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thinking of starting to look for a house (possibly to buy by end of 2011)
invite response
2011 Apr 27, 9:37am 12,013 views 50 comments
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is there one man on this site that actually 100percent owns there own home? anyone here holding the note for your own home?
I own mine free and clear. It never had a mortgage because in Tokyo, where I live, it's virtually impossible for immigrants to get home loans thanks to the fact that home loans are "recourse" and thus the borrower could abandon a high-LTV property whose price has collapsed by moving abroad.
I paid $140k, about three years' salary, for it during my eleventh year as a working adult. Best decision I ever made -- saves me a ton of money; I can rent it out for income in the future; neighbors are much more solicitous of a fellow owner than a transient renter. Wouldn't have it any other way.
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I live in South Bay of San Francisco Bay Area. Managed to stay away from the bubble so far. Now, thinking of seriously start looking, with an idea of buying toward the end of 2011 or start of 2012.
I want to ask what kind of 'home work' I have to do when starting to look at homes seriously
1) I have been reading this site for a while, so I have a fairly good idea of what is going on
2) have a decent downpayment saved up.. ding...ding
3) I mostly use REDFIN for searching. Is there any other websites I can use?
4) how about membership sites like PropertyShark ..etc? Are they worth the subscription?
5) any special advice on REOs / short-sales / fore-closures ..etc?
Basically asking the community on things I should work-on to get ready
thanks very much for your suggestions