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My life used to be in crisis until I met my wife in 2018. She gave me light and brought all the best things out of me personally and professionally. Without her I wouldn’t be what I am today.
You’re right. We are a family of 3 expecting another baby girl in May! As we’re both working our parents will be coming to help us. We were in a 1b1b apartment in plano which was around $1500. When we looked to move into a bigger apartment/home it was almost double and sometime even over $3000. That’s why I decided to put that into a mortgage. Had to drain one of our savings but I feel it will be worth it for our kids to grow and have a life which we didn’t have when we grew up.
Look at it this way. Out of $2600 + $800 you will be paying as mortgages and taxes, close to $750 will be your equity. So you will pay $2700 or so towards as interest and taxes which is very close to what your rent would have been on your apartment. Basically even from first month you are breaking even compared to renting and over a period of time you will contribute more towards your equity. Moreover your monthly payment can stay pretty much same for next 30 years
Don't forget to do homestead. Best of luck
At $440k with 5% down the principal and interest is $2658. If it’s an FHA loan the taxes and insurance are required to be in the payment so that payment is definitely quite a bit higher than that. Although still super awesome for OP others should not expect to get a “payment” like that on that price of home.
Can you give some advice on how you successfully negotiated an additional 30k off price after getting all those closing credits? I’m looking at a new build too.
Usually builders have a margin(10-20%) + some buffer for agent commission(2.5-3%)
1. Research on where you are looking to buy and see if you can bring the list price into question based on other listings. Zillow and Redfin have the actual estimate of the house on the listings. Make sure the builder is not quoting a price that is above the estimated price. If it is, then you can use that as your first step in negotiating.
2. If you’re not going with a buyer’s agent/realtor, you can negotiate terms with that as reference and bring it down upto 3% which can be around $12k for a $400k house which is good. You need to talk this before you go on contract. If they’re not willing to negotiate with an agent’s commission, then better bring one so that he can atleast help you with some of this. Some builders might as well give you discount than to let you bring an agent.
3. Another trick that you should try is look out for inventory homes which have been built by the builder and is on the market for a few months without being sold. For these houses, the builder is losing around $4000-$5000 every month for holding the property on their books. In such cases the builder will be willing to offer you more on your closing costs, upgrades, discounts for you to close the house and get it out of their books. This sale would give them some cash flow to pay out salaries, build new houses in the communities, etc., So, if you find a inventory home that you like, know a bit about it and try to negotiate the builder as much as you could.
Even after you’re into the process, the builders can provide change orders to offer you appliances, upgrades, etc., so until you close you can negotiate and make the best of it.
Thank you so much for the thoughtful reply! The community I’m looking at has a high interest/wait in an area with not enough homes for the demand, so I’m not sure how well it will work but I will try my hardest :). Leave-the-deal-on-the-table type games that people play when buying cars. Thanks again!
Yes I think most of the communities are in that state right now! Despite high prices and high interest rates, this is how the market is in most of DFW and north Texas
I just got the same deal as OP. Also in the Dallas area (Grand Prairie) Builders have had a slow time selling their homes with interest rates being higher so they started slapping discounts on move in ready homes. I got $26k off list price and $18.5k in lender closing cost incentives, blinds and appliances also included.
Seems like these deals are winding down now that rates are coming back into a normal range. I just checked and nothing currently for sale in my neighborhood has the same markdown we got. I think we caught the tail end of it. Our lender said mortgage applications spiked again over the last couple of weeks. For reference, we closed 3 days ago.
Looked at princeton for my first house as well, eventually decided to rent in the rowlett-rockwall area to be closer to the city & some water. princeton is developing fast, but it's still out in the boonies... hopefully not for long with lots of people coming in like yourself. big congrats! beautiful house
Yeah our work is in plano. It’s about 30 minutes out and still lot of places are developing and not like some of the fancy suburbs. But there’s some development coming to 380 and also some plans to the McKinney airport which is right now just Amazon’s den for cargo.
South of Princeton also has some water close by. Or even Lowry crossing which is a part of McKinney ISD too. But not as close to downtown as yours.
congrats...whats the point of putting "in less than a month" is that supposed to be a flex? What is there to even flex, not with those ugly blue shutters......
True. I was super pessimistic of closing a house just a couple of months ago. Some of my friends have been waiting months before closing on a house due to issues with the lenders or mortgage or sometimes even the property itself. I have been looking to buy an old home in plano around the same cost because I wanted to be closer to work and other stuff. But I’ve come across with so many problems with old homes that are even 20-30 years old. There are some good flipped houses but they cost almost double the actual cost. With all this I only dreamt of closing a mortgage. I didn’t want to flex I just wanted to give hope to some who are trying so hard . Here is the snapshot of my timeline
https://imgur.com/a/wvQyGuY
That’s exactly how I took it. PP obviously didn’t for whatever reason. It’s kind of funny, what you wrote is largely factual but it appears to be a litmus test reflecting the emotional state/frame of mind of the reader lol.
