Questions tagged [first-time-home-buyer]

Questions by users purchasing a home for the first time, and questions relating to the various first-time home buyer credits.

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Removal of ex partner from help to buy scheme and mortgage

Context Mortgage and Help To Buy UK scheme is in two names. The house was purchased just over two years ago. So still some time before the equity loan repayments, for the Help To Buy kick in. I have ...
Dawdre's user avatar
  • 11
11 votes
2 answers
3k views

Is 2 years of recent continuous employment required to get a mortgage?

I graduated from college and have been employed with a major company for half a year with a sufficiently high compensation (6-digit tech job). I am trying to buy a small apartment to live in. I had ...
InfiniteLoop's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
87 views

Which mortgage rates and how soon get affected by Fed's hikes/drops?

I know that Fed doesn't set mortgage rates directly, but they usually follow Fed's policy. My question is: How soon do mortgage rates go up after Fed's rate hikes, and do Fed rate hikes affect all ...
InfiniteLoop's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
550 views

Rough and ready value for cash offer on a house?

I am thinking about making a cash offer for a house, below the current asking price. I would like to make (at least) a rough calculation of a sensible offer amount. First what I have read already: ...
311411's user avatar
  • 235
1 vote
1 answer
176 views

I just got $80K in a foreign account. What should I do? [closed]

In my Canadian bank account I recently received CAD 80K in gifts and bequests from relatives, and am looking for options on what to do with it. My situation is as follows: Dual Canadian–EU citizen. ...
Edelweiß's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
91 views

What account to draw from for a first-time home buyer? (Canada)

Assuming I need 35K for a downpayment and I have 50K in an RRSP 50k in a TFSA and 20k in a non-registered account— which account is it best to draw from? My assumption is that cleaning out the non-...
Dugan 's user avatar
  • 2,572
0 votes
0 answers
117 views

What are the tax implications of owning an Airbnb rental?

My partner and I (unmarried) recently bought a house in Seattle, and are planning to rent out the finished basement for extra income using Airbnb. The city requires us to register for a business ...
user118012's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
79 views

Can first time home buyer loan apply for second house if not utilized on first?

Somewhat self-explanatory. If you (for whatever reason) fail to utilize a first time home buyer loan (typically with more-favorable-than-normal conditions) on your first home, can you utilize it on ...
Runeaway3's user avatar
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1 vote
2 answers
180 views

Can/should you pay the down payment for your house on a line of credit?

I’m a first time home buyer in Canada. I need to pull together ~40K to cover the down payment on a house. I have investments which would cover this cost (mostly in total US market index funds). ...
Dugan 's user avatar
  • 2,572
0 votes
1 answer
161 views

Weighing consequences of selling assets to get down payment for buying house

My partner and I want to buy our first house. We're thinking about the cash that we'll be required to have on-hand for the down payment and closing costs. We have no debt. We have money saved in ...
Ryan's user avatar
  • 430
1 vote
2 answers
93 views

Does partial prepayment on interest only loans goes towards principal

I am applying for 30 year term, 7/1 ARM with 10 year interest only loan. This is what I received from my lender: My question: During interest only period, if I make partial prepayments, does it ...
OpenStack's user avatar
  • 137
3 votes
1 answer
171 views

Appraisal came in low, but appraiser was given incorrect price

I just received an appraisal report claiming that the house I'm buying is worth $7,000 under the price that I'm paying. However, the appraisal report shows that the appraiser was given a contract ...
fmt's user avatar
  • 133
11 votes
2 answers
1k views

Long-term financial implications of selling stocks to get a higher house down payment

I have been searching for a house and am potentially going to make my first offer. I have cash on hand to make a 15% down payment on the place in question and enough money in stocks to comfortably get ...
Gramatik's user avatar
  • 427
2 votes
2 answers
246 views

How should I decide how much of a down payment to put on a home?

How should I decide how much of a down payment to put on a home? Should it be a percentage of my assets? Paying 20% down on the largest house I qualified for would require selling 74% of my liquid ...
anonymouse's user avatar
16 votes
5 answers
7k views

Is it typical to start charging HOA fees before a community is fully built?

I am currently in the process of buying a home at a new community. My home is part of phase 1 out of 4 phases and will be ready for move-in prior to the completion of the entire community. But the ...
Concerned_Citizen's user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
2k views

How much mortgage is too much?

I'm buying a house and decided against renting out a place because I feel like it's almost a waste of money, and, most importantly, the rent of a small 40 m^2 apartment in the middle of nowhere is the ...
Yeeter's user avatar
  • 73
0 votes
3 answers
164 views

Is there a way to buy a house for the average price over some future period of time?

