Have you considered moving to Florida first before starting the home buying process? Have you even seen the house you want to buy in person yet? I highly recommend that you are present for the inspection as the inspector will give you an overview on how your house works so that you can keep it maintained and functioning properly.
I had the option of taking the class in person or online so I took it online. It would best for you to attend the class in person or online (if they have it) as I think they do ID as you will need to bring many personal financial documents with you to class for review and use in calculations. I think it would be very beneficial for you to attend the class and not your brother, as I think you will learn a lot from the class to be a successful homeowner. Plus your certificate of completion becomes a formal document attached to your file and if the lender finds out you didn't take the class, I could imagine your loan app could be denied as the lender wants to know that you successfully completed the class so that he is confident that you will stay current on your loan as you will know how to apply the tools you learned in class to maintain financial stability after closing on your mortgage.
You are going to have an expensive cross country move from Oregon to Florida. Have you received any quotes yet from movers?
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