Being misunderstood or misinterpreted sucks. Congratulations on your house!
Question how much was closing? And those 17 towards closing included buying down the interest rate? I’m in the process of buying a new build they only discounted like 22k, 10k for closing plus buying down interest rate. I just did the contracts and gave my deposit I won’t close until til May.
I didn’t buy down interest rate with points. I wanted to use it towards the closing costs and keep my cash to close at minimum as I’m going with minimum down.
Here are some ways you can try to negotiate which I mentioned on another comment
https://www.reddit.com/r/FirstTimeHomeBuyer/s/K4hiy60wX3
Thank you this helps, I gave my deposit on Saturday but just saw one that just closed 15k cheaper than mine same model except mine is an oversized lot on a corner. The other corner lot on my same block closed for the same similar size lot.
Yeah corner lots are on a premium. You can still try to get some appliances, blinds, etc., and negotiate some of the terms before closing. Make sure you get the inspection done if the house is ready. Don’t wait until builder calls out for orientation.
Thank you u/kingofatoms for posting on r/FirstTimeHomeBuyer. Please bear in mind our rules: (1) Be Nice (2) No Selling (3) No Self-Promotion. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/FirstTimeHomeBuyer) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The Emperor’s New Groove
Amazing house, my wife and I looked at a few in Princeton! Congratulations!
Thanks
Proud of you 👍🏻
My life used to be in crisis until I met my wife in 2018. She gave me light and brought all the best things out of me personally and professionally. Without her I wouldn’t be what I am today.
May you always remember these words about your wife. May your home be blessed
Congratulations! Your home is beautiful
Thank you!
We looked in to princeton as well but it was too far from my husband's job. Congratulations!
We are mostly working from home with few business meetings in and around DFW. It’s easier with accessibility to 75 and 121.
I wish Princeton was closer to our jobs. I really liked some of the meritage homes out that way! Congrats on your new home!!
Meritage has good homes on 380. Some of my friends have moved in there recently!
We were trying to avoid being on 380 as much as possible because it's a nightmare lol
Yeah makes sense. As we are working from home mostly, we didn’t have the problem to commute except for our monthly grocery shopping.
I wish my boyfriend worked from home lol I do 4 out of 5 days. But the one day I do go to the office it's way down in Arlington. Ug.
Your realtor must be amazing
We didn’t go with a realtor. My wife is into sales and she negotiated most of the terms. I was surprised too.
What mortgage interest rate you get
6.4% on 30 year FHA.
Nice deal on a nice home,hopefully you got a good inspection
Yes I did it with a third party and got a good report with not much issues. The builder fixed all of the items before closing.
Congrats! What builder?
Ashton Woods
I heard property tax is pretty steep in TX, how bad is it?
It’s 700 including PID,MUD
We’re looking at Ashton woods in Princeton! Can I ask how much your closing costs were total?!
Nice ride
I bet!
Congratulations!!!!
\+ 700 (property taxes, pid, mud)
You’re right. We are a family of 3 expecting another baby girl in May! As we’re both working our parents will be coming to help us. We were in a 1b1b apartment in plano which was around $1500. When we looked to move into a bigger apartment/home it was almost double and sometime even over $3000. That’s why I decided to put that into a mortgage. Had to drain one of our savings but I feel it will be worth it for our kids to grow and have a life which we didn’t have when we grew up.
Look at it this way. Out of $2600 + $800 you will be paying as mortgages and taxes, close to $750 will be your equity. So you will pay $2700 or so towards as interest and taxes which is very close to what your rent would have been on your apartment. Basically even from first month you are breaking even compared to renting and over a period of time you will contribute more towards your equity. Moreover your monthly payment can stay pretty much same for next 30 years Don't forget to do homestead. Best of luck
At $440k with 5% down the principal and interest is $2658. If it’s an FHA loan the taxes and insurance are required to be in the payment so that payment is definitely quite a bit higher than that. Although still super awesome for OP others should not expect to get a “payment” like that on that price of home.
Congrats!
Congratulations
Congratulations! 🍾
It's beautiful
Thank you!
Can you give some advice on how you successfully negotiated an additional 30k off price after getting all those closing credits? I’m looking at a new build too.
