Looking to buy! Need advise from all you pros out there!

[Travis Hintzel]

Hey everyone,

I'm looking into buying my first property. I met with my banker the other day and I know what I can afford. I'm looking in the 80k (give or take 10k) range. My idea is to purchase a home in a college town that is 3-4br. It is pretty common in this particular college town for students to rent a house, or just a room in a house with several other students living there. The cost of living in dorms and apartments is high, and I would be offering a much lower rent than any apartment could offer. The demand is there, and it would be a great deal for all parties involved. Comments with experience on this is invited.

In my search, can you all give me some ideas of what I should avoid? How do we feel about townhomes? I see some that have been posted for over 150 days and they seem to be underpriced. I cant help but wonder why that might be. Can anyone address this?

The saying that I've read on this forum is 'You make your money when you buy the house.' With that in mind, how can I get a good idea of what the house is actually worth? What kind of offer can I get away with making? 10% less than asking price? 20%? I don't want the seller to walk, but I do want to get a good deal.

Thanks in advance for answering my noobie questions! :) Please feel free to post any links to other discussions that answer this. I am trying to take in all the information that I can to make an informed decision.