Suppose I thought the current housing market was inflated, and I expected prices to go down in the future. However, I still want to buy a house. So I'm thinking, does there exist a contract where The ...
enaumov's user avatar
  • 11
0 votes
1 answer
60 views

How should I schedule pulling money from investments for home purchasing?

I'm getting married this year, after some delays for reasons you can probably guess. Afterwards -- so in six months or so -- we are hoping to buy a home. Of my money, roughly a third of it is in cash ...
zeldredge's user avatar
  • 101
1 vote
1 answer
177 views

Housing Price Index - How to determine if Housing Marketing is high or low

What is the best source/website for seeing if the housing prices are high or low? I am looking to buy a home but don't know where to look confirm if the housing prices in aggregate or by city/state ...
nak5120's user avatar
  • 111
0 votes
0 answers
190 views

I just bought a home and I want my new address to not be searchable by using my name. How can I keep my new address from being found

I understand that all real estate transactions are public knowledge. As far as displaying the value of my new home, how much it was purchased for, or if we took out a load or bought it in cash, I can ...
MakeThatMoney's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
121 views

Asking for a reduction in price after memorandum of sale and mortgage application

I am buying a flat (in England) and my offer was accepted. I applied for a mortgage (that is yet to be approved). After some time my solicitor found out that some constructions are planned in the area ...
aglearner's user avatar
  • 389
0 votes
1 answer
105 views

Modeling wealth over time in a home [closed]

Suppose a person decides to buy a house and finance it by taking out a mortgage. I am attempting to model the wealth of this person over time. I need some help deciding whether this system of ...
Taylor's user avatar
  • 187
1 vote
2 answers
296 views

Mortgage for a couple where one partner is not a first time buyer

There is a married couple in the UK where partner X owns a share of a property, while partner Y doesn't (i.e, Y is a first time buyer per se). Can partner Y apply for a mortgage alone (in order to ...
aglearner's user avatar
  • 389
4 votes
3 answers
2k views

Offer subject to survey or survey before an offer?

I saw a flat (in London), made an offer and received a counter-offer. I wonder what should be my next step and I get two types of advice. As far as I understand, the most standard practice is to ...
aglearner's user avatar
  • 389
4 votes
2 answers
237 views

Reasons for selling a flat "off market"

An agent (from Martyn Gerrard) has shown to me a flat that is not yet on the market. He said that the owner wants first to try (say for a couple of weeks) to sell this off the market, but then if this ...
aglearner's user avatar
  • 389
23 votes
5 answers
8k views

Why would a seller require a cash offer on a property?

My partner and I are looking at a house in an area that would be interesting to us. It's a fixer-upper that would require quite a bit of work on the inside. She's previously owned a house and ...
Daniel R. Collins's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
241 views

The "meaning" of reduction of the asking price for a flat and its consequences

I found a flat (say in London) that was advertised a month ago and whose asking price was reduced by 5% yesterday from 500K to 475K. Suppose I make an offer of 450K, i.e. I reduce the price by further ...
aglearner's user avatar
  • 389
0 votes
1 answer
176 views

Can an agent misinform me about the offers that he has?

An agent has shown to me a flat in London with asking price £450K. I like the flat and I am thinking about an offer that I can make. The agent (from Foxtons) told me that the owner was receiving ...
aglearner's user avatar
  • 389
4 votes
1 answer
352 views

Buying a home in a high-price, climate change-exposed region

I moved to southern California recently for work. This is the first time I'm stable enough to consider buying a home. Based on some standard decision rules for home buying, I'm ready: I can afford the ...
Dr. Beeblebrox's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
115 views

Reliable sources on house prices in the UK/London [closed]

I would like to understand whether the prices of homes/flats in some London boroughs (say Haringey or Islington) are going up or down in the last few months/years, and by how much. Even better, if ...
aglearner's user avatar
  • 389
1 vote
1 answer
192 views

How can banks make profit from mortgages with interest rate 1.29%?

At the current moment HSBC is proposing mortgages with interest rate 1.29% fixed for 5 years for 75% LTV: https://www.hsbc.co.uk/mortgages/our-rates/#tab-panel-tab_1539213631 I wonder what is the ...
aglearner's user avatar
  • 389
1 vote
1 answer
173 views

Pay seller from escrow before closing on property so mortgage can be finished?

