Should I buy a house, and if so how much should I spend?

[MikeH]

this is terrible advice

Unless I'm missing something else, the most important choice I can see making is an ARM vs a 30y fixed. And given what I've told you guys thus far, one of those two things would cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars vs the other. This is hundreds of times more important than what mortgage broker I choose.

Definitely true about the major points, but once you've figured out what kind of deal you want they can do the legwork and find the best offer on that kind of deal (and across probably a wider number of providers than you'd look at), and if your time is valuable this extra effort for a small fee is worth paying for, and will pay for itself.

They also know small procedural things and tricks that can save you money. e.g. our mortgage broker saved us 0.5% interest for two years because he knew we could book our preferred deal with more funds than we'd need, a few days in advance of an upcoming base rate rise. Even ignoring the fact he hunted down the best rate that alone saved us a few thousand. Stating the obvious but even saving tiny percentage points over the course of a deal is a lot of money on a 3m house.

Our guy was via recommendation, there are some **** commission based ones out there, no point unless it's genuinely independent like Dinner said.

[MikeH]

And I'm sure, even though it sounds like the US system is very different to here, they'll have a bunch of spreadsheets and search systems already set up with all the tax stuff in so you can just plug deals and numbers into their stuff and let them crunch it for you, which is just faster. They'll also have enough experience to already know roughly what the most efficient option is for you.

You can obviously do it all yourself, it's just a complex system that you'll never need to use again, 'cause it will inevitably all have changed by next time, and so is a waste of your time getting to grips with the tiny details

[Dinner]

Definitely true about the major points, but once you've figured out what kind of deal you want they can do the legwork and find the best offer on that kind of deal (and across probably a wider number of providers than you'd look at), and if your time is valuable this extra effort for a small fee is worth paying for, and will pay for itself.

They also know small procedural things and tricks that can save you money. e.g. our mortgage broker saved us 0.5% interest for two years because he knew we could book our preferred deal with more funds than we'd need, a few days in advance of an upcoming base rate rise. Even ignoring the fact he hunted down the best rate that alone saved us a few thousand. Stating the obvious but even saving tiny percentage points over the course of a deal is a lot of money on a 3m house.

Our guy was via recommendation, there are some **** commission based ones out there, no point unless it's genuinely independent like Dinner said.

I'm out of thanks but I'd give you one if I had one.

[PLATO]

Definitely true about the major points, but once you've figured out what kind of deal you want they can do the legwork and find the best offer on that kind of deal (and across probably a wider number of providers than you'd look at), and if your time is valuable this extra effort for a small fee is worth paying for, and will pay for itself.

They also know small procedural things and tricks that can save you money. e.g. our mortgage broker saved us 0.5% interest for two years because he knew we could book our preferred deal with more funds than we'd need, a few days in advance of an upcoming base rate rise. Even ignoring the fact he hunted down the best rate that alone saved us a few thousand. Stating the obvious but even saving tiny percentage points over the course of a deal is a lot of money on a 3m house.

Our guy was via recommendation, there are some **** commission based ones out there, no point unless it's genuinely independent like Dinner said.

Just so you will know...most Brokers only have 3-5 lender relationships. Your guy probably didn't have to "hunt down" much at all. Any Originator worth their salt would automatically know the "tricks" that you talk about. The fact that they made a point to let you know they knew is nothing more than a confidence building sales tactic.

The truth is, if you have the time, you can explore many more options by checking out multiple lenders yourself. Most people don't really know what to ask and will receive the sales pitch to have the Originator explore your options for you. In most cases, that is probably the best thing. IN KH's situation, where he is kindof in the biz, it would probably be worth his time to ask around his contacts and explore some options on his own.

[MikeH]

May be different in the States, in the UK my guy was genuinely independent and had a database of hundreds of suppliers with all the current deals from each one.

[MikeH]

There are 'advisors' tied to some companies here too but they are utterly pointless.

I would be surprised if genuine independent advisors don't exist in the US though, it's such a useful service. Thought it would go without saying that having a **** one is worse than not having one.

[dannubis]

I combined "immotheker" advice with own research and found it very helpful. I was able to get an exceptionally good rate because I knew what to ask the banker...

[PLATO]

There are 'advisors' tied to some companies here too but they are utterly pointless.

I would be surprised if genuine independent advisors don't exist in the US though, it's such a useful service. Thought it would go without saying that having a **** one is worse than not having one.

It does work a bit differently here. Each brokerage establishes relationships with particular lenders. Typically, lenders will terminate the relationship if they are not getting enough loans from the broker. It usually works down to about 3-5 that each broker keeps a relationship with.

The good news is that there is vary little difference in rates among lenders. There are a few that are consistently better but for the most part they are all very very close.

[MikeH]

A tiny difference in rate can mean tens of thousands of dollars.

Sounds like a broker might well be pointless there then, unless they have the type I'm describing.

[Sava]

the only thing that pisses me off about KH is that he's supposedly got money... but i've not seen any evidence that he's ever spent a dime on something awseome

[KrazyHorse]

Probably going to put in an offer on a place listed at 1.3

Will post some pics

[KrazyHorse]

.

[KrazyHorse]

[Dinner]

The creek looks nice. Hopefully it doesn't flood in rain storms.

[KrazyHorse]

flood insurance listed at 1500/yr - no house flooding even during sandy. lot's 2.4 acres, and house is near to the middle of the property - and on an incline, which is what saves it from floods

a bit more than a creek; about 25 feet wide at that point (turns into an estuary of the long island sound about 1/4 mile wide a few miles south)

edit: lot's not far from square (except for a bend in the river) - probably around 350 ft of frontage

might have enough room for a tennis court