Buying house problem/ques

SO me and fh (well especially me) want to buy a house. Although we are very confused where. I think we have narrowed it down to Long Island, South Jersey (maybe around Howell/Belmar area) or North Carolina. My question is how many of you who are getting married this year are in the market to buy a house, are in the process of buying a house or have recently bought a house? How did you handle doing both buying a house and wedding? Can you post pics of new houses.

Also how many of you are going to stay in the area after you are married? DO you find New York/Long Island really hard to afford for a young couple?
Any help would be great..

Thanks......

We bought a house way before we got engaged.
but we are in the process of a major reconstruction on the, i can say it is soooooo stressful, and i truely wish my wedding was in 09 instead of 08.
I feel like i wouldnt have this rushed feeling.

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Posted by TheFutureMrsM

We bought a house way before we got engaged.
but we are in the process of a major reconstruction on the, i can say it is soooooo stressful, and i truely wish my wedding was in 09 instead of 08.
I feel like i wouldnt have this rushed feeling.

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Wow I looked at your house that is some reconstruction. It looks absolutely beautiful. I was thinking of maybe buying a small house and then remodeling. Does it come out cheaper that way?

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Posted by Mici n KC

We are in the process of buying a house. We have most of our wedding paid off already so that's a huge help. We are purchasing in Nassau (I need the LIRR and FH needs to be at his job at 6:30am). I do think that home buying in LI is particularly hard for young couples. But I also know the Belmar/Howell area very well and the prices are relatively the same. Also that area of New Jersey has very high taxes. If you think it's cheaper, you might as well stay in NY. However, if you go out more towards Howell and further west there are brand new homes in communities/developments which you can't really find anywhere in Nassau.

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The whole thing is so confusing. I was looking at www.homes.com in the Howell area and the houses there are for the most part brand new and beautiful. If we where to move to long island I thin kwe would have to move to suffolk becuase I want a house that has a nice size backyard and some good square footage. What part of Nassau are you buying in?

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Posted by TJ22908

We are actually in the process of selling our coop and buying my parents house, we are supposed to close within the next week and we are getting married in 16 days, so handling it has been very very hard. I've had a few breakdowns from the stress but I keep telling myself that everything will be done and we can start our life as husband and wife! I don't see us leaving long island for a long time, luckily we bought a coop before the market went up about 4 years ago so we are making a good profit. It is really hard on Long Island but now is the time to buy if you really want to cause the market is soft. My parents are actually moving to North Carolina and they love it so that option is always good but it is a big change from NY in most places. Good luck and just think things out cause a house is a big decision!

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We are considering North Carolina becasue it is beautiful first off. But besides that fh borther, sister in law and nieces live there. Also his parents are in the process of buying there too. I sometimes feel that the quality of life is so much better there. You can get more for your money. However I also am not sure if I want to leave everyone here.....

I bought my house 5 years ago but put a second floor addition on last year which is just like buying a new home with the amount of my home equity loan. Anyway, buying a house is very exciting and scary at the same time. Buy what you can afford and then fix it up as your financial situation improves. Here are pics of my house before and after the construction. Taxes in Nassau county are very expense. Make sure you list everything when determining what you can afford (oil, electric, taxes, water, cable, telephone, taxes etc.) Good luck

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Posted by 2007 Crescent Bride

I bought my house 5 years ago but put a second floor addition on last year which is just like buying a new home with the amount of my home equity loan. Anyway, buying a house is very exciting and scary at the same time. Buy what you can afford and then fix it up as your financial situation improves. Here are pics of my house before and after the construction. Taxes in Nassau county are very expense. Make sure you list everything when determining what you can afford (oil, electric, taxes, water, cable, telephone, taxes etc.) Good luck

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Sorry, I can never get damn pics to post. Anyone I put some in my album so you can see that you can make your home into your dream house over time.

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Posted by Hawks Nest

Your renovations look great. Does doing that kind of work cost a lot?

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Yes. It almost cost as much as the house did. I could have paid for a few weddings. I also updated the bathrooms on the first floor and did some cosmetic work as well. You do what you can do over time. My house was gross when I bought it but I saw the potential. Great neighborhood & great schools. It had red shag rug throughout the whole house. I did a little at a time. I painted the outside the first year and put up a fence because I always had dreams of owning a house with a white picket fence. Always buy what you can afford in the best neighborhood. You can't go wrong and you will get back your money for renovations when you sell the house. Feel free to FM me if you want to chat. The important thing is to first sit down and put together a serious budget!!

