Steps to buying a home

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Author Message   Lucy Smith Citizen Username: Lucy123 Post Number: 129 Registered: 6-2005 Posted on Thursday, May 4, 2006 - 2:06 pm:        Hubby and I are in the process of saving enough money for a down payment for a place in the area (our first ownership-renting for the last 7 years while in school new to the corporate world etc..... my question is this: what is the first step once you are really financially ready to buy? get a real estate agent? get a prequalification from a bank? find a real estate lawyer? I guess I just need clarification of who/what I should speak to first/do first to get the process rolling. thanks everyone for any advice to this newbie to real estate!   Sherri De Rose Citizen Username: Honeydo Post Number: 163 Registered: 11-2005 Posted on Thursday, May 4, 2006 - 2:13 pm:        First I would go to open houses in the area that you are looking to buy in. Then ask around for a great realtor. I am sure you can get this info on MOL. Have your realtor get you pre-qualified with a bank or mortgage co that way when you find the house of your dreams the seller will know you are truly a buyer worth dealing with. Best of Luck in your endeavor.   Lucy Smith Citizen Username: Lucy123 Post Number: 130 Registered: 6-2005 Posted on Thursday, May 4, 2006 - 2:22 pm:        Thanks! My next question is this: We have never been to an open house before (we truly are rookies!!) Do the people tend to be pushy while you are there? can we look at leisure? Does it vary? I really hate to feel pressured if we are truly just at the "looking to get an idea what's around" stage....will we feel the pressure of the selling agent?   C Bataille Citizen Username: Nakaille Post Number: 2588 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Thursday, May 4, 2006 - 2:38 pm:        It varies some by individual realtor but I'd say not so much, partly because the market remains robust and they'll get a sale soon enough, doesn't have to be you guys. Definitely feel free to walk around and ask a ton of questions. Some of the realtors are very helpful folks who are happy to explain lots, especially if no one else happens to looking at the exact same time you are.   Bob K Supporter Username: Bobk Post Number: 11400 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Thursday, May 4, 2006 - 2:43 pm:        Most Realtors will not be pushy at open houses. However, they really want to get contact information from you and hope to develop a relationship with potential buyers. I think one of the dirty little secrets of real estate is that open houses are mostly for Realtors to make contacts. With that said, going to open houses is a good way to get your feet wet and get an idea on price, neighborhoods, towns, etc.   greenetree Supporter Username: Greenetree Post Number: 7546 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Thursday, May 4, 2006 - 2:46 pm:        Re: Open Houses. It depends on the Realtor. Generally, the sellers aren't home. Who wants to see strangers looking in their closets and kitchen cupboards? Some realtors will follow you around, nipping at your heels like chihuahuas. Others will let you look thru in peace. They all have a sign-in sheet. This is used to get you on their mailing list and for no other reason. I used to leave my phone number off and my street address if they really annoyed me. It's a good idea to go to a bunch of open houses and look around to get a feel for what you do/don't like. If a realtor is pushy, just smile and ignore them. Commit to nothing. If they find out that you don't have a realtor, they'll really stick like glue. It's up to you. You are not obliged to make a committment for them to show you other houses, give them your phone number, etc. When you are done looking around, ask as many questions about the house as you like. Take the realtor's card in case you do want to connect with them later. I agree with Sherri about getting suggestions from recent buyers. You can talk to a few financing places (your bank, mortgage broker) to find out what you qualify for and work out some numbers. I don't know if they still do this, but be careful of the number that the bank gives you in terms of qualification. Their point is to get you to borrow as much money as possible. They'll factor in your debt, but not little things like food, clothing, vacation, etc. You will be paying for all kinds of things you probably don't now. They may calculate your debt ratio and tell you that you qualify for (example) a $100k mortgage but when you look at your own expenses, you will realize that you are only comfortable with $75k mortgage. Don't start out being house-poor; you'll get there soon enough.   