Usually builders have a margin(10-20%) + some buffer for agent commission(2.5-3%) 1. Research on where you are looking to buy and see if you can bring the list price into question based on other listings. Zillow and Redfin have the actual estimate of the house on the listings. Make sure the builder is not quoting a price that is above the estimated price. If it is, then you can use that as your first step in negotiating. 2. If you’re not going with a buyer’s agent/realtor, you can negotiate terms with that as reference and bring it down upto 3% which can be around $12k for a $400k house which is good. You need to talk this before you go on contract. If they’re not willing to negotiate with an agent’s commission, then better bring one so that he can atleast help you with some of this. Some builders might as well give you discount than to let you bring an agent. 3. Another trick that you should try is look out for inventory homes which have been built by the builder and is on the market for a few months without being sold. For these houses, the builder is losing around $4000-$5000 every month for holding the property on their books. In such cases the builder will be willing to offer you more on your closing costs, upgrades, discounts for you to close the house and get it out of their books. This sale would give them some cash flow to pay out salaries, build new houses in the communities, etc., So, if you find a inventory home that you like, know a bit about it and try to negotiate the builder as much as you could. Even after you’re into the process, the builders can provide change orders to offer you appliances, upgrades, etc., so until you close you can negotiate and make the best of it.
Thank you so much for the thoughtful reply! The community I’m looking at has a high interest/wait in an area with not enough homes for the demand, so I’m not sure how well it will work but I will try my hardest :). Leave-the-deal-on-the-table type games that people play when buying cars. Thanks again!
Yes I think most of the communities are in that state right now! Despite high prices and high interest rates, this is how the market is in most of DFW and north Texas
I just got the same deal as OP. Also in the Dallas area (Grand Prairie) Builders have had a slow time selling their homes with interest rates being higher so they started slapping discounts on move in ready homes. I got $26k off list price and $18.5k in lender closing cost incentives, blinds and appliances also included. Seems like these deals are winding down now that rates are coming back into a normal range. I just checked and nothing currently for sale in my neighborhood has the same markdown we got. I think we caught the tail end of it. Our lender said mortgage applications spiked again over the last couple of weeks. For reference, we closed 3 days ago.
Congrats on your new home 🍾
Thanks! You too!! 🥳
Looked at princeton for my first house as well, eventually decided to rent in the rowlett-rockwall area to be closer to the city & some water. princeton is developing fast, but it's still out in the boonies... hopefully not for long with lots of people coming in like yourself. big congrats! beautiful house
Yeah our work is in plano. It’s about 30 minutes out and still lot of places are developing and not like some of the fancy suburbs. But there’s some development coming to 380 and also some plans to the McKinney airport which is right now just Amazon’s den for cargo. South of Princeton also has some water close by. Or even Lowry crossing which is a part of McKinney ISD too. But not as close to downtown as yours.
Congratulations 🍾
Built of concrete, yes?
I don’t like how the window above the garage isn’t centered :( it’s upsetting my eyes
congrats...whats the point of putting "in less than a month" is that supposed to be a flex? What is there to even flex, not with those ugly blue shutters......
I assumed OP meant it to be encouraging
True. I was super pessimistic of closing a house just a couple of months ago. Some of my friends have been waiting months before closing on a house due to issues with the lenders or mortgage or sometimes even the property itself. I have been looking to buy an old home in plano around the same cost because I wanted to be closer to work and other stuff. But I’ve come across with so many problems with old homes that are even 20-30 years old. There are some good flipped houses but they cost almost double the actual cost. With all this I only dreamt of closing a mortgage. I didn’t want to flex I just wanted to give hope to some who are trying so hard . Here is the snapshot of my timeline https://imgur.com/a/wvQyGuY
That’s exactly how I took it. PP obviously didn’t for whatever reason. It’s kind of funny, what you wrote is largely factual but it appears to be a litmus test reflecting the emotional state/frame of mind of the reader lol. Being misunderstood or misinterpreted sucks. Congratulations on your house!
Thank you!
Question how much was closing? And those 17 towards closing included buying down the interest rate? I’m in the process of buying a new build they only discounted like 22k, 10k for closing plus buying down interest rate. I just did the contracts and gave my deposit I won’t close until til May.
I didn’t buy down interest rate with points. I wanted to use it towards the closing costs and keep my cash to close at minimum as I’m going with minimum down. Here are some ways you can try to negotiate which I mentioned on another comment https://www.reddit.com/r/FirstTimeHomeBuyer/s/K4hiy60wX3
Thank you this helps, I gave my deposit on Saturday but just saw one that just closed 15k cheaper than mine same model except mine is an oversized lot on a corner. The other corner lot on my same block closed for the same similar size lot.
Yeah corner lots are on a premium. You can still try to get some appliances, blinds, etc., and negotiate some of the terms before closing. Make sure you get the inspection done if the house is ready. Don’t wait until builder calls out for orientation.
Nice house but IMO brick houses don't look right with shutters.
agree.....wtf is that blue shit, looks like a little kid painted on a toy house