Do you delicious? Delicious has been around for a while but I just recently set up an account there. This site provides you with a place to store your bookmarks online. If your familar with flickr, then think of this as flickr for bookmarks. You can tag your bookmarks and see how many other people share your bookmarks and you can look at the most popular bookmarks and basically find cool stuff on the web. Anyway, the interface is really clean and simple to use. I've posted some bookmarks to a g-town user-group and if you'd like to add stuff the username and password are both gtownlove. The link at the top will take you to our page of links... these are just a start, feel free to add more.
del.icio.us
del.icio.us/gtown
Name's Carter.... you can call me Delicious
ReplyDeleteseriously... how does one purchase a house? and... just so you know, my "official last day in the army" is tomorrow... I'm getting fucked up.
You can get a ton of info from various web pages. You'll be in Hamilton County right (Cinci)... check their auditor's property search web-page. The auditor's site tells you how much the previous owner paid for the house... and you can usually check nearby houses to see how much they went for (i.e. is your house priced similarly based on size/price). There are some other national realestate web-pages relator.com.
ReplyDeleteTraci and I went in with "what do we want in a house / neighborhood and what are we willing to pay". Then we drove around a lot (after a couple of house hunting weekends you'll have a much better idea of the area and type of house you want. Brad's got a ton of insight... the man's bought and sold more houses than anyone else I know. For me it kinda reminded me of betting on horses at the track... everyone has their own justification for buying a particular house, you just gotta find yours.
I agree witht eh driving arund trick. Websites are never updated and it gives you a feel for the neighbourhood. It's a cliche, but Location is the most desirbale thing. The condition of a house can be worked on, but the location can't be changed. You'll love it if you manage to choose somewhere within easy walking distance of even just one small shop...and a bar. And NEVER buyt he first hosue you (or more importantly your missus) falls in love with. It's like your first teenage crush - after w hile you wonder why you were bothered. Take your time......
ReplyDeleteChris
ReplyDeleteOne thing you should do soon, maybe even before you start looking is to talk to a bank. This is a big issue to get out of the way and will show what you can afford and what payments to expect. Don't do an adjustable rate in this current environment of rising interest rates. Get a fixed rate. There are a TON of lending options and benefits for veterans, and first time home buyers, take advantage of those. VA loans are nice
Try to get something under market value that you have to put some work in. You're going to have to live there for 2 years if you want to take advantage of not having to pay capital gain taxes, so if you can do a little turd polishing during those 2 or more years you will have a nice profit, along with your equity, to put into your next house when you upgrade. Hope this helps
you guys are awesome.. thanks...
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