Bklyngirl Citizen Username: Bklyngirl Post Number: 36 Registered: 10-2005 Posted on Thursday, May 4, 2006 - 2:50 pm:        I agree. I started by logging on to www.realtor.com and looked for houses I liked in my price range and in the neighborhood(s) that I wanted. Once I found a couple of houses that fit my criteria, I then called the broker listed and asked to see the house(s) or when there would be an Open House. The rest your broker will walk you through, if you decide to go with one. Alternatively, you can take a weekend and drive around a chosen area looking for Open House signs or House for Sale by Owner signs. Good luck. bklyngirl   Wendyn Supporter Username: Wendyn Post Number: 3081 Registered: 9-2002 Posted on Thursday, May 4, 2006 - 2:56 pm:        I'd go to the bank first and find out what you are qualified for. Then subtract $25-50k. Then when you get a realtor subtract another $50k because they inevitably want to show you houses just above your price range. Make sure they calculate your monthly payment including estimated taxes in your price range and estimated insurance. Open houses are fun. If you really don't want the realtors to bug you leave a fake name/phone #. But that might come back to haunt you if you like the house! I love to look online as well. www.gsmls.com is the main listing service. If you think you want to see a house call up the listing realtor, or if you have another one someone referred, and go see it. There is no obligation.   Alleygater Citizen Username: Alleygater Post Number: 1853 Registered: 10-2004 Posted on Thursday, May 4, 2006 - 3:03 pm:        We did it similarly. Visited realtor.com and searched for an area we liked. We also figured out our budget like we would if we were renting (how much we could afford to pay per month). We guestimated what our bills would be and then we had a pretty good idea what we should and shouldn't look at. When looking online there is a correlation between the taxes you have to pay each year (which can go up) and the price of the house. If the taxes were low we could afford to spend more on the house. And if the taxes were high we had less to spend on the house. As for finding a realtor, we hated every one we went to. Our budget was pretty low and we kept getting the sense that the realtors weren't interested in us since they had less to earn. We went to a bunch of open houses and saw a house we hated and left...but as we were entering our car to drive off I commented on how polite and knowledgable the realtor was at the open house. And right there we walked right back in, had a longer chat with the fellow, loved his style and asked if he'd be our realtor. Sean O'Hale great guy...I'd reccomend him in a heartbeat.   Bob K Supporter Username: Bobk Post Number: 11401 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Thursday, May 4, 2006 - 3:07 pm:        My suggestion is a little different. Find a realtor you get along with and stick with him/her. Other than a handfull of "exclusives" any realtor can show any house listed. If you develop a relationship with one person and they are convinced you are a serious buyer they will put more time and energy into helping you find a house than if you bounce from one realtor to another. I agree with Wendyn. Essentially the bank may be willing to loan you more money than you are comfortable in borrowing. Also factor taxes into the equation. Essex County and especially Maplewood has high taxes. Most of the models banks use for pre-qualifications assume lower taxes than you are going to see here.   Lucy Smith Citizen Username: Lucy123 Post Number: 131 Registered: 6-2005 Posted on Thursday, May 4, 2006 - 3:16 pm:        Thanks so much everyone! It really is a whole new world and it's a little scary to start this endeavor! But we are really excited and the advice here really helps! Thanks!   