Okay, my whole life has been in the new home industry and occasional buying investment properties to rent out to tenants.




--- If you want to buy a home here is what you do----

First get an idea of how much you will qualify for which is a really simple calculation of Income vs. debts and then they look at credit score and average bank account balance. This will give you a really good starting point to work from.

Second, look at the County Home Auction website (for the county you want to buy a home) and look at the MLA listings that realtors use but most importantly look at *FORECLOSURES* in your county or state(Which is probably the best bet)....
these websites will give you tons of homes to review within the range you may qualify.

Sometimes there are local websites that will offer other homes such as *for sale by owner*...


Now, once you find homes to look at at remember you still should NOT try to max out what you may qualify to get. Banks do not want to get burned a second time! Also, a minimum 5% downpayment will almost always be required unless you are an investor (whole new ball game there). It really looks good if you have a 10% downpayment PLUS your share of the *Closing costs*. I will not get into all those charges, which side seller/buyer pays for which parts,etc etc, etc... The point is to not try and buy your maximum. Stay about 5% below your maximum and it should go through fast and easy.

If you want more information about your area contact a freaking realtor/real estate agent (they get pissed when you do not separate which is which).....

hope this helps.