Okay. I am brand new to real estate and my fiance and I want to purchase our first home. I just want to lay everything out for you pros and get your opinions on what we should do, because to be honest this is my passion and not his so much, so it’s up to me to research and make a good decision, rather than pay top dollar just because we want to be home owners RIGHT NOW.
With his job we move alot. For that reason, I am self employed. He makes $60k for 8 months, and we usually take the summer off and spend it up in British Columbia (he is Canadian). We arn’t married yet, but have lived together for 6 years and want to utilize each of our First Time Buyers options in buying two properties this year.
We are about to move to Portland Maine for the year. My college background is in interior design and I am going back for architecture in the fall, so for my first home, I would like to find one in Maine that we can live in and I can work on it all year and put it on the market next summer. (I do not want to do major architectual changes, but more update the kitchens, bathrooms, exterior, landscaping kind of thing)
We do not have disposable cash for a downpayment, but we do have a banker that would loan us whatever we would need for a downpayment, which I understand wouldn’t be much with most First Time Buyers discounts. I would only be willing to take out a loan for the down payment because I do not want to hold on the the property long, therefore, would pay it off quickly. There are so many lenders and ad’s and stories of zero downs, etc I don’t even know where to begin on understanding what type of martgages are available and a good idea for US, or if we even NEED a downpayment…
I am overwhelmed with real estate info EVERYWHERE and do not know what would be the best option for us to start as homeowners/investers/flippers, and I do not want to make a mistake on our first jump into the real estate world as first time buyers, because there are so many breaks and benefits. I also don’t want to spend another year in Maine throwing away money in rent, when I am more than capable in design and carpentry to work on a place for us and help make a good investment for our future.
Is anyone here familiar with real estate in Southern Maine and have any advice on where to find the best deals for REI’s?
I just want a house to put some TLC into and start everything out on the right foot!
Where to begin??? What would you do if you were in my shoes???
Thank you so much in advance for any advice. I really need it.