Advice Topic:
Buying

Can I get out of a house I regret buying before my loan lets me rent it?

I bought a house about a month ago and almost immediately started regretting it. Wrong location for complex reasons and now I wish Id looked at a rural cabin instead. My loan is 190k with a $1500 payment and I still have 70k in the bank. The problem is my mortgage wont let me rent the place out until Ive lived there a full year, so I cant use rental income to qualify for anything else. Selling now means eating closing costs I really dont want to lose, and doing it myself still isnt cheap or easy. Is Airbnb my only real option here or is there some other way to use this house without breaking my loan terms?

Best route to take as first time buyer

If I have good credit but no down payment saved as a first time home buyer what is my best method to take in purchasing a home or condo?

Is it better for a first-time buyer to choose a move-in ready home or a fixer-upper with more character?

We have been touring homes in the Denver area and keep finding ourselves torn between two paths. There are several new builds that are basically turnkey but feel a bit cookie-cutter, and then there are older bungalows that need significant cosmetic work but have much more charm and larger yards. We are fairly handy with small projects but have never managed a full renovation, so we are trying to figure out which option realistically fits a busy working couple.

How much of a home's price is actually eaten up by agent commissions on both sides?

We're in Georgia in a market thats already kind of overpriced, and after meeting with an agent back in January we learned sellers are still the ones covering the buyers agent commission in most deals. Once we ran the numbers on how much that ate into our future buying power, we ended up deciding not to list at all for now. Just curious how common it is for buyers these days to skip working with an agent entirely just to try and land a home at a discount.

Is our unconventional floor plan the reason showings aren't turning into offers?

Our house has been getting steady traffic, including a second showing and a packed open house, but every bit of feedback comes back the same: love the price, not a fan of the layout. Its a non-traditional tri-level with bedrooms split across different levels, which we know isnt for everyone, but everything else has been updated and its on one of the better lots in the neighborhood. Meanwhile older, plainer ranch homes nearby are getting multiple offers within days. Not sure if we just need to be patient or if this is a pricing problem in disguise.

What are our odds of mortgage approval with mid-600s credit and some recently paid-off collections?

My partner and I are applying for our first home loan together, both with credit scores in the 600 to 650 range and a combined income well over six figures. I had a few small collections, under $500 total, that got paid off, and we've got about $27k saved for a down payment. Trying to get a realistic sense of how much our past credit hiccups might still work against us.

Are buyers avoiding our house because we're selling so soon after buying it?

My husband and I bought our first house last year and pretty quickly realized we're just not homeowner people, between work and hobbies we dont have time for a yard and all the upkeep. We kept it in great shape and fixed everything minor our inspection flagged, but we never did any of the flashy stuff like a new roof since ours is already newer. Weve had it listed in a really desirable neighborhood and already dropped the price once, but after a good run of showings in the first few days its been dead silence. Do buyers get spooked when a house goes back on the market only 5 months after the last sale, like theres something wrong with it?

Should we sell now that our neighborhood has taken a downturn, or ride it out?

We live in a 1900 sq ft 5 bed Victorian in a neighborhood that was up and coming when we bought 15 years ago, but its gone downhill since then with more crime and the city not really stepping up. If we sell now we'd be taking a lowball offer since everyone knows the area isnt doing well, probably 50k less than if we'd sold last year. The house also needs some work before its sellable which would eat into what we'd have left for a downpayment elsewhere. We have four kids though so finding another 5 bed in our price range feels impossible, and Im not sure if riding it out or cutting our losses now is the smarter move.

When a person finds a condo, the seller has an agent, and the buyer has an agent. Who pays the commissions?

Should I walk away from a home with helical piers disclosed for a foundation fix?

I toured a house Im considering making an offer on and the disclosure mentioned helical piers were installed last October for a basement settlement issue from 2019. I hadnt heard of this system before so I looked it up, and it seems like a legit fix for foundation problems, but the sellers say the guarantee is for life and it transfers to me if I buy. Would you actually pass on a home like this or is it a sign the issue was handled the right way?