Buy in Grand Forks like you grew up here.
Everything you need to buy a house in Grand Forks, written for this market and not some other one. Calculators, checklists and a house scorecard that save as you go.
The Grand Forks Home Buyer Guide
Everything I walk my buyers through, start to keys.
This is the same stuff I end up explaining in driveways and over text. Read it in order or jump around. The calculators, checklists and scorecards are yours to play with.
Know your number
Before you look at one house, figure out the monthly payment you can live with. Not what a bank will approve. The one that still leaves room for Fighting Hawks tickets and a Friday night out.
What lenders look at
Credit. Most conventional loans start around a 620 score. FHA, VA and USDA loans have their own rules and can be more forgiving. One conversation with a lender tells you where you land.
Down payment. It doesn’t have to be 20%. Plenty of loans take 3% to 5% down, and VA and USDA loans can be zero down if you qualify. Under 20% usually means mortgage insurance. That’s not a penalty. It’s the cost of getting in sooner.
Debt-to-income (DTI). Your monthly debt payments divided by your monthly income before taxes. More on that in the calculator below.
Calculator
What would the payment be?
Plug in a price and play. For the rate, use what a lender actually quotes you. Tax and insurance are monthly. Your lender or I can pull the real property tax for any specific house.
Add an interest rate to see the payment.
Calculator
Debt-to-income check
Lenders count debt payments only: the new house payment, car loans, student loans, credit card minimums, child support. Groceries, phone, utilities and Netflix don’t go in here. Everything is per month.
Fannie Mae’s rules top out at 36% for loans underwritten by hand, 45% with strong credit and savings, and 50% through their automated system. Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-6-02. Your lender’s number is the one that counts.
Budget for after you move in
A common rule of thumb is 1% to 2% of the price every year for upkeep. In Grand Forks that means a furnace that works hard from November to March, a snow shovel or a snowblower, and the occasional surprise. Plan for it now and the surprises stay small.
Pull this together
Get pre-approved
Talk to two or three local lenders, on the same day if you can, so the rates line up. A pre-approval letter tells sellers you’re real. It also tells you what you’re actually working with.
Letters expire, usually within a few months, so get serious about it when you’re close to shopping. Want names? I have a short list of local lenders who pick up the phone. Ask me.
Ask every lender
Side by side
Compare your lenders
Each lender has to give you a Loan Estimate. Copy the numbers in here and the lowest payment and lowest costs get flagged.
| Rate (%) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| APR (%) | |||
| Closing costs ($) | |||
| Monthly payment ($) | |||
Pick your agent
Yes, this is the part where the agent tells you to get an agent. Interview more than one. Me included.
You’ll sign a written agreement with your agent before you tour homes. It spells out what they do for you and how they get paid. Ask whoever you pick to walk you through it line by line before you sign. If they rush that part, that tells you something.
Ask every agent
Needs vs. wants
Needs are the deal breakers. Wants are the nice-to-haves you can live without or add later. You can change the paint. You can’t change the lot, the street, or what you paid.
Your list
Build it here
Type your own or tap one of these to add it to Needs. Tap “move” to switch it to the other list.
Needs
Wants
Search and showings
I’ll set you up on an MLS search so new listings that fit hit your inbox the minute they hit the market. Scrolling Zillow on your own? Here’s how to do it right.
Scorecard
Rate every house you see
Fill one out in the driveway, before you talk yourself into or out of anything.
What to check in a Grand Forks house
Generic buyer guides are written for places where it doesn’t hit 30 below. Here’s what I look at in houses up here. Take this list to your showings.
My own house was built in 1894. Old houses up here have the best bones and the best stories. Test them anyway.
Back to the topWrite the offer
Found the one? The best offer isn’t always the biggest number. Clean terms and a ready lender win plenty of the time.
We’ll send your pre-approval letter with it, find out what matters to the seller (timing is often worth as much as money), and use what similar houses actually sold for to pick the number.
What’s in an offer
Purchase price
What you’re offering to pay. How much room there is to negotiate depends on how long it’s been sitting, what it needs, and whether anyone else is bidding.
Earnest money
A good-faith deposit that shows you’re serious. It’s held by a third party and goes toward your costs at closing. Walk away without a valid reason and you can lose it. I’ll tell you what’s normal here for the price range.
Contingencies
Your safety valves. The inspection contingency lets you renegotiate or walk if the inspection turns up something big. The financing contingency protects you if the loan falls through. The appraisal contingency covers you if the house appraises for less than you offered.
Closing date and possession
When the sale finalizes and when you get the keys. Often 30 to 45 days out, depending on the loan. A quicker close can make your offer stand out.
Inspections and insurance
The house can look perfect and still be hiding a leak, a bad sewer line or a radon problem. Schedule inspections the day your offer is accepted. The inspection window goes fast.
Need an inspector? I’ll give you a few names. Ask me.
Insurance
Start getting quotes as soon as you’re under contract. Your lender needs proof of coverage before closing. And regular homeowners insurance doesn’t cover flooding. That’s a separate policy: FloodSmart.gov.
Back to the topUnder contract
Cue the confetti. Now it’s all dates and deadlines, and missing one costs you. Put them in here and the countdown runs itself.
Countdown
Your dates
To do
Don’t do this until after closing
Closing day
You’ll hear the magic words “clear to close.” Then it’s paperwork, a pen that’s about to run out of ink, and keys.
Keep it somewhere besides this browser
Email me my answers
I’ll send everything you’ve filled in here to your inbox: your numbers, your lists, your scorecards. After that you’ll get a couple of emails from me and my monthly Living Legendary newsletter. Unsubscribe anytime.
Rather just talk it through? Call or text me at 701.314.2202.
★★★★★
“Josh was our realtor here in Grand Forks, and he did an awesome job. He worked hard to get us all the options available in the market, and he’s just an all round great guy!”
Ian U. – Bought sight unseen from out of state, north Grand Forks · Google
Not quite what you needed?
If you’re selling the current place first, that guide covers it. If you’re moving here from somewhere else, start there instead. And if you want to know who’s behind all this, here’s me. And if you want to know what to test for before you close, radon is the one most people from out of state have never heard of.