What to expect when buying first home

amother

Oak

Thu, Dec 27 2018, 6:54 pm

Hi,

We are just starting to look for a starter home so we can move out of our apartment rental in lakewood. We are looking into homes in Jackson. Can anyone prepare me for a list of expenses that will come up other than a down payment and obviously paying our monthly mortgage and upkeep on the house? not including renovations once home is purchase...

a mortgage broker told us closing fees are about 10k.
actual moving costs will prob be $1,500.

what else?

amother

Chocolate

Thu, Dec 27 2018, 6:59 pm

Fellow Lakewooder here. My cousin just bought in Jackson and realized afterwards that there were no light fixtures in an rooms and the previous owners relied solely on lamps... I'm sure u know with that needs to be put in but hire a very through inspector.
If your coming from less bedrooms or rooms in general your 1st shopping to target / center of town buying garbage bins/ shower curtains / window shades can really add up ...

amother

Oak

Thu, Dec 27 2018, 7:02 pm

amother wrote:

100% true for both your points. thank you!

we have a small amount of savings for a down payment but would like to leave a small chunk of it for other purchasing expenses and buy a cheaper house if need be. don't want to go above our budget so tyring to take all into account.

amother

Tan

Thu, Dec 27 2018, 7:03 pm

amother wrote:

We closed on a Brooklyn condo a few weeks ago and closing costs (including our lawyer, transfer taxes and such were $33k).

amother

Saddlebrown

Thu, Dec 27 2018, 7:05 pm

amother wrote:

You can buy that stuff slowly or at yard/moving sales. You are better off putting your money into the house because that will increase in value.

amother

Oak

Thu, Dec 27 2018, 7:07 pm

amother wrote:

We closed on a Brooklyn condo a few weeks ago and closing costs (including our lawyer, transfer taxes and such were $33k).

while I don't know much about buying a house, I'm assuming it depends on who you use as a mortgage broker and possibly the price of the home. we are buying a home for only about 300k. I'm sure your brooklyn home costs way more Smile

amother

Chocolate

Thu, Dec 27 2018, 7:08 pm

Wow 33k sounds so expensive! I bought in Lakewood 5 years ago and closing was 10k like the OPs agent told her. We used Miriam Weinstein as our lawyer and we were very happy

amother

Chartreuse

Thu, Dec 27 2018, 7:08 pm

amother wrote:

We closed on a Brooklyn condo a few weeks ago and closing costs (including our lawyer, transfer taxes and such were $33k).

Mazal tov. Just curious, what neighborhood? I know in Midwood some if the condos are outrageously high.

amother

Oak

Thu, Dec 27 2018, 7:08 pm

amother wrote:

You can buy that stuff slowly or at yard/moving sales. You are better off putting your money into the house because that will increase in value.

True. I'm not so worried about the target stuff I'll need to purchase. most of that I have now and things that I will want to replace I'll obviously need to scatter the purchases so its not tons at once. but the lighting fixtures is definitely something to factor in

amother

Oak

Thu, Dec 27 2018, 7:10 pm

OP here.
I'm also curious how it works re appliances. when you buy a home does that include at least some of the appliances from the previous owner or are we going to have to factor in an additional 5k to buy fridge, washer, dryer, oven etc?

thunderstorm

Thu, Dec 27 2018, 7:12 pm

Keep in mind that if the propert taxes will be due in 60-90 days from the date of purchase the mortgage companies require that escrow be collected for that taxes too.
I'm not sure about NJ but in NY there are title fees.

bargainlover

Thu, Dec 27 2018, 7:13 pm

amother wrote:

No hard rule, all depends on the seller.

naarim15

Thu, Dec 27 2018, 7:14 pm

amother wrote:

As far as I know appliances aren't included unless specified . You can bargain with the owners. They dont usually want them

amother

Chocolate

Thu, Dec 27 2018, 7:21 pm

thunderstorm wrote:

I dont remember anything about taxes in NJ being due after purchasing our home, I do however remember the 90 day grace period on our mortgage. We used those 3 months without house payments to buy things we needed for the new home ...

chocolatine

Thu, Dec 27 2018, 7:23 pm

One of our surprise costs was Mezuzahs. We had to buy about 10 extra and my husband likes from a certain sofer that charges $100 per piece..

thunderstorm

Thu, Dec 27 2018, 7:25 pm

amother wrote:

That's because your mortgage bank is probably paying the property taxes for you. They will collect an escrow for that at the closing.

Amarante

Thu, Dec 27 2018, 7:30 pm

Window coverings. If it is an occupied house they are probably there in terms of shades or blinds but decorative treatments might not be to your taste. Often new builds have no window blinds at all.

amother

Chocolate

Thu, Dec 27 2018, 7:30 pm

thunderstorm wrote:

That's because your mortgage bank is probably paying the property taxes for you. They will collect an escrow for that at the closing.

Could be. I dont remember exactly . I bought new construction which may work differently ...

thunderstorm

Thu, Dec 27 2018, 7:35 pm

New sinks and countertops if you are not able to kasher the existing ones.

I didn't have window shades on all my windows , only some.

I had to have an electrician install wiring and lights from the ceiling since the previous owner only had plug in lamps, in the bedrooms, playroom , dining room and living room. All the other rooms did have.
We had a friend who charged us a very small amount in comparison to the real price. But my brother is an electrician and when I asked him to give me a quote he quotes over $5,000 for the job. He works in Brooklyn, where prices are higher usually for these types of jobs.

thunderstorm

Thu, Dec 27 2018, 7:39 pm

amother wrote:

Could be. I dont remember exactly . I bought new construction which may work differently ...

You definitely have propert taxes that need to be paid annually and most often in NJ it's semi annually. If you recently purchased that would make sense that you don't know about it yet. But if you've been living there for a while, you are definitely paying. The mortgage company may be doing it for you , and then it's implemented into your monthly mortgage payment.