Tom Reingold Supporter Username: Noglider Post Number: 14057 Registered: 1-2003 Posted on Thursday, May 4, 2006 - 3:31 pm:        The good news is that a realtor will walk you through just about every step. Whatever she won't walk you through, someone else will. She will tell you what steps are next. But out of respect to her (why am I assuming it will be a woman?), try to give an idea of how much time it will take you to make a decision. You may not know, and that's OK. Just say so. Our realtor was perplexed with us, because for about three or four weeks, she showed us a lot of houses, and we didn't like any of them. She wanted to know what it would take us to buy. And while it was a fair question, we didn't know. It turned out that what we needed was exposure. And after those weeks, we knew enough to make a decision. Suddenly, we were ready. We saw several houses on one day and made offers on two. The seller of one accepted. Your realtor probably can't recommend a lawyer and other professionals you will need, out of professional respect, but MOL will do that job for you. As Bob K says, be careful with your budget, because the bank might be willing to loan you too much money. Take a look at the property taxes on each property, and include that in your budget. And also estimate their increases over the next few years. Depending on the field where you work, it might be safe to assume that your income will rise enough to keep up with taxes, at least for a while. Shop around for mortgages. They make money off you, so they should offer you the best possible deal. And don't be shy about this. You are borrowing money to buy an appreciating asset, which means they are not crazy to loan "little old you" a huge pile of money. Realizing this was a huge relief to me.   Lucy Smith Citizen Username: Lucy123 Post Number: 132 Registered: 6-2005 Posted on Thursday, May 4, 2006 - 3:44 pm:        That is our other issue...it really is hard to find out how much we can actually borrow without contacting the investment guys and having them hound you-to determine the amount of down payment we need...the down payment saving is what is holding us up in actually actively looking...i know they say there are some ways to do it with no money down (or very very little), but that really sounds too good to be true...we have relatively good credit (only negative being the age of credit-i'm only in my mid 20s) and that is what they "say" the no money down is based on...but i'm truly a skeptic hence why we keep saving until we have quite a few 10K in the bank...am i wrong in this thinking???? Tom-I work in the pharmaceutical industry which pretty much is ripe for the picking in terms of gaining pay each year-i hope it would rise enough to keep up with the taxes but i don't really know how much to expect it to increase...for example-this year the taxes will raise what %???   Tom Reingold Supporter Username: Noglider Post Number: 14061 Registered: 1-2003 Posted on Thursday, May 4, 2006 - 3:53 pm:        A mortgage person can help you answer those questions in a helpful way. If you have less than 15% or 20% downpayment, you are a bigger risk. It will probably increase your interest rate. And it may require two mortgages, one for the "downpayment" and one for the regular mortgage. My friend did this and bought a house with no money down. They loaned him the money because his income could handle both payments and then some. So he was paying more than the required amount on the "downpayment mortgage." (Sorry, that's not the right term. This pays down the principal much faster, builds equity, and gets rid of the mini-mortgage eventually. If he loses his job and can't make the payments, he has essentially nothing, the house gets repossessed, and he has to walk away. He decided to take this risk because he has no kids or spouse. If suddenly needing to move out and rent a home would be a bad thing for you, then don't get a no-downpayment mortgage. A realtor may be able to help this way, too. My property taxes are about 10% higher than they were three years ago when I moved in. But people here are saying they generally climb at about 6% a year.   Wendyn Supporter Username: Wendyn Post Number: 3082 Registered: 9-2002 Posted on Thursday, May 4, 2006 - 3:54 pm:        The minimum down payment I'd do would be 10%. I'd aim for 20%, because at 20% you don't need to pay "PMI" which I can't explain but is an insurance premium for low downpayment. It is not a huge amount, but if you can avoid it you should. Here are some calculators: http://www.fanniemae.com/homebuyers/calculators/index.jhtml?p=Resources&s=Calcul ators Again keep in mind the "how much can you afford" one is assuming the MAXIMUM amount you can possibly afford and still eat. But you'll be eating peanut butter and forget about cable. There are also other calculators with monthly payment information.   Just The Aunt Supporter Username: Auntof13 Post Number: 4902 Registered: 1-2004 Posted on Thursday, May 4, 2006 - 4:16 pm:        I'd suggest Mark Matthiess. He grew up in town and knows the area well. His office is on Sloan Street by Starbucks.   