buying vs. renting and other house hunting questions from a newbie

hey there. im new to this board but not to LIF.
Dh and I are pregnant with our first, due in July.
we currently rent a 2br in glen oaks (right by LIJ hospital). the apartment itself is big enough for a baby, but i wouldnt want to live here longer than one year past our lease. we are yearly and up in april. however we pay a pretty great price in rent because although the apartment is spacious and has its own washer dryer and dishwasher, everything else about the apartment is SUPER old and dated. i can just barely tolerate the idea of a newborn here, but not a crawler. theres too many apartment faults that the baby could get to - tiles that come off the floor, shotty cabinetry, pealing wallpaper, drafty windows...the list goes on...

anyway we are unsure whether we want to rent or buy. i would LOVE LOVE LOVE to be out at the end of this years lease, may 1. ive been looking for other rentals and we are expecting to pay a few hundred more a month than we currently pay, but are looking for something with more bedrooms and def at least 1.5 baths. i really havent found too much that fits what i am looking for that is within our price range. it looks like if we are willing to pay $200-$300 more a month, we can rent exactly what we want - BUT i feel like the price we are willing to pay per month for a rental is probably about what we would pay on a mortgage, and the market seems better for buyers than for renters.

i would like to buy before the economy gets better and we can't afford LI anymore. it seems there are plenty of affordable houses on the market right now. none are my dream home, but many are good enough for years to come. here is where my issues are:

1. i dont know where to start. ive done a ton of looking on zillow and mls. i printed out some pics and i want to call some of the listings that i like and at least schedule a walkthrough. now do i do this before talking to a bank about a mortgage? or does the mortgage come first??

2. a few years ago we had enough for a decent down payment, but unfortunately we lost 70% of it in the market over the past few years, leaving us with less than 7% to put down. because of that i think the only option we really have is an FSH loan, but i dont know all that much about them. are these ok? do sellers accept these? do we need to get preapproved? DH's credit rating is excellent and mine is very good. although we do still have some credit card debt.

3. do we need a buyers agent? as you can see im clueless with what to do next.. and we are running out of time to get out of here before our lease is up..

im sure theres a million more questions but to be honest i am so lost at where to start, if someone could just push me in the right direction and make me feel like i can really do this, it would help a ton. ive been reluctant to start cause i feel like i dont know what im doing..
TIA!!!!!!

Re: buying vs. renting and other house hunting questions from a newbie

I know what you're going through..we did the same thing and tried to save as much as possible..I would first try and get a commitment from a lender because in this day and age, buyers want to see it and some agents are wary if you are just "looking" at first..once you get that, start pounding the pavement and see what's REALLY out there in the price point you can hit realistically. What we did was...as we were looking, there was one agent that was very knowledgeable about the area we were looking in and we liked her, so we signed her on as our buyer's agent but you just have to remember that at the end of the day, s/he wants to make money, too, so do your research and due diligence..if you have questions, FM if you want...good luck!

Re: buying vs. renting and other house hunting questions from a newbie

1. i dont know where to start. ive done a ton of looking on zillow and mls. i printed out some pics and i want to call some of the listings that i like and at least schedule a walkthrough. now do i do this before talking to a bank about a mortgage? or does the mortgage come first??
I WOULD TRY TO AT LEAST GET PRE-APPROVAL SO YOU KNOW JUST HOW MUCH THE BANK WILL GIVE YOU... YOU DONT WANT TO FALL IN LOVE WITH A HOUSE YOU CANNOT AFFORD AND CANNOT GET A LOAN FOR... WE DIDNT DO THIS AND "WINGED" IT AND TURNED OUT FINE, BUT HAVING THE PRE-APPROVAL WILL SHOW THAT YOU ARE SERIOUS ABOUT BUYING AND MAKES A BETTER IMPRESSION ON THE SELLER

2. a few years ago we had enough for a decent down payment, but unfortunately we lost 70% of it in the market over the past few years, leaving us with less than 7% to put down. because of that i think the only option we really have is an FSH loan, but i dont know all that much about them. are these ok? do sellers accept these? do we need to get preapproved? DH's credit rating is excellent and mine is very good. although we do still have some credit card debt.
WE HAVE AN FHA LOAN AND PUT DOWN 7%... THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH AN FHA LOAN... WE WERE ACTUALLY APPROVED FOR FHA AND A CONVENTIONAL LOAN, BUT WHEN WE CRUNCHED NUMBERS, WE FOUND OUT WE'D ACTUALLY BE PAYING LESS IN THE LONG RUN WITH FHA... YOUR MORTGAGE CONSULTANT WILL GO OVER ALL THIS WITH YOU... AND IF THEY ARE RELUCTANT TO DO FHA, GET YOURSELF A DIFF CONSULTANT... SOME ARE OLD AND STUCK IN THEIR WAYS AND DONT WANT TO DO ANYTHING BUT CONVENTIONALS... FHA LOAN WILL HAVE YOU PUT MONEY UPFRONT... SOMETHING LIKE 1.5% OF THE LOAN FOR INSURANCE... THATS THE ONLY DOWNFALL... REGARDLESS OF WHATEVER LOAN YOU GET, YOU'LL BE PAYING INSURANCE BC YOU'RE CONSIDERED A RISK UNDER 20% DOWNPAYMENT

3. do we need a buyers agent? as you can see im clueless with what to do next.. and we are running out of time to get out of here before our lease is up..
YOU SHOULD HAVE A BUYERS AGENT IMO... SOMEONE WHO WORKS FOR YOU AND IN YOUR BEST INTEREST... IF YOU GO WITH THE SELLERS AGENT, THEY REALLY JUST WANT TO GET THE SALE AND WILL PROB TELL YOU ANYTHING YOU WANT TO HEAR