owned live/work neighborhood, retail area and science park. It feels like a good place to be right now.

As a side note - I bought before the bubble craziness, and saw my fake 'equity' soar, and then come back down. I resisted the urge to turn my home into an ATM, and am therefore not underwater. Note to all new homebuyers - your house should be a HOME, not an investment.

Something no one will tell you to ask: check the health of the major players in this game before setting the escrow date. We asked for 6 weeks since we were closing over Christmas but only got 30 days. In those 30 days: Our realtor was diagnosed with terminal cancer and admitted to the hospital for surgery. Their realtor got pnemonea (sp?) and was confined to his house for 6 weeks (to this day, we haven't ever met him!). Our mortgage broker didn't get sick...her boyfriend committed suicide on Christmas Eve (eep!). And of course there was Christmas and New Years and MLK day.

And no, sadly, I'm NOT making this up. Give yourself a little extra time here...it's worth it.

Someone suggested doing a full home inspection before making an offer, but somehow I think it might be more economical to just write in an inspection contingency in your offer. At least then, you know that you can get the price and terms that you want before you pay for a home inspection (we paid about $450). With a contingency clause in your contract, you can then back out of the offer (getting your earnest money back) without any loss aside from your time.

Since almost everyone you meet, in the process, has a vested interest in you taking the sale - first determine your own comfort level before searching for property. Home ownership is fantastic, when it's within your means, but it's h*ll when you've stretched yourself too far. Sit down together and figure out how much you can comfortably pay. Then, in this economy, imagine if one of you lost your job and how you'd cover the mortgage. Adjust your 'comfortably pay' dollar amount and then go shopping. Don't let anyone talk you out of your own personal comfort level when it comes to taking on a large debt.

Then determine your comfort level when it comes to renovation, as it will save you time in your property hunt and grief later on, no sense looking at 'needs rehab' properties if you want something that only needs minor tweaks or is move-in ready. And if you're looking to save money, learn something about doing your own repairs, look for a center near you that teaches homeowner skills. In Berkeley, CA, that's the Building Education Center, a non-profit that has classes led by experts working in the field they're teaching about. I don't know who does that in Boston but you might ask the NEXUS Green Building Resource Center.

Never, ever, skip a home inspection (however you choose to pursue it, I recommend writing it in as a part of your offer).

Finally, shop around for mortgages, ask for a better deal... even if a lender says no it didn't hurt to ask.

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