eliz Supporter Username: Eliz Post Number: 1438 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Thursday, May 4, 2006 - 4:26 pm:        We only put 10% down on our first home (a coop in Brooklyn) and had to pay PMI. However we gained equity quickly due to the tight market and were able to have the PMI dropped in less than a year. I would certainly start actively looking with 10%.   Projects Dude Citizen Username: Quakes Post Number: 125 Registered: 3-2004 Posted on Thursday, May 4, 2006 - 4:44 pm:        Definitely start early looking at houses in towns you are interested in. If you're not in a big hurry to buy anytime soon (esp given supposed potential bubble in real estate market), it may even make sense to rent a place in a town you like to familiarize yourself with an area. During that time you can look around houses for sale, but it'll also give you a good feel for the town, traffic, convenience, neighborhood, etc. This is particularly true for people moving from Manhattan or from other regions. Then again, given that you've been a regular on this board, you're likely already living in town! 8) Good luck!   greenetree Supporter Username: Greenetree Post Number: 7549 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Thursday, May 4, 2006 - 5:05 pm:        If you can't put down 20%, you will pay PMI anyway, so I'd aim for the 10%. As someone else says, if your home gains value or whenever you have 20% equity, you can refi out of it (if the interest rates make sense). If you buy a house for $450k, 10% is $45k & 20% is $90k. It will take much longer to sock away the extra $45k, but the extra mortgage payment on the $45k won't be that much. I can't remember how PMI is calculated (percent of mortgage?) but someone here will know, I'm sure. Play with the morgage calculator with various downpayments & PMI. BTW - not to be a killjoy, but I'm in pharma, too, and you have a lot more faith in the industry than do I!   Alleygater Citizen Username: Alleygater Post Number: 1859 Registered: 10-2004 Posted on Thursday, May 4, 2006 - 5:17 pm:        You want to put down 20% if at all possible because of the PMI (which is essentially you paying for insurance to COVER THE BANKS AZZ if you can't afford to pay your mortgage). The theory being, that if your too poor to afford 20% down that you can afford to buy the mortgage company some extra insurance. Whatever, it doesn't make sense but it's true. You pay the PMI until your equity in the house reaches 20% and since your mortgage payments go to paying off your loans interest, expect to be paying PMI for a VERY VERY VERY long time. What if the market doesn't go up and you don't gain free equity as Eliz and I got? Then you can expect to pay 200+ dollars every month on top of your mortgage. Money you don't EVER get back. I would say Eliz advice is risky. Also, and this is a bit vague but putting 20% down can make your bid look more attractive to the seller. The realtor will explain this to you if you ask them about it. In our market there is a lot of bidding that goes on 'cause it's so competitive. So you want your bid to look as attractive as possible so that if someone bids nearly the same amount of money as you, the seller will be more inclined to choose you. Why does 20% down seem more attractive than 15% down to a seller??? Same as the PMI argument. It implies that you are capable of saving money better or are just richer than the other guy...which implies to the seller that there is less chance of you NOT getting a mortgage and not being able to honor your bid. I didn't say it makes sense, but it's true. The only last hint I can give you is this and I suspect that people will argue this point with me. But when everyone is so competitive with their bidding in Maplewood and the surrounding area, you want your bid to LOOK as high as possible. Something we didn't realize is that it is (or it seemed to me) to be pretty standard practice to figure out what types of work needs to be done on the house before you can move in (like a new roof, broken heater, leaky basement, etc.). Then you need to estimate how much those repairs will cost and ADD that figure to your bid. If your bid is accepted, you will have many weeks to secure your mortgage, get an inspection, and lots of other tedious steps. I won't say that the seller is LOCKED in at this point but all of this time is eating into his life and they usually want to sell...but meanwhile they aren't SHOWING THE HOUSE TO ANYONE. This gives you a bit of bargaining power because if he can't sell to you, he lost all those weeks, and he has to start all over again because the other bidders have PROBABLY moved on by now. I say this because the next step after the inspection is negotiating things that came up after the inspection that you feel needs to be repaired. You