Buying your first house? ask the expert, Andy Eckert, Huntington County Realtor

Ask the Expert

Q I’m buying my first house.  I am pretty sure I can spend $150,000 for my house because I did some calculations online. Problem is, lenders won't give me a firm quote until I buy something. What gives?

A   Online calculators can be excellent tools, but remember there are many costs associated with buying a house. One of those is the tax rate in the area you buy. You won't know that until you pick a property. You also will have to buy Private Mortgage Insurance if you put less than 20 percent down. PMI can change your monthly mortgage payment significantly. 

    No lender can give you an estimate until you have an address of the property you hope to buy. An address is required for the Loan Estimate, a three-page disclosure document.

    Start your home search by getting pre-approved for a loan. Go to a lender and give basic information about your finances. The lender will pull a credit report and discuss your income and debt. You should have no more than 43 percent debt to income. Usually, 36 percent is preferred.

    Once pre-approved you can get an agent and shop for your home. When you do find the property you want to buy, you can apply for a mortgage by going to different lenders and getting a Loan Estimate from each. The Loan Estimate, which has to be issued within three days after you apply, will give you detailed information about the loan, including the loan amount, interest rate, monthly payments and whether these can change.

    The Loan Estimate will also tell you the amount of cash you need to close and the estimated costs to close.

    It will list fees for things you can't shop for (appraisals, for instance) and things you can shop for (pest inspection, for example).

I am Catholic and proud to say that, as your Huntington County Realtor Andy Eckert

I am a Catholic and I’m proud to say that, why?

             Because a life without a belief system is a life wasted. There is so much to gain to have FAITH, and so much to lose, to not. I was born and raised in the Catholic faith and that means I went to church more than most, because we have a ridiculous amount of Days of Obligation to attend. When I attended Catholic school I think we had mass every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday throughout the school year. We also attended mass on every Sunday as a family. During Lent we went to Church to pray the stations of the cross every Friday at the end of the school day.

What does this mean?

It means that even though I did all these events I was still a bad boy most of the time, but I believed if I was heart fully sorry for what I did than I was forgiven by God. If that was all I learned through all my mass attendance and school teachings, then I had learned enough to get me to Heaven. The hardest thing to do in life is forgive yourself for all the stupid choices we make and then ask forgiveness for those choices from God. I believe   anyone who believes in God and also thinks that they can be forgiven for their sins are my Brothers and Sisters in Christ no matter what church they attend.

This month’s News Letter is dedicated to all those that helped me along the way with advice, a good example to follow, and love. I have had 3 Parish Priests since I was baptized as a baby. Fr Gollner, Fr Perry and Fr Ron who have helped shape me into the person I am today. I was also lucky enough to have met, at the time I was in middle school, a Brother Mike. Brother Mike eventually became Fr Mike and moved back to his home state of  Wisconsin. Fr Mike and I are good friends and see each other 1-2 times a year. I found a good friend and trusted advisor in Fr Mike and Fr Ron over the years, not as a person judging me but someone who understands what my potential was. I’m thankful for their guidance and friendship and I hope I live up to their expectations of me. I suppose if they don’t see me in  Heaven then they dropped the ball, but if I don’t see them then maybe they should have been asking me for guidance…..haha

Andy Eckert, your Huntington County Realtor