I am looking at buying a home. Am currently paying about $900 a month in rent and am commuting 45 minutes to work. I'm looking to cut my commute down and just settle down somewhere without my money going down the drain. Have just started scratching the surface of it all and am learning. But I'm really confused about a lot of things and am getting some mixed messages. I could use some input here. I don't know what info is really needed so I will just lay everything out.
-I think I am pretty much done with shopping around lenders. I've been pre approved for $200,000. This is the number I gave them and the price range I'm trying to stay within. Shopped around for the best interest rate and lowest I could find is 4%. I thought this was pretty good. Was quoted up to 4.8% at other banks.
-I had them quote me using a 10% down payment. My initial thinking was that I would make a 20% down payment but I've been advised against doing that? Still not sure why. They told me if I made a 20% down payment I wouldn't have to pay PMI. That sounds like a better option to me but lots of people tell me it's no big deal to carry PMI. I just don't see a benefit to it, however..
-My salary is $67,500 annually. I do make commission but it is varied, anywhere from $12-$20k a year. I've been at my current job for only 6 months (but look to stay for a long while). Based on this, does my purchase price need to be lower?
-I have an approximate $52,000 in savings.
-My credit score is in the 800s.
-I'm single, no kids.
-I initially wanted a small home but was told to look for 3-4 bedrooms and at least 2 baths so that I could sell it down the road. That's not really what I want because it also means having to furnish a bigger space but that makes sense to me, especially in this area.
-This may be far down the road but have been told that this is a sellers market. Most likely I will go into a bidding war. I could use some advice on that.
-My realtor told me he makes 3% commission unless the seller refuses to pay. He says this doesn't happen often but if that's the case I would have to pay the 3%. I assume this is standard but I have no idea?
-As far as the homes I'm looking into, the top of my list is a fast selling subdivision with ready to build homes. They're within my price point, the location can't be beat, and I could pick and help design the home. Builds are taking 6 months and require a deposit of $1000. I was told new builds would mean I'd pay premium but the price is well within my range. I'm not interested in having to fix something every time I turn around so new builds really appeal to me. I'm also convinced these homes will be easy to sell when the time comes.
Again, not sure if anything else is needed, I can add onto this. I'm just trying to navigate how to do this in the best way so looking for anything that stands out to anyone.