Closed on our 1915 dream home yesterday and couldn’t be happier!

Recently divorced and was told by my ex it could not be done lol

Hi all, happy to provide any other info if it helps, but I (30m) recently closed on this gorgeous 5b/3b in the Phoenix AZ area right up against a beautiful mountain.

Purchase price was $799k, I put 10% down. I am married, but for the mortgage we just used my income to keep my wife's credit clean for a later investment property. We are both on title regardless.

This is a new build, and with the current environment and some clever due diligence, I was able to get extra promos from them and we stacked $40k in seller credits to end up with a 4.75% 30 year fixed rate, and $0 closing costs including first year escrow covered. Honestly I couldn't believe the rate, that difference in rate savs about $350k over the life of the loan.

We closed about 10 days ago but just getting around to posting. Including some pics of the finished living room as well since we had time to unpack!

It's been a whirlwind. I spent over $30k just this past weeks since we closed! Blinds were $8k, water softener $5k, table $3k, fridge $4k, etc.

Overall we are loving it, I had so much planned for when I had my own house I just let it all out. We got the 12' home Depot skeleton, permanent outdoor lighting installed, etc. It's coming together!

Edit to add: Rate was a builder incentive on a quick move in home, using their lender.

I was gonna go for an FHA loan but my dad offered to buy the place cash for me and pay him monthly so it’s like a 0% pseudo loan. Obviously a very privileged opportunity especially with crazy high interest rates

Super excited for the wide open first floor layout, with the 12 foot ceilings. Last photo is a render of the rug, sectional, coffee table, and tv console I bought but haven’t assembled them yet.

Planning on replacing the backyard with turf cause I’m definitely not cutting it.

Got the keys, pics in comments

Our house was listed at 600. We’ve seen a few houses in the neighborhood, honestly should have offered on one a while ago, it is almost the exact same house but sold for 520. I told our agent the highest I would offer is 550. I like the house a bit more than the 520 house- slightly nicer kitchen, larger lot. The sellers came back with 573, we said no, then 563, 555, then settled at 550. Each time he told us this was an absolutely amazing deal, we need to hop on it before someone else does. To our knowledge & how it played out- there were no other offers.

Then the appraisal came- 530. Previously, he said if it doesn’t appraise for 550 then he will be shocked but it will be the sellers issue to match the appraisal, we don’t need to worry. So it comes, our agent said we needed to get a reconsideration of value, he sent us comps that were 50-100 more per sq ft, in the newer & nicer part of the neighborhood that he would like us to submit. I asked why we would advocate for a higher selling price when our contract is contingent on the appraisal & the sellers are more desperate to sell than we are to buy. He said that’s what the other agent asked for, this still doesn’t answer why he would send houses in the 650-750 range as comps- he later said some houses just have more upgrades in the other section but they are comparable. IMO The houses next door are the most comparable & are 500-550. We ended up saying 530 or we walk & that was accepted.

The whole experience has just felt dirty & like we’re cheap assholes who want to steal from a new family. The sellers asked us (6 days prior to closing) to lease the house for 26 days because their new house still has rental tenants occupying it. Our agent said it would be a good thing to do ‘because of all the back and forth we did to them.’ And that they have a new baby, family issues they’re going through. Meanwhile we gave our notice to our landlord & need to be out 4 days after closing & I just don’t trust any part of the process anymore & didn’t want to close & have some major issue happen within the house.

He told us the other agent was unhappy & unsure of the deal because we took ‘a hot minute’ to change lenders. We took 2 days to switch, everything was all submitted on time. I asked if this was uncommon (I know it’s not) and he said usually people stick with their initial lender & it’s smooth sailing because of it. He is friends with the lender we switched from.

Many more examples but trying to keep it short.

I feel stupid af for picking this agent- we picked him because his main company gets good reviews, we met him at an open house & he seemed knowledgeable & that he would be an advocate.

Is this similar to anyone else’s experience with an agent? All of our friends say how much they loved their agent & that our experience is not normal.

We didn't do it because it was easy, we did it because we thought it would be easy.

Not pizza but hopefully it'll suffice 😅 Both 27yo & DINK, but we have 2 kitties, the other one is a calico hiding somewhere...

20% down. 32 YO, moving in with my partner, but financing is on me. Made an offer on another house one week prior, walked away from their counter and found this the following weekend. Offer was accepted within 24 hours. Locked in 6.95% just prior the recent fed announcement.

~2 acres. 4 bed, 3 bath, 2200ish sq ft finished. 1970s build, lets just say its been well taken care of, but just about everything housewise (furnace, water heater, etc.) is near end of life. Hot tub. Old sports court. Mature Orchard and Kitchen Garden. Random pond. This is my millennial dream.

I see myself continuing my line of work while doing what I can to build a sustainable property and finding opportunities to donate excess food to family and the local community. I'd like to get as off grid as we can, but most realistically just looking to be setup to weather some short term power outages on our own, while minimizing our impact on the environment where we can.

I am a specialized remote accountant in the tech sector with a state school education and masters degree. The "how" to this is a combination of high equity tech job coupled with the privilege of a student debt free undergrad and masters education. I aggressively saved yes and I feel I earn my keep at my work, but I did stumble into this job opportunity which accelerated my life plans, and I would never have saved as aggressively as I did had my parents not invested early in the WA state GET program and covered my masters.

Bonus pic - I met some of the neighbors today. They love the blackberries.

I really thought that this weekend I would be signing a contract for my dream home with my dream builder and location. The issue is, I am basically 5-6 months short of where I need to be savings wise to make it all work. It would be a stretch, and I could afford an interior version of the townhome, but I don't think I'd be happy with it.

