Start prioritizing what you want to do first. Your house will look like a mess with all the boxes around, but take it on only one thing at a time. I began painting my room so that I can sleep in there without the paint smell when I moved in. That was a task all in its own. I ended up saying damn a million times, because I didn’t have the right tools and it was off to Home Depot again and again and again. Just like any purchases, you can save money by looking online for tools or even borrowing them from friends or co-workers. I mean, how many times will you need a wet saw or even a mitre saw? Good tools will go a long way though.

I will be posting more about what projects I am working on in the house and how to do them for the homeowner noob.

We’ll see how it goes on Tuesday.

Luckily, we made a contract to fix some issues with the house prior to the second home inspection. We did it as an FYI purpose only. The seller agreed to fix the items and then we will make our final walk through at the settlement table. My great home inspector put together this great inspection to help me fix some small maintanence items without having to hassle the buyer. I wanted some of the bigger things taken care of.

All of the paperwork has been filed and trust me there was a lot. I had to go full documentation, due to my school loans and car payment. The lender just wanted to cover their butts in case I default. I had to provide everything from bank statements, 401K’s, Roth IRA’s, and W-2’s. I have begun the packing process and will be closing in the next week or two. Prior to moving in, turn on all the lights, crank the heat, run the faucets and give the house a proverbial kick in the tires. We want to make sure that nothing has broken since the month we signed on the contract. We better do this as a just-in-case.

Next, you will want to forward your mail at the Post Office, cancel any utilities at your current place, transfer any internet, phone, or cable service to the new address. These can be done pretty quickly. Since I have a month to move in, any painting can be done now. There are probably a million other things I forgot about, but it’s okay, i’ll jot them down later.

Then I proceeded to FORM 1040X to make changes to my AGI. This lowered my income by about 1500 dollars! It made about a $325 difference in my refund this year! That is no chump change f you ask me. The unfortunate thing about amending your taxes is that it cannot be e-filed. You will have to print out the form and mail it in. Once you make your corrections on the form, you will have to provide an explanation of why the numbers changed. Attach a copy of the form that you applied to your taxes and make copies of everything. You will need a copy of the form for your amended state taxes as well!

Once you finish your federal return go to your state’s tax site and download your state’s form. I think they all end in X if you amend your taxes. The form works the same way. But with your state form, you will have to include a copy of the federal amended tax form. This will be used as a reference. Sign and date the forms and you are ready to roll. You can amend your taxes up to three years of the original return. So if you don’t catch something this year, you still have time.

Maryland will calculate a percentage based on when the ground rent for the property was first established. After doing some spelunking on the the web, I found that my ground is redeemable for $75 divided by .04. How did Maryland come up with this number? No idea. In the area, this is not a deterrent for people to buy in the city. It is assumed that ground rent will be paid. However, if the owner of the ground does not collect, for, let’s say, 5 years, only 3 years of the ground rent is payable if they don’t pay attention. As of late, they are suing the people to get the money.

I’m thinking this is ridiculous. Why should I pay someone for land that my house is sitting on? Craziness. I will do some calculations and think whether or not it is worth paying off the ground rent. The owner HAS to sell it to me. He is obligated by the state of MD to sell it to me. But is it worth it? Anyone else have to deal with this?

I recently signed an addendum to the contract to fix the items in the house that should have been finished before declaring the house was finished. Some items included a leaky faucet, kitchen exhaust fan, front door locks, and the basement windows and carpeting. The addendum basically said that all these items will be fixed. The seller has agreed to fix these items and then we are well on our way.

Prior to closing, you shouldn’t take out any loans (i.e. credit card applications, car insurance quotes) or create any hard hits on the credit report. This will bring your score down. But if you have a good agent and loan officer, they typically lock in a rate that is pretty much what it will be at closing. So just wait until after closing before doing any of that nonsense. I still have to get the gift letter from my parents and now it’s finally time to go shopping at Home Depot and x10.com for a home security system. I will be doing th installs myself and we’ll see how that goes. Wish me luck.

