Home Buying Tips From Our Big Purchase

Home buyers are definitely in the drivers seat in the current real estate market.  We know this because we bought a house for a great deal last week!

Our realtor helped us find a good deal on a short sale that was about to go into foreclosure; so the whole home buying process had to be expedited to beat the foreclosure date.  In just over two weeks time we made an offer, got financing, had the deal almost fall through, and then finally closed on the house.

It’s been quite an emotional roller coaster ride; the decisions, disappointments, and excitement have been pretty exhausting but we’re happy with the outcome.  It’s too bad that the selling family found themselves in such a bad situation financially but it seems to have worked out for the best; the owners avoided foreclosure, the bank got (some) of their money back, and we got a great deal on a house.

We’re really greatful to the bank that did our financing for fast tracking our loan processing to meet the deadline, as well as locking us in to some of the best mortgage rates we’ve ever seen.

You’ve probably noticed that with the exception of the new bank account overdraft rules and two reward cards articles, the best Blue Cash rewards and our credit card rewards, all we wrote about last month were home buying topics.

Here’s an overview of the home buying tips we’ve picked up over the last few weeks:

Mortgage Rates

• How Your Credit Score Impacts Interest Rates
• How to Find the Best Mortgage Rates

Home Loans

• Home Loan Closing Costs
• Home Loan Documentation Checklist
• How Much House Can You Afford?

Home Improvement

• Home Inspection Services Can Help You Sell
• How I Find Local Contractors on Angies List

Home Buyer Tips

• 5 Good Reasons Buying a House Requires Planning
• Wire Transfer Lessons for Home Buyers

Coming up this month we’ll have more to share about what we learned in our process of buying a house.  We’re going to be doing a lot of work to the new house before we move in so I’m sure I’ll also have tips on home remodeling. 

Since our current home is still on the market, we’ll also cover the topic of selling a house, wish us luck!

Ben Edwards, the founder of Money Smart Life, saved up enough to buy a Nintendo back when he was 12 years old. When he used the money to buy shares of Wal-Mart stock instead, he knew he wasn't like the other kids... His addiction to personal finance has paid off for his family and now he's helping you to afford the life that you want. Check him out on the web at Google Plus, Twitter and Facebook.

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