usually get to ask for a CREDIT for serious house issues (as I mentioned earlier). So you ask the seller to remove the cost of those repairs from the figure that you bid. If you are very unrealistic on what you asked to be repaired the seller will get irritated and not want to sell to you and you lose the house, but at no penalty to you other than you can no longer buy that house. Point being, a bid isn't an iron clad agreement and if you really need to get out of it, you usually can -- just be an annoying buyer. I suspect that we lost a few bids early on, because we didn't inflate our bids the way I just suggested. And I also suspect your competitors (who are bidding against you) are doing it if you don't. You can't do this with a house that is being sold AS-IS. Most people will tell you to be scared of a house that is being sold as-is but that is a longer conversation.   Tom Reingold Supporter Username: Noglider Post Number: 14068 Registered: 1-2003 Posted on Thursday, May 4, 2006 - 5:24 pm:        That last paragraph is really good advice. It describes what we went through, though we didn't have that as a plan consciously. But I don't know how you can estimate the repair costs without an inspector and some research, but I guess you can, especially if you know houses and how they "work."   eliz Supporter Username: Eliz Post Number: 1440 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Thursday, May 4, 2006 - 5:42 pm:        Just to clarify - you don't have to refi to get out of PMI if you gain equity - you just have to pay for an appraisal. Maybe I'm living in a rose colored world but I still believe homes in this area will continue to gain equity although not at the speed of the past few years. Everyone has to evaluate the level of risk they are comfortable with. I personally I'm of the mind that the sooner you own the better.   Alleygater Citizen Username: Alleygater Post Number: 1862 Registered: 10-2004 Posted on Thursday, May 4, 2006 - 5:58 pm:        I agree but this person is asking very basic questions, they don't have enough information to make a wise decision. I was just trying to give them more info so they could make an educated decision. The inspector wasn't cheap either. I think it was $500 (and we HAD to use Chase's appraiser), so we were reluctant to get our appraisal prematurely. I was doing as much work on the house as I could. My realtor found me a year later and was suggested we not wait regardless of how much work I did. He was right. The appraiser couldn't care less that I refinished the floor and painted the walls. He just measured square footage and counted the number of rooms, fireplaces and bathrooms. I could have emailed him the info. He was only in the house for about 5 minutes TOPS!!! Pretty sweet work for that much money. I want that guys job. Overall PMI is a big giant scam. Just one more way the banks can screw the little guy. And I would suggest avoiding it if at all possible.   cmontyburns Citizen Username: Cmontyburns Post Number: 1809 Registered: 12-2003 Posted on Thursday, May 4, 2006 - 6:06 pm:        Also, if you have less than 20% down, there are plenty of ways to avoid PMI. PMI comes into play when any single loan is for more than 80% of the home's value. A way to avoid this, assuming you have decent income and good credit: put 5% down, get one mortgage for 80%, and one mortgage for 15%. The interest rate on the 15% will be higher than on the 80%, likely by one and a half, to two percentage points. Rates remain very competitive, however. If your home appreciates rapidly in value, as some in town have recently, you could refinance relatively quickly into one mortgage at the same rate. It's important to find a lender you trust, who can walk you through the various options and help you weigh the pros and cons. Just remember, they work for you, not the other way around. If you're feeling too much pressure from them, you can always walk away and use someone else.   Alleygater Citizen Username: Alleygater Post Number: 1864 Registered: 10-2004 Posted on Thursday, May 4, 2006 - 6:15 pm:        cmonty, I wish I knew to do that before we bought. On the other hand I would have had to pay all the fees and interest associated with the 15% loan. Something tells me that since I only had the PMI for under a year (let's estimate $2000 for PMI and $500 for appraisor). I suspect that your method would have been cheaper, but I'm not sure HOW MUCH cheaper. But as I pointed out, I got lucky that our house went up in value, because it is conceivable I could have have been paying PMI for very many years.   