Sort of disheartening, because I also got passed up for a promotion this week, but at the same time I feel so much closer to getting something. The fact I came so close to affording a 370k home has really opened up my mind.

I think I will try again towards May if I get a promotion / and they still have units available, but until then I am back to saving and boosting my retirement.

I feel like I am missing a great opportunity to buy when rates are high, but ultimately I am better off saving more.

(For background, I make 70k, would have around 80k to put down on a 370k townhome)

This is more so a rhetorical question and venting because I am located in an area that still treats home buying like a bartering system with almost zero repercussions for false disclosures and advertising (I’m being facetious but we have already been thru paying for an inspection on a different house and after walking away due to all the issues, the seller accidentally let slip that they were aware of all the issues prior to our offer and still accepted and let us get an inspection 🙃)

My partner and I started seriously house hunting in July and thankfully we know our realtor super well so she has also been quick to spot these AI listings. But we went to see this house very early on in our house hunting search (August 2026) with very similar pictures advertised except it was “fall themed” photos in the listing. This was mainly out of curiosity from all of us, but hoping it would maybe have some potential. After seeing the house in person, we were blown away by the listings pictures so we paid a lot more attention to listings after that. We only saw houses that didn’t have any AI generated pics on the listing if we could help it.

Now, this same house has just been reposted to Zillow with completely new AI pictures and only 2 actual pictures (the two “real” pictures were still polished by AI sadly).

The pics I posted are of the brand new listing photos next to the actual pictures I took when we walked through it in August this year lol.

Guess I did it on my own lol
Impostor Syndrome kicking in now

As a member of this community, I'm being told that there's always grants and opportunities for first-time home buyers. Everywhere I look it seems to be nothing but loans.... Has anyone actually been successful in finding grants for first-time home buyers?? If so, where did you go to find them?

As the colder weather is approaching, we’ve started having to use the heat setting again at night. A few days ago when we turned it on for the first time in months, we heard the initial clicking and got scared and called the HVAC company. They came and said it was fine; it was just because the unit is old and hadn’t been used in months. It’s doing it again tonight. The clicking is coming from both the humidifier (AprilAire Model 560) and the furnace where it actually ignites. The humidifier thing is also leaking/dripping. Before we call someone out here again, what could this be? What should we ask about? This is our first year in a house and know nothing! The unit is pretty old.

Hi - Escrow and lender are moving very fast. We're only day 12 of a 30 day escrow and potentially could close before the end of the month. Our contract closing date is November 4th, but our realtor told us that we could potentially close before October 31st with how smoothly it's all going.

We have our down payment funds in a HYSA and would love to get another month of interest paid to the account (statement period closes the last day of each month). It could give us ~$900 for just October alone.

Are there benefits to closing at the end of the month versus the beginning? Should we close earlier if possible? We're also not in any rush since we're living with my in-laws.

M24 First-time buyer (MA, FHA) does this two-family house hack make sense at $355-365K?

I'm a first-time buyer looking at a 1910 two-family in central MA at $399,999. It's a side by side, with two 3BR/1BA units (6 bedrooms total, about 3k sqft), oil heat, and no seller disclosures. The town assessed it at $350k and taxes are about $4.7K yr

FHA, 3.5% down, 7.2% rate, live in one unit, rent the other whole at about $2,000 (median of local 3BR listings) and rent my other two rooms at around $800-875 each. Each unit has just 1 shared bathroom. I'm pre-approved, touring it Monday, and would offer $355K, with $365K as my target. It’s clean place

At $365K the numbers look like:
- PITI $3,160/mo
- $30K cash to close
- -$110 to +$50 a month in actual cash while living
- +$540/mo (before repairs reserve) if I move out after a year and rent both units

Math looks OK

Anything I'm missing? Open to any advice!!

I purchased this house a couple months ago. There is damp spot in the wood in the attic. Was wondering if anybody can help me identify what could be causing I originally thought it was a roof leak because there were leaks in other parts of the roof but it has not leaked in over a month now. The closet is the immediate area below where that wet spot is. Thanks in advance.

Curious to hear everyone’s experiences as I go through this process

Finally bought my first home at 30, all on my own!
It’s a brand-new house in Tumbaco, Quito (Ecuador’s capital). After years of working hard and running my own business, I finally made it happen!
The details:
● Price: $111,214
● Down payment: ~$31k
● Mortgage: $80k over 25 years at 4.88%
● Monthly payment: ~$575 including HOA and insurance
● 100 m², 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, private garden and parking
● Gated community with a pool, gym, coworking space, BBQ areas and green spaces.
proud of this milestone!
What do you guys think?

edit: I should've mentioned I'm looking to buy without a realtor and use a real estate attorney for contract. I'll be getting an FHA loan and hoping to get as close to the 6% seller credit as possible. I feel comfortable negotiating on my own behalf but I'm open to possibly using a realtor.

For reference, I'm in Pennsylvania, I've been preapproved with my bank and I've already viewed 1 other home and the realtor just showed up to the house and showed me it. Texted a new sellers realtor I found from Zillow and this was her message.

"Ok wonderful I will have to send you a buyers agency to see the home. We can do a one time showing on this home and if you like me then we can continue to look! I can call you and explain it. All realtors legally have to have a buyers agency to show a home. The home is stunning. Can you look at it on Sunday in the morning? Maybe 10."

I understand if realtors maybe don't like working with buyers instead of other realtors, but this has to be her trying to get me to sign to work with her correct? How could the other realtor have shown me a home and didn't have me sign anything.