Do any of u guys have any experience in 1st time home buyers loans or tips for buying our first home. Any info good or bad would be greatful!

Anything specific? I bought my first house about 2 years ago using a 1st time home buyer loan through the FHA. I believe that's who it was anyways. It was a foreclosed house. I'm in the process of refinancing right now though.

Well we were thinking towards a foreclosed home. Me and the wife have been trying to educate ourselves in this whole process. How was the whole process Jbatey1?

It was all pretty painless for me. My realtor was very familiar with foreclosed homes and the process so that helped out. You may not need a realtor for this, I just happened to use the lady who had the house listed.

The aggravating part is having to place a "bid" on the house and hope that you don't get outbid by someone else. The realtor helped me submit my bid. These are private bids, other bidders don't know your offer on the house. I put a bid on 3 different houses before I got the one I'm in now. I think some foreclosure companys look at other things as well other then the "bid" to decide who they sell the house to. Stuff such as if you plan on living in the house or plan to "flip" it for a quick sale and etc.

From what I remember You pretty well buy the foreclosed house "as is". In some rare cases you may get The seller company to help you out with a minor repair to get the house in a live-able condition and etc.

Once I won the "bid" my realtor started lining everything up for me with my mortgage company and scheduled my date to meet and close on the house. I didn't have to pay any closing costs, I think in most cases the Company selling the house will cover the closing costs up to certain amounts. I'm sure that differs from company to company.

All in All- I bought a foreclosed house, paid nothing out of pocket for around the around 73k range. I had the house appraised last week and it was appraised right at 130k. It was a great option for me 2 years ago when I didn't have a lot of extra cash to put down on a house and closing costs and etc.

If you get any specific questions, I'll answer the best I can. There are some guys on here alot smarter then me too, Maybe they'll chime in.

* I just remembered. The only out of pocket money I had to use was for my "Earnest" money. I think it may have been $500 or less. That's pretty much just a deposit so that the seller knows that you are serious. It seems like that money could either come back to me or be credited to the purchase of the house at closing.

I actually signed the papers on my first home this afternoon. Closing on the 30th of April. It hasn't been to bad of an experience. The best thing I done was find a mortgage company that was really trying to work with you and help you understand the process.

I bought my first back in November. Best general advice I could give:

Have your mortgage situation figured out before you offer. Preapproval helps tremendously.

Have your down payment ready to go. The mortgage company is going to want to see bank statements as proof of the money.

Use a buying agent. The selling agent does not work for you and will not keep YOUR interest at the front of their mind. A buying agent will have your interest as their priority.

Just know that with an FHA loan, you will have to pay PMI for several years even if you pay below 80%. I am in this situation now.

Just an FYI on dealing with a foreclosure...I don't know if it has changed since we bought our house as a foreclosure in 05, but, if a house is foreclosed on, the owners have 1 year from the date of the foreclosure to come up with the money to get the house back. If they do come up with the money (and any penalties, fees, etc), they can get the house back (right of redemption)

We were in the situation where we closed on the house 2 days before the ROR deadline. The RE agent told us not to spend any money on anything for the house other than what was needed to make it able to be lived in as the original owners could get it back. She said that it was a very rare occasion that the owners would get it back, but wanted to make us aware.

Also, be prepared to sink some money into the house...we had to replace all lights, kitchen sink/faucet, drawer/cabinet pulls, knobs and handles, etc. The bank had hired someone to clean the house out when they foreclosed on it and they took everything that they could out of the house. I spent right at $10000 replacing everything that was taken out when the house was foreclosed.

While your advice is technically accurate, even a buying agents incentive is to get the deal done. Neither agent makes any money unless they sell a house. The more you pay, the more they make. I made a mistake of telling my agent what my highest offer would be when we submitted our first offer. Amazingly, the first counter offer came back right at my upper limit. I felt like my agent had betrayed me. He wasn't trying to get me the best deal. He was trying to get me to pay the most I would pay. I was so pissed off that I told him I changed my mind and I wouldn't go that high after all.

Message: even if you use a Buyer's agent, trust your gut instinct and don't tell them everything. They don't always have your best interest at heart.

My wife and I went through some chit when buying our house until we found BBVA Compass. long story and wont get into it. Check with them and see if they are still offering the first time home buyer program. It has very low down payment options (as low as 3.5%) and there is no PMI to be paid. Very easy to work with.

I will add on to that....Be weary of ALL parties involved. They are stand to gain from your transaction. Generally speaking they are all trying to separate you from your money.

Agents like to make you think they are indispensable and they run the show. You hire (and can fire) them and they are paid very well at the closing table. As they are blowing smoke up your ass, remember it is to their advantage to just close the deal.

If there is anyway to use Navy Federal Credit Union I would. They have a great program, 100% financing and no PMI. Saved a ton of cash and very easy to deal with.

Thanks for the info guys. I have spend hours researching info on different options but wanted to hear real results.

Something doesn't sound right with this, I think the agent may have misunderstood the process unless it's much different in Alabama. I can understand there is a right of settlement from the time the foreclosure is filed with the court until such time that the home is actually foreclosed on, but to have a right of redemption for one year after a completed foreclosure kind of defeats the purpose of a foreclosure, and would create an encumbrance on the title for resale. I've bought and sold quite a few properties here in FL and several of them were foreclosures, and I've never heard of a one year right of redemption after the foreclosure was final, but it may be different in Alabama...

I may have described it wrong or understood it wrong. I didn't really pay it attention at the time, as I knew the original owners were in no position to even attempt to try and get the house back (the wife let the house go when her husband went to prison for molesting her daughter. She even told me that she would have burned the house down if she knew she could get away with it)

I think hammerhead was correct with his first description. I know a couple that bought a foreclosure and lived in it for several months before having to give it up when the previous owners claimed their rights of redemption.

I've heard 1 year ROR in Alabama & therefore it's best to not sink any real money in the home til the one year mark.

As to general advice. Do whatever you can to avoid PMI even if that means waiting a year or so to buy a home. Save & sock away money as you wait. Pre-approval is a good thing and don't buy more house than you can afford. Figure 1/4 of your net take home pay for the monthly payment. Be paying off any and all debt now, well before buying a home.

http://www.sasserlawfirm.com/2013/12/the-right-of-redemption-in-alabama/

biglmbass correct on ROR period.

I've bought a few HUD/Foreclosure homes and yes, there is a 1 year limit that the previous owners can come back and claim the home.

The foreclosed owners have a 1 year ROR in Alabama. That is correct. However, if they do not vacate the property prior to the foreclosure sale, they forfeit that right.