by Joanne Lynch

Created on: March 15, 2009

Anyone who has bought their first home can tell you that it is a feat that does not come easily. Such was the case for me. I was single, on a modest income, and knew nothing about real estate. What's more, I could only afford a home in the price range of approximately $100,000. You didn't get much house for that price!

I was a fighter though and I learned quickly. I worked with two different real estate agents, one forgettable and one not so forgettable. Both had their quirks. Both were buyer's brokers as well as seller's brokers. I didn't know the difference.

Going out to look at homes was fun. I could look at homes above and below my price range. It helped to see what was out there and to find out what I wanted and that which I did not. At least, I knew I did not want the home with the hole in the basement for the "pump" meant to take water out of it in case of the flood. Nor did I want the single story ranch with the urine soaked carpets and wood floors from someone too lazy to take out their dog! Oh, and let's not forget the home where the home owner actually admitted to me that their septic tank had a hole in it! I definitely knew some things. And those were things I wasn't getting anywhere near.

So it was, that I went through two home inspections, and backed out of two home deals following the inspections, due to lack of confidence in the homes. At one point, I could tell the inspector was working "with" the real estate agent and certainly not in my favor, even though I was paying the bill.

I can still remember driving through the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts going on my next assignment. I had a bag phone of all things. I remember picking this phone up and calling my real estate attorney who listened to me vent for about 20 minutes before she finally offered me a lead to a buyer's broker. She told me she knew of two brothers, but their style wasn't for everybody she said. Determined to find any style different from the ones before, I took the lead. I was grateful I did.

The buyer's brokers I worked with were two brothers. One was the finance guy and the other was the home inspector (of sorts). Together, they made a confident team. They were down to earth, casual, no "bull" kind of guys. Just my style. So, working with them, I began touring homes again. This time, they would tell me exactly what they thought of each home and what I should and shouldn't consider to protect my interests. It was beautiful.

Finally, I found a "fixer upper" in a modest neighborhood. If you had seen this 1940's home, with it's teapot wallpaper in the kitchen, yellow painted cabinets, pink tiled bathroom and green shag carpeting, you would have wondered what possessed me to even consider this home. Oh, and let's not forget the "gravity heat" furnace. Basically, it was a beast of a furnace that, when turned on, required the heat to "rise" to wherever it needed to go. No fans, no motors, nothing to push the air upward and into the home. But, it was all mine.

I did end up purchasing this first home on an FHA mortgage, with only about $1,500 down due to a mistake made at closing (the sellers paid the rest of my closing costs). I took a rusty old home and made it shine. Like all artists, I was proud of my work. In the end, three years later, I turned a profit of $35,000. Hey, not bad for a first time home buyer!

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