Some minor things you will need to know is what the house is constructed of, whether it be brick, plaster, horsehair, or hay, the insurance comapny has to know. The first place I called was Geico because I have car insurance with them. They claimed that the discounts were built into the quote. I found otherwise. The interesting thing was that it was probably the second highest quote that i received. Another company I received a quote from compared apples to apples and it was cheaper by $200! Since, Traveler’s Insurance is only a large underwriting company for Geico, the discounts aren’t really that substantial. The car insurance rates did not go down either. So do your homework and call a few places.

Next, you will need to know the following:

Distance to the nearest fire dept. and nearest fire hydrant

What year your house was built

The square footage not including the basement

What type of roof do you have?

porches and/or decks

knowing the age of your renovations is good too

any security alarms or fire alarms and is it a passive or active system? Meaning does it call the fire department or police department in the case of an emergency.

These few things should be known to receive an accurate insurance quote. A through home inspection will typically get you information of this nature pretty easily. Once you have selected your insurance company, they will need your lender’s contact information and the costs will be settled at closing. I really thought it was going to be tougher, but thank god for the internet. I will let you know more about the insurance once I get the ball rolling.

I know I missed some things, please let me know!

You also may be subject to taxes on the traditional IRA withdrawal itself. The rules for taking a distribution from a ROTH IRA to finance a first-time home purchase are different than those for a traditional IRA. Remember, a first-time home buyer is anyone that hasn’t owned a home in two years. That is why there is a $10,000 lifetime limit on withdrawals. To withdraw from a Roth IRA, it is considered a qualified distribution after the account has been open for five tax-years. That is not the same as 5 calendar years.

All in all, you do not typically want to do this because the compounding of interest is just too great. Don’t take my word too seriously, but do what you have to, only you know what you really need.

It seems that the sellers still want to go a few more months at this listing price. They haven’t started to panic yet. We found out that they found another house and will be closing on it at the end of the month. Maybe carrying two mortgages will finally scare them into selling their house for real.

Let’s see what happens.

Get an appraiser! The $300 to $500 fee is so worth it. You really want to find out what the house appraises for. There are some that will just do a quick drive-by and some that will go inside look at the inside and look at it in detail. Just make sure that you do your research.

Get a pre-approval letter. Make sure you get your paperwork ready. It will definitely save some heartache near the end. Know how much you are approved for and how much you think you can afford. Typically, you don’t want to spend more than 33% to 40% of your paycheck. 40% is pushing it, but if you think you can do it, who am I to tell you, you can’t?

Do you have the earnest money? The earnest money is to ensure that you don’t back out of the contract. This money isn’t thrown away, but it can go towards your closing costs or whatever you may choose. Just have about 2% to 5% ready in cash or check to let the sellers know you are serious.

Get excited! This could be your next home! One of the biggest purchases in your life. Have some fun with this and learn from the experience. Don’t forget to do more research on what benefits you get from being a first-time buyer. There are all kinds of provisions in place to help the first-time buyer to get into their new home.

Anything else????

I have finally found a trustworthy real estate agent that has provided me with all the credit information that I may need in the event of a bid. She also told me my credit rating and how much I can afford and get approved for. The interesting thing in my situation is that a buddy of mine is going to co-sign on the mortgage and split everything 50/50. Not only do you need to come up with a contract between the two of us, we will be able to to get a better loan with two incomes. Some numbers to come later.

Bring a digital camera to the house. Take pictures of items that you really like and dislike about the house. The photos on the net are fine and dandy, but details are better. Also be absolutely sure what you are looking for.

Find a trustworthy housing inspector. Housing inspectors are typically referred to you by real estate agents. Don’t be fooled into picking one of their own or even the seller’s housing inspector. Be picky. After all, you do need to know what is wrong with the house (if any).

Get your paperwork in order. If your parents or grandparents are helping you with money, be sure they write you a gift letter or else there will be major tax implications. http://www.pmoa.net/2007/01/06/condos-first-visit/ Today was the day to actually visit the condo. It was nice compared to some of the homes I have seen in the city, two summers ago. There were many things I learned from a fantastic realtor. Here are some of the things I learned in a few conversations with the people selling the condo and the realtor.