eliz Supporter Username: Eliz Post Number: 1441 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Thursday, May 4, 2006 - 6:35 pm:        I guess I feel that the $2000 in PMI and $500 appraisal fee (we only paid $200... but that was in 1999) are better than paying rent for another year - you're still 1 year into your 30 year ball and chain. Cmonty's suggestion is also good - we couldn't do that (co-op rules etc).   Pdg Citizen Username: Pdg Post Number: 902 Registered: 5-2004 Posted on Thursday, May 4, 2006 - 6:45 pm:        Actually, unless you are very careful, you could end up paying PMI even AFTER your equity in the house is 20%+! Be sure not to forget about that and ask about it before signing your mortgage - ask if the bank automatically tracks it and eliminates the PMI, etc. I think in some cases it is hard to stop paying the PMI even after you have the 20% equity. A good exercise would be to do your own budget and see what monthly payment you are comfortably able to make. It will also have to include home owners' insurance and property taxes, but don't let someone else tell you what you can afford to spend. Good luck and welcome to the never-ending money pit of home ownership (but you'll LOVE it!)   Petal Citizen Username: Petal Post Number: 6 Registered: 4-2006 Posted on Thursday, May 4, 2006 - 7:32 pm:        we just bought our first house here and we put down less lan 10% and we don't have pmi. the lender immediately told us that b/c our credit was superb and income was fairly decent they weren't making us pay pmi. we have two loans, one to make up the more than 10% down payment(called home improvement loan ), and a 30 year fixed for the remainder. both with fantastic interest rates. we are so thrilled b/c years before when we wanted to buy in the city we were led to believe by various other (obviously not so great)mortgage consultants that we would ABSOLUTELY have to have 20% in order to buy. it's a blessing though that we didn't get more agressive till now, because otherwise we wouldn't be in maplewood. although made a fortune on what we would have bought in brooklyn! we have an "as is" house that we can't believe we get to call ours. not every story has a bad ending good luck   TomR Citizen Username: Tomr Post Number: 1086 Registered: 6-2001 Posted on Thursday, May 4, 2006 - 9:11 pm:        Regarding PMI, some mortgagees will terminate the insurance premiums when your equity exceeds 20%, if you ask the mortgagee. Some won't. It depends on the terms of the mortgage. By the way, thanks for considering us as potential neighbors. TomR   Former Cowgirl Citizen Username: Formercowgirl Post Number: 54 Registered: 3-2006 Posted on Friday, May 5, 2006 - 9:07 am:        Here's a good link for browsing in the area without actually going to open houses. A lot of the realtor web sites won't let you browse unless you register with them, but this site allows you to browse anonymously. http://publicstage.gsmls.marketlinx.com/ We're closing on our first house in the area very soon. It was quite the tedious process. We were VERY lucky to find sellers who were actually HUMAN and a realtor and a lawyer that we know personally. Some tips based on our very recent experience: * I would HIGHLY recommend trying to find a realtor and lawyer you know personally, or a friend of the family or friend of a friend. Someone who cares enough about their reputation not to lead you astray. They are more likely to be "on your side." Also, find a lawyer who has knowledge of real estate law in Northern New Jersey, as laws and practices do vary in different parts of the state. * Only look at houses that are priced $25,000 LESS than the maximum amount you can even fathom spending. Even in this slowing market, homes are still going for $20-$50,000 above asking price and you don't want to fall in love with a house that you will most definitely lose in a bidding war. * On the subject of a bidding war: the home IS NOT YOURS until you have a contract signed by both parties. We had a verbal agreement on a home in Maplewood and were essentially screwed over by the sellers during the 3 day buyer's (seller's) remorse period. They took an offer higher than ours and we could not match it. So, try your best not to get your heart into it until well after the inspection period. Good luck! It's a harrowing process, but now that we're nearing the finish, I'm starting to feel a lot better!   