Let's say seller does not want to grant extension to buyer so his lender could finish mortgage paper work. However, buyer has enough cash on hand and is completely capable to pay seller by original ...
user389238's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
198 views

Is my partner a first-time buyer? (UK)

My partner had previously co-bought a house (in the UK with a mortgage) in 2002, the house was then sold in 2013 (no profit made after mortgage pay-off and fees). Fast forward to 2021, we're buying a ...
SmurfTheSmurf's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
169 views

A roadmap for buying a home in the UK (London) [closed]

I have lived in London for 16 years, always renting a flat, and lately wonder whether I should try to buy a home or go on renting. But I feel like I am missing framework for making such a choice. Is ...
aglearner's user avatar
  • 389
-1 votes
1 answer
113 views

Percentage of homes bought in London for living in [closed]

I am investigating a possibility of buying a flat in London to live in. On Rightmove it is possible to see flats/homes that were recently sold, and often it looks like the price per number of square ...
aglearner's user avatar
  • 389
2 votes
3 answers
756 views

Home equity price

I bought a home that costs $100,000 and it’s worth $200,000 but I still owe $50,000 on it how much equity do I have on the home?
Emmy 's user avatar
  • 57
2 votes
2 answers
286 views

Buying a condo for 3 years and renting afterwards

This has been asked a couple of times, but I'm still having trouble with the numbers. I'm a grad student and will be in my area for another 3 years. I'd like to buy instead of rent, but given the ...
vsocrates's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
212 views

How can I determine how much improvement (dollar value wise) I can put on an urban lot?

So, I'm in the position of considering where (within a given city/real-estate-market) I and my family want to build our next house (which will also be our first experience as homeowners -- we've lived ...
ThreePhaseEel's user avatar
1 vote
5 answers
154 views

Buying a house vs Building one

In theory what is 'cheaper': buying a home or building one?. For simplicity we could assume that the terrain size is the same, in the same area, using the same house model (to calculate the material ...
Progs's user avatar
  • 157
27 votes
11 answers
10k views

I gifted money to my girlfriend for a down payment on a house and we broke up. Am I entitled to my money back? [closed]

I'm writing to ask a question about gifting my fiancé a down payment for the home we currently live in and bought. So when I gave her 14,000 for the down payment of our home we were engaged. At this ...
richey anglin's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
154 views

Resale of a House with Estate Rentcharge

Made an offer on a c. 40 yr. old freehold house in London. Had offer accepted. When going through the docs as part of pre sign-off due-dilligence, turned out there is a 300 GBP / year Estate ...
A.L. Verminburger's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
141 views

Should I ask to be approved for a larger amount than I will spend?

First time homebuyer figuring things out as I go. I pre-qualified for a mortgage of more than I can actually afford. The broker asked me how much I wanted to spend, and was given an approval letter ...
Strikegently's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
77 views

Stamp duty first time buyer renting after 6 months

I'm looking to buy my first house, but I'm only planning on living in it for 6 months or so before going cycle touring next summer (covide dependant..!). I'd like to rent it out for 6-12 months after ...
Alex Law's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
240 views

Help needed to deal with personal financial condition [closed]

Would like to discuss my financial condition here so that you guys can share your thoughts. TLDR :). There are some details related to family as well, which I think is important while taking financial ...
phoenix's user avatar
  • 109
20 votes
5 answers
4k views

Where to keep savings for home loan deposit?

I'm a US resident and I've saved > $100k cash for a home deposit. I expect to finance a home in the next 12 months. Currently the cash is split between Bank savings account and a couple of money ...
Justicle's user avatar
  • 301
1 vote
3 answers
335 views

First Time Home Buyer - How much will I be approved for on a loan for a house?

I am 23 years old and will graduate from college in the next few months. I have always lived in an apartment so it's been a dream to live in a home one day and a personal goal to own a home before I ...
anonPandaPete's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
118 views

Lifetime ISA, Cash ISA

I'm planning to get my first home next year and thinking to open a lifetime ISA account. Can someone advise on these things please, still not quite sure: Is there any minimum amount of money to ...
tonoslfx's user avatar
  • 111
4 votes
1 answer
549 views

What can I do with my finances while waiting to close with a mortgage?

I'm in the process of buying my first home and I've gotten lots of advice that has been unclear and hard to work with. One of the clearer pieces of advice I've gotten is to not make big financial ...
AmongtheWolves's user avatar
2 votes
5 answers
212 views

Saving money for the full price of a home while renting vs getting a mortage and buy home now, which is better?

I moved to Budapest and rent my home since I started working, now I have enough savings for down payment so if I want to buy my own home in the area with a loan I can do it now. The goal is get to get ...
Calmarius's user avatar
  • 521
0 votes
1 answer
142 views

Is it better to invest FULL savings, in a home before marriage, or PARTIAL savings after marriage (50/50 contribution with spouse)?

My question is around the safety of my brother's investment (Washington State, USA) if shit hits the fan and his marriage falls apart. He is planning to buy a property now (huge investment) but our ...
stack_r's user avatar
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