Blogging the Home Buying Process?

to make it more useful for others, you'd have to disclose some information that you may not be confortable with disclosing, like your income, your savings, etc.

And of course there really isn't a way to capture that screeching sound you might make when your closing costs double. :-) That's of course AFTER you've made an offer and are a few days from closing.

http://www.gyford.com/phil/writing/2002/03/07/a_flatbuying_dia.php

John from Inluminent had a great post about financing, primarily. I bookmarked, and send it to whomever is new to buying. Having done it a few times already, his list is a good one.

http://www.inluminent.com/weblog/archives/2003/01/29/buying_a_home_a_little_help.php#000490

Heck Yeah ! Also you'll get a lot of good feedback from people who've done it before (I've bought two homes myself and inspected 3 others for my folks who bought them).

More on my blog.

Of course it would be very informative to read!

I made a half-ass attempt at it when buying my current house. Got some good feedback as well.

Just remember that all realtors are evil. I'm sorry if you have family or loved ones that are realtors, but they are evil, even the ones that you think are nice. See, my first "real" job in the computer industry was doing tech support. For realtors. On a new system. For 4 years. It made me the shattered shell of a man that I am today. In fact, seeing realtor signs makes me spit and froth at the mouth. No seriously.

Just go into it knowing that the realtor with the flash watch and big smile who tells you how much he's working for you is really doing this because he couldn't get a better job and is concerned with nothing more than getting as much commission as possible (because he is living sale to sale, due to the aformentioned lack of a real job), and is basically a bastard.

But I'm not still bitter about anything.

pics would be nice. Focus on the parts that you like or hate. Not the full frontal that most real estate is shown as...

Arcterex, well, not all realtors are evil. I've been working in a real estate office for about 2.5 years now (working on a web application to assist their business) and I have to say, the people I work with are nice folks. When it boils down to business though, they can be cold-blooded killers, but that's what their industry provokes; that's what it takes to succeed.

Realtors DO do a LOT of work for their clients. The main point of their job is to remove as much stress as possible from the buying / selling experience for their clients. They are the ones who take on that stress, whether they can handle it or not. Some simply can't handle it I guess, and that probably deforms their attitude and personality.

When I bought my house 2 years ago, the realtor I had wasn't very helpful. Kept suggesting homes that were too small or in areas we didn't want to be. Most of the homes we ended up liking were the one my wife and I found searching ads and the Internet. But once you sign an agreement to work with a realtor, you are screwed into keeping them involved, even if they didn't do any work to get the house you end up getting. Even after the agreement exires, some have stipulations that if you buy a home they showed or suggested to you during the agreement, you still have to pay them.

Oh yeah, they like to tell you they get paid by the seller. Tha crap is only on paper. The money comes from the buyer through the seller inflated price of the home to begin with.

My very first home purchase was a little less stressful than my last one, but I think it depends on the market where you are. I think where you are will be very competitive and the realtors very aggressive.

Hmm a House is an very expensive thing. And you have to settle down on a fix place.

Silicon Valley? Sure...it'll be like lifestyles of the rich and famous! How about doing Beverly Hills and Bel Aire next?

I think blogging the home-buying process would be a great idea, and I'd be interested in following your updates. I'm sure I'll be a little envious of yet another person owning a home, but I still have no reason to buy one for myself yet...

Redfin.com shows you the process step by step. If you use it as your buying agent, it refunds you 2/3 of the buyer commission, that's 2% of the total price! I think it is going to fundamentally change the real estate industry, just like Travelocity, esurance, etrade did for their perspective industry. This startup is funded by Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft.

Jeremy, I enjoyed reading your posts! We recently purchased our first home and I had no idea what I was in for when we started the process. I did however find a new site that was helpful to us: www.myhomelink.com. We were able to search for homes and use their resources without having to fill out any forms or surrendering any personal information. There are not only properties listed by realtors but FSBO's as well. They are a new service so I don't know what their presence is like in Silicon Valley but it's worth taking a look. About blogging your process, I think it would be very helpful and others could use it as a guide and an area of reference/comparison ini their own process. I wish we had something like that to reference when we were going through the process. Great idea!

Hey Jeremy,

I've created a few outlines of the home buying process you might enjoy. I typically use my blog to announce new resources as they're published, and then I link to the actual site for the "meat" of it.

Here are a few recent ones I'm proud of:

http://www.homebuyinginstitute.com/homebuyingprocess_article11.php
http://www.homebuyinginstitute.com/homebuyingprocess_article13.php
http://www.homebuyinginstitute.com/homebuyingprocess_article12.php

Hope you and your readers find them helpful!

Brandon Cornett
Publisher, Home Buying Institute

A little-discussed but very important part of buying a home is the septic system inspection. Nearly 30% of homes have a septic system. The typical cursory septic system inspection does not give you the true picture of your septic system's condition. If you end up buying a house with a failing septic system or one that is not up to code, it could cost you $5,000 to $20,000 in replacement costs.

The blog would be helpful to a lot of people, giving them a step by step process of how things work.

I found this really useful website about home buying and it gave me the basics things to consider, before committing to something that is long-term. Plus, it's easy to read and understand. Check it out!

www.homebuyingtips101.blogspot.com

If you are thinking about buying a home in today’s market, it’s never been more important to make sure that your credit rating is going to be sufficient. Banks are closing their doors to many that are deemed to risky, and if you want to get an approval for your loan, you will need to have a credit score that will put a bank at ease. Let’s take a look at the steps you need to take before you apply for your home. We recommend starting these steps around six months before you apply for your home loan.

1. Pull your credit report.
2. Correct any errors.
3. Pay down your credit card balances.
4. Settle any outstanding issues.

I have just started the home buying process for the first time and am documenting it on my blog. I think it is a good idea for those who are interested in getting in on the real estate market when prices for homes are so low. That is why we are.

Hi Jeremy..Are you still willing to buy a new house today? It seems that rental property is much better to go for. It is far simpler than buying a new one. Except, you only want to live in and without any future investment intention to sell it back later. From Toronto Home Staging Works

I think blogging the home buying process is a great idea..It will also help those who are planning to buy a home..

Awesome! Thank you for this wonderful information. I've learned a lot so far. Keep up the good work and more power!

Thanks,
Joe