So it's slow here at work and since many of you are not adolescents, I figure some of you would have decent info for me on tihs topic.

I'm looking to buy my first home sometime in the first half of 2010. I only know as much as I gathered in about 2 hours of looking yesterday about buying a home.

Looking at the Florida First Time Home Buyer program, they offer a first mortgage at 5.75% for a 30 yr fixed. From what I got back on LendingTree.com, I can get a much better deal (under 5%) without the program. I also make too much to qualify for the $10,000 down payment assistance, but can get $5000 assistance if I claim to be the only one living there (my gf would put me way over that limit.) So, I'm thinking the First Time Homebuyer program is useless to me. What a bummer.

I work in IT Distribution Sales (Tech Data) so my pay is flexible. My YTD gross income through Nov. is about 55k and I should get a promotion sometime next year for another $8k bonus target. My girlfriend's new job pays $45k/yr salary. So, we're looking at a household income of $100k/yr, but I'd like not to count as much on her income.

Any Tips/Ideas on how to start and where to go?

Well I live up in Michigan where our home a/c and heat is different, but when looking for homes you will want to have a good inspection on the heating and cooling and also find out about the insulation. If the unit in the home is 20 or more years old it will more then likely need to be replaced, which can be 5 grand out of your pocket right there. And the insulation in the attic and windows will also come into play when calculating the cost for heating and cooling the home year round. Which is things to consider obviously after you have decided on a lender and a price range.......

I've owned 2 houses now. Here's my tips:

Step 1: Get pre-approved. Know the buying limit you have, based on YOUR income (not you & your GF, since she's not your wife). You can do this through your bank, or go to a mortgage broker. To keep things extremely smooth, choose to go with a mortgage broker recommended to you by your buyer agent (realtor). The mortgage broker will give you a number that you're approved for. Considering your income and location, and assuming decent credit, I'd guess it to be in the $220k range. This will be based on your current income, not your future income. This is a good thing for your pocketbook-- you don't want more house than you can afford when you're single.

Step 2: Decide if & how much you can put down. Depending on your broker, you can still get 0- or low-down mortgages. Don't be scared by the word PMI. I'm living proof.

Step 3: Go shopping, view at least 20 homes, and put down an offer on those that you like a lot. View that many so you can get a feel for what's available in your price range. By the end of it, you'll have a great feel for what you want.

Step 4: buy the thing. Don't be scared of PMI or 3% or less down payment-- your broker, if they're good enough, will work with you on what you have. If you must go on a PMI type deal, don't worry. Pay it for a year or two, then re-finance to get rid of it and free up a chunk of cash every month.

My advice is my own-- many smarter people financially would say it's bad advice. But it's how I've done 2 houses, and I've always come out of it smelling like roses.

You're in luck cause I used to allocate mortgages and my aunts a broker lol

First off, Do you research on a broker, And go to the best one you can find, most highly recommended, Heres why. The good ones ensure that your mortgage is submitted with no to few errors and they will know exactly what is needed, they will also know tips and tricks to save you money down the line. Dont' bank on anyone with less than 5-10 years exp in the area. They also don't get paid till the mortgage closes so they're not going to gip you or anything huge like that

Finding a realtor is a plus if you can't do the research above because they will have their recommended brokers. When I worked for CIBC which is one of hte larger banks in canada we had about 4 major corporate brokerage firms that gave us about 95% of our business.

By the way, your mortgage will NOT be based on your gf AND yours since Im guessing you're not dependant on each other yet, And you really don't want both names on it unless you're sure its oging to last for 20 years lol

Secondly, Your preapproval as pointed above^ requirse a LOT of paper work to back it, Pay stubs, Yearly income vouchers (T4's up here I have no idea what they are in the states), credit reports are huge, so if you have good credit bank on a larger range of mortgage options and a lower rate of interest possible. Statement of employment, yada yada, the usual shit you'd go through for a loan although they go back a lot further on the statements, HOPE YOU SAVED THEM!

once you're preapporved you will know what you're looking at for money range, and can proceed to go looking, Id RECOMMEND not maxing out the mortgage unless the house is amazing. (keep in mind its only a recommendation) When you can narrow it down to 2-3 sit down with your broker and look at your options for each mortgage amount. Look at rates of interest, whether its best to lock in a rate or whether a variable rate would be better and look at the time frame for payment.

From there its entirely up to you, what'll happen is once you pick your perfect home and talk to the realtor they'll talk to the broker who will submit all the paper work to the banks. Once paper work is submitted and assumign the bank doens't F*CK up (we had a few here and there) it'll be a quick process. Ill remind you again, Your broker will be taking a certain % based on your mortgage amount, your realtor will take a nother little bit and any legal fees that come from this all. Its not a cheap process but its well worth it in the end.

Finally becuase some people have their heads up their ass. IF there is any problems with the process or it appears to be taking longer than you've been told, Talk to the realtor. Banks do NOT deal with clients directly (from what I understand) they deal with mortgage brokers or realtors where possible.

This is all the canadian version of course and Im assuming its not much different down there.