Buying a home

[KarateKen]

Dear Karate Forums members,

I am in the process of shopping for my first home, a condo, and would appreciate any feedback, especially if you have experience buying a condo or in real estate.  I am finding so far there are a lot of things to factor in.  Price, location, building structures, neighbors, HOA, inspections, and on and on. As I mentioned this is my first time through the home buying process, and I have no background in real estate, so I am learning as I go.  I have probably looked at 12-15 locations so far and keep finding problems with them.  I did make an offer earlier this week, however after inspection I am started to reconsider.  What are some red flags to look for? How do I manage the stress of the process?  I am working with an agent who has over 25 years' experience, this was after meeting with four agents and deciding on who to work with, including one who I fired. 

Thanks for the feedback, I am finding the whole process to be nerve wracking.  I am not enjoying this at all, instead of being excited about finding a home to own I just dread and worry about what can/will go wrong. 

[sensei8]

I’ve never bought a condo/honeycomb; I’ve always been a renter.

Many of my relatives have bought new homes; my dad built 2 house; one for his mom and one for himself.

My understanding about buying a home is that one should NOT buy a home in a HOA community because the HOA can be a nightmare; they can end up taking your home away.

Good luck in your search!! Please keep us updated.

 

[KarateKen]

My understanding of HOAs is that they can make things miserable.  Many are not well managed and the people who run them are often unpaid volunteers who create petty rules and are selective about enforcing them.  The goal behind the HOA is to make sure that people are taking good care of the outside of their homes to make sure they go up in value, but sometimes the board members abuse their authority, and it can be challenging for the homeowners the fight back.