We just brought a house about 4 weeks ago and we are getting married in another 3 weeks...so we are doing everything very close together. We didnt buy in NY though and I know the NY market is very expensive....though our house cost just as much as some LI homes. I think its a great time to buy. Its a buyers market. Our house was a foreclousre and the previously owners built it from the ground up in 2006 only to foreclose in 6 months! The market is terrible and you can find some great forecloures(sad to say). And despite what people say about financing right now we had no problem getting our mortgage...we used Coldwell banker mortgage. And we dont have perfect credit, not bad credit, but its not in the 700s. Right now everyone is saying you need perfect credit b/c the mortgage companies wont approve you. But we have credit in the 600s, and we got 5.78% , fixed 30 years. We only put down 5%. Im going on and on just to prove that there is hope out there for young people and you still can get mortgages out there. If you can swing the wedding cost and the downpayment. Save, save, save!!!!

We didnt stay on LI not because we didnt want to but b/c of FHs job. Even if he didnt work down south I still wouldnt stay here. You dont get anything for the money. I paid the same amount that most people pay for a LI home only its way bigger and its new. (6 beds, 3 car garage, fam room, game room, ect, 2006 built).

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Posted by tiff940

We just brought a house about 4 weeks ago and we are getting married in another 3 weeks...so we are doing everything very close together. We didnt buy in NY though and I know the NY market is very expensive....though our house cost just as much as some LI homes. I think its a great time to buy. Its a buyers market. Our house was a foreclousre and the previously owners built it from the ground up in 2006 only to foreclose in 6 months! The market is terrible and you can find some great forecloures(sad to say). And despite what people say about financing right now we had no problem getting our mortgage...we used Coldwell banker mortgage. And we dont have perfect credit, not bad credit, but its not in the 700s. Right now everyone is saying you need perfect credit b/c the mortgage companies wont approve you. But we have credit in the 600s, and we got 5.78% , fixed 30 years. We only put down 5%. Im going on and on just to prove that there is hope out there for young people and you still can get mortgages out there. If you can swing the wedding cost and the downpayment. Save, save, save!!!!

We didnt stay on LI not because we didnt want to but b/c of FHs job. Even if he didnt work down south I still wouldnt stay here. You dont get anything for the money. I paid the same amount that most people pay for a LI home only its way bigger and its new. (6 beds, 3 car garage, fam room, game room, ect, 2006 built).

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Congrats!!! Very exciting times for you. I wish you many years of happiness in your new home.

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Posted by tiff940

We just brought a house about 4 weeks ago and we are getting married in another 3 weeks...so we are doing everything very close together. We didnt buy in NY though and I know the NY market is very expensive....though our house cost just as much as some LI homes. I think its a great time to buy. Its a buyers market. Our house was a foreclousre and the previously owners built it from the ground up in 2006 only to foreclose in 6 months! The market is terrible and you can find some great forecloures(sad to say). And despite what people say about financing right now we had no problem getting our mortgage...we used Coldwell banker mortgage. And we dont have perfect credit, not bad credit, but its not in the 700s. Right now everyone is saying you need perfect credit b/c the mortgage companies wont approve you. But we have credit in the 600s, and we got 5.78% , fixed 30 years. We only put down 5%. Im going on and on just to prove that there is hope out there for young people and you still can get mortgages out there. If you can swing the wedding cost and the downpayment. Save, save, save!!!!

We didnt stay on LI not because we didnt want to but b/c of FHs job. Even if he didnt work down south I still wouldnt stay here. You dont get anything for the money. I paid the same amount that most people pay for a LI home only its way bigger and its new. (6 beds, 3 car garage, fam room, game room, ect, 2006 built).

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Congrats on your new home. One of the main reasons we are considering moving to North Carolina is because you can get so much more for your money. I have been down there numerous times and the houses are all brand new and beautiful. However, I am still not ruling out Long Island. When did it become so hard being an adult. OOOO and I forgot to mention that I already own a condo in Florida so some of our savings are going there. I have it rented however it is not covering full mortgage and maintenance.

How do you find out about houses that are in foreclosure???????