How do you know how much to spend on a house?

[jtees4]

Quote:
Originally Posted by jtees4
Whatever closing costs you are told....expect double.

Not true.

I think you are dead wrong. I've seen this many times. What generally happens is a financial institution tells people what their closing costs will be based solely on the mortgage aspect of closing costs which is fine and legal. What happens with new buyers is that they do not at that point realize that there are many other things that go into closing costs, legal things like title search, whatever. Sure...it's not always 2X but planning for 2X makes sense. As far as the lawyer...I didn't say you HAD to have a lawyer, but I personally would always recommend using a lawyer. The fact that some States let you do it without one is irrelevent to me...my money...my purchase...I want a lawyer to protect my interests. I also always have the house inspected, no exceptions.