Lucy Smith Citizen Username: Lucy123 Post Number: 134 Registered: 6-2005 Posted on Friday, May 5, 2006 - 9:26 am:        Wow! Thanks for all the info everyone! You all are a wealth of information! I knew I could count on my fellow MOLers You guys are really great! Just a little background info-I am a SHU alum (I know to some of you that is a negative) and after graduation I chose to stay on in SO because I love it (I get frustrated with the politics but I LOVE the town itself and all of it's potential and the list goes on and on). Husband is originally from West Orange but has been in SO for almost a decade as well. We LOVE it here...and we want to invest in our first home here. But it is really hard to buy a first home in SO. Which is why we are willing to rent for another year (grin and bear it) to get to that 90K+ savings to get the home we want in SO. We feel it is worth the wait. We actually left SO 2 years ago to rent in a 2 family home in West Orange (to be able to have a yard etc.) and ended up leaving after 6 months because we really hated not being in SO (that might sound crazy to a lot of people because it's only 5 minutes away...but we really didn't feel like WO could be home). So we moved back to SO. Only in the last year did we become financially secure enough to even think that our dream of owning in SO could actually be a reality-(thanks to my new job at a different pharma company-greenetree i know sometimes it looks bleak in our industry but there is A LOT of potential in my area here-and I feel secure that we will remain financially sound to buy in SO). I just really wanted to let those of you know that weren't sure but the "searching for the town, etc you like" is not the question-we already know that (i guess that is sometimes the hardest part for some home buyers-finding the area you want to live for x number of years, but for us there is no question). Thanks all for the great advice and keep it coming if you think of anything else! Sorry if this history of my life over the past 8 years has no significance to some of you but I felt like I wanted to make it clear that we will be buying in SO and really don't want to look anywhere else. (I thought that it might change the advice from someone since the price range in SO starts much higher than other areas).   Alleygater Citizen Username: Alleygater Post Number: 1872 Registered: 10-2004 Posted on Friday, May 5, 2006 - 12:15 pm:        Have you considered Maplewood? It's awfully nice over here too.   Lucy Smith Citizen Username: Lucy123 Post Number: 135 Registered: 6-2005 Posted on Friday, May 5, 2006 - 12:21 pm:        Alley-we have discussed it and we would consider certain sections of Maplewood (near the village/train). Right now we are a 3 minute walk to SO train and we really do not want to move anywhere where we would have to drive/jitney it to the train/village...we love the convenience and the area. We really like Maplewood as well and the only issue with Maplewood is that we are seriously considering Townhomes (for example we really like The Mews in SO) and as far as we have seen in our online searches, Maplewood lacks townhomes/condos near the train/village. Are we wrong in that assumption? If the right home came up in Maplewood we of course would not be opposed...   Alleygater Citizen Username: Alleygater Post Number: 1883 Registered: 10-2004 Posted on Friday, May 5, 2006 - 2:48 pm:        I think a home is a better long term investment for a young couple personally. Yeah right now you don't want the hassles of upkeeping a yard but later down the road you might want to let your kids and dogs run through the yard or plant yourself a garden.   BGS Supporter Username: Bgs Post Number: 975 Registered: 10-2003 Posted on Friday, May 5, 2006 - 3:17 pm:        Lucy Smith- There are townhomes on Highland..up from New World...there was a for sale sign recently...do not know if the sign is still there... Also on whatever the name of the street that the train station is on but below the train station are a lot of duplex homes....the name escapes me right now. Ciao! B   Just The Aunt Supporter Username: Auntof13 Post Number: 4918 Registered: 1-2004 Posted on Saturday, May 6, 2006 - 2:43 am:        Lucy Did you see 20/20 last night (Friday)? The 'blurb' says it was hints for first time home buyers.   catmanjac Citizen Username: Catmanjac Post Number: 183 Registered: 2-2004 Posted on Saturday, May 6, 2006 - 3:45 pm:        If you are not savvy when it comes to construction codes, electrical, plumbing, etc., MAKE CERTAIN YOU HAVE A VERY COMPETENT HOME INSPECTOR! Even if this ends up killing the sale, it could save you thousands of dollars in repairs and endless headaches.   Noo2wood Citizen Username: Noo2wood Post Number: 7 Registered: 4-2006 Posted on Monday, May 8, 2006 - 11:35 pm:        Get the book "Home Buying for Dummies." It's an easy read and full of decent info.