Anyone have experience buying a house?

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Although I am underemployed, i make enough and have a good enough credit score for a home loan. I still live with my parents but I want to move out and be independent. I have rented before with roommates but It didn’t work out. I would rather buy a house and have my own space. Anyone else have experience buying a house despite ASD?

I bought my house when I was forty. It's not easy. There is so much stuff to consider and once you are a home owner you have to do everything yourself and it is very hard work.

If your heating stops working it is up to you to arrange for someone to come and sort it and you have to pay for it yourself. If your windows need replacing, again, you have to sort it and pay for it yourself. Likewise your kitchen appliances and everything else.

But that is far outweighed by the fact you can do what you want in your own house. It's your space and nobody else gets to tell you what you can and can't do. Despite the hard work getting everything sorted yourself, it is in fact very liberating. If you can afford it, go for it.

I say go for it, if you think you can afford it and find something that will work out for you. It's a smart move, financially and otherwise. I bought one with my wife a couple years ago (we are now 33), and we are loving it.

The process can be daunting. I suggest working with a well-connected real estate agent who can point you in the right direction regarding inspectors, lawyers, etc. That will take a lot of the pressure off you.

I have twice purchased a house. To me, it is the most important thing to have. A space that is totally my own and no one can take from me.

Things to remember:

Real estate agents work for themselves, not for you. Even though they say otherwise. Verify what they tell you. They need to make a sale.

Check what the property taxes are.

Check what homeowners insurance costs. Are you in a hurricane area or a flood zone?

Think of the process as a special interest and delve into it.

I was part of a partnership involving rental units, but got forced out with nothing. When the government declared open season on tenants in British Columbia, I got too traumatized to sleep adequately in a rental unit. Luckily, I had a small inheritance, so I moved into my car and put gas in the tank, heading for an area of declining population. After two months of looking for unlisted properties, I got lucky and found a house for $15 k that only needed paint, two blocks from a dozen stores.

None of my hopes for the new location have worked out, and the town administration only works for their high-school pals, but I've stayed warm and dry, and managed to slowly recover. Luckily, I'm handy, so maintenance has been cheap. A neighbour had to replace his plumbing, and then re-do his new drywall - be careful. If I had a basement, it would flood.

I seriously recommend having a mobile unit as a first priority. You can always retreat to it and change locations. I have a full camper in a small car, but a float home also qualifies. I'm thinking of building a tiny home and heading off-grid. It is not too hard to scare up a tow vehicle around here. The less you "need" the easier life becomes.

I do. I bought a “co-op” 10 years ago.

I would go with Quicken Loans if you’re in the USA. The only problem is that they might take a long time.

If your credit score is 700 or above, and your “Debt-to-Income” ratio is 33% or under, and you’ve been on your present job 2 years, you shouldn’t have too much problems getting a mortgage.

I would not go into debt this year, nor for the foreseeable future.

Yes. I just bought a house. The main goal is to avoid foreclosure, which comes on after only one missed monthly payment, and is irreversible despite what you read in the newspapers. The second goal is to have money and figure out how to repair the house and do the maintenance tasks.

The first step is to go to someone who originates mortgage loans and ask for a pre-approval letter. You will need to gather about ten documents including tax returns, w2 forms and pay stubs. They will tell you. I used a GuaranteedRate office to get my pre-approval letter and finally a mortgage.

there may be a flood of foreclosed homes coming on market in 1-3 years.. so house prices may fall then..

For us, I totally agree.

The OP is 24. So he has time to recover from any burps in the economy.

Several years ago I took my retirement money and paid off my house. I am so glad I did that.

This economy isn't just burping, it is heaving chunks and running forward while looking behind. The middle class is vanishing.

That’s not true. Where did you hear that.

1 missed payment is very bad for your credit—but won’t cause foreclosure proceedings to commence. They usually start foreclosure proceedings after 3 missed payments. And the bank will usually work with you—especially in this time of COVID.

During my divorce, I was expecting that the bank would foreclose while I still had some equity, but they let the property fall into ruin, hoping for re-development. One friend stayed far in arrears for decades. He got to stay, but was basically a tenant doing his own maintenance, and hoping the market didn't encourage an eviction. Most of my acquaintances who managed to own a house did it by illegally renting over half of it until it was paid off. One did it by not owning a car. Another bought and sold many houses, doing improvements that paid off well, until he made one mistake and died in despair.

You do have to be careful when owning a house jointly with another person.

Yes I've done it 3 times, in 1977, 1982 and 1992. I didn't find it all that difficult. I did have to focus carefully on it, though with such a big decision that's probably justified.

I also didn't have the hassle of being in a chain (i.e. already owning a house, the sale of which has to be synchronized with the purchase of the new house) - for all practical purposes I was essentially a "first-time buyer" every time. I don't know how I'd have coped with the complexity of not being.

I always engaged a solicitor to do the conveyancing, who always handled the paperwork and just gave me fairly clear instructions and advice about the steps to take as they came up.

That was all in the UK. I don't know if other countries make it harder or easier. I know the USA makes a lot of financial things more difficult and complicated than they need to be - healthcare and tax for example.