After a series of less than stellar rental situations and a recent influx of money as a gift from a family member my husband and I have decided to buy a home instead of renting. We are looking at a lot of different potential homes in our price range (single family homes, co-ops, condos, etc.) and in a lot of different parts of the city. We’ve already been preapproved for a mortgage so the money part of this isn’t a huge concern for us but since we’ve never purchased a home before we really don’t have any clue what kind of things we should be looking for and what questions we should be asking in this process.
Last week I took a first time home buyers class that was very helpful. It talked all about financing, real estate law/lawyers, brokers, home inspections, etc. and I feel a bit more comfortable in my understanding of the absolute basics. (Always have a home inspection done before making an offer, the importance of your debt to income ratio, home owner’s insurance, make sure your contract has a mortgage contingency before putting down a good faith deposit, etc.) But what are the other things we should be asking about and looking for when purchasing a home?
Also, we have a 5 month old daughter so schools are important but I am so confused about zoning. Quite a few of the properties we are looking at have several elementary schools close by that vary widely in their ratings on greatschools.org. We have appointments to look at 6 places this Saturday and all 6 have schools within half a mile that range from 3-10 in the rating scale and the difference in distance between them is so minimal that I can’t tell which school would be zoned for the property. Is there a way to tell which school each home is zoned for without calling the school to ask?
We had an independent buyers agent. NOT an agent that also sells houses. If we had kids, we would have asked him to figure out which school each property went to. I suppose you could ask the selling agent, but I don’t trust them. They like to lie.
Find out the age of the expensive stuff in the house. How old is the furnace? Central air (if so equipped)? When was the roof shingled? How old is the water heater?
These are all things that can turn into big money if they are old and need to be replaced soon, but can turn into bargaining chips with the seller.
Also, (this may be moot since most lender require it) get an inspection of the house to make sure it is what it appears to be and it’s free of nasty things like mold, termites, carpenter ants, or asbestos.
I’m not trying to scare you here, but it’s a big purchase. No harm in being prepared!
Where we live, it isn’t legal for the agent to tell you certain things about the neighborhood, and I’m not clear on exactly what these things are (racial makeup is definitely one of them, but I don’t know if crime statistics are), but I echo previous advice to look up police reports yourself.
Do whatever you can to get an inspector you trust. Do not get one the realtor recommends to you. If Angie’s List has a section for inspectors, find one there.
Finally, remember the lessons you’ve learned from HGTV. Cosmetic stuff is nothing. Location is everything.
ETA: remember your monthly house payment is mortgage + insurance + taxes. Make sure you’re counting everything in your total expense.
I’d recommend driving by any home you’re considering in the evening (7 pm or so) and a few times on the weekends Sometimes neighborhoods look really great when you look at a home in the daytime, but not at night. We looked at a condo years ago, and it looked great in the day time. At night, and on the weekend, there was no guest parking. The streets were full of cars, trucks and other things with wheels.
We are looking for an independent buyers agent but we are having trouble finding one we like. At this point I’ve been researching potential places on zillow and trulia and we are making appointments to see places ourselves while we search for an agent. Should one of these places work out for us I do have a real estate lawyer I like who would be glad to help out with the contracts and recommending an inspector and stuff but the agent thing has been difficult at best.
Both good recommendations! Thanks!
We will absolutely have an inspector of our choosing come and inspect whatever property we consider purchasing. I would assume they could tell us the age of the stuff in the house but I will ask the owners of the properties too and see what they have to say.
Angie’s List is an excellent recommendation! Thanks!
As far as the monthly expenses go we’re golden. We’ve determined a price point and downpayment that, when insurance and taxes and such are taken into account, comes out to almost exactly what we were paying in rent each month previously. We also know to be aware of heat, hot water, garbage, and other costs that would have been absorbed by the landlord that we will now be responsible for as well.
I second the recommendation for a buyer’s agent. You want someone who is on your side. A good one will help make sure you have all the right contingencies on your offer. Either get a recommendation from someone you trust, or go to a few open houses and talk to the agents, then pick one who you like.
Many school district web sites have a system where you can either enter an address and it will tell you which school’s attendance area you’re in, or they’ll have online maps of attendance areas.
Along with checking the age of expensive things, as brewha mentioned, the sellers may offer a home warranty. If so, take it! Can save a lot of hassle and finger pointing if something breaks in the first year.
Research the market in your area. Find out what things are selling for now and how long houses are staying on the market. That will help you when you’re ready to make an offer on a house to decide what seems reasonable and what’s likely to get you the house.
Watch for borders of what is acceptable to others and figure out if groupthink actually means something or if you can step slightly out of that area and still be comfortable.
I friend of mine lives a few blocks from a very expensive neighborhood and she gets all the benefits of that without the drawback of the cost. Crime is not significantly greater but she can still walk to all the great little restaurants and shops that are there to support the high disposable income crowd.
When you’re deciding what you are looking for make two lists. The things you absolutely must have and cannot live without and those that would be nice to have. Emotionally when you fall for a house it’s probably because of the second list but you need to be able to check off the items on the first one. Even if you have fallen in love it won’t last when you are trying to live in a house where one of your prime requirements isn’t met.
If you are buying a condo (and I think also a co-op, but those aren’t common around here) review the board meeting minutes with a fine-toothed comb. That saved us a few grand when I discovered there had been discussions re: potential water damage to the roof, and we ended up having the sellers put our unit’s share of a new roof in escrow. Very handy when the roof had to be replaced less than a year later.
Depending on the age of the house asking about the presence of asbestos or lead-based paint is something I’d recommend (especially with a small child). Depending on the local laws this may be something that the seller is/isn’t required to disclose.
Also depending on your location the possibility of meth production taking place in the house. It’s highly unlikely, but like here in Missouri its a distinct possibility. My sister almost put a contract on a house before finding out from a neighbor lady about arrest for production earlier in the year.
Also - if you can swing it, go by when it’s raining and check the gutters. An inspector is unlikely to notice gutters that are slightly off level and don’t drain properly, or if there’s a clog halfway down the downspout. But you’ll notice something’s off immediately if you drive by when it’s raining.
It’s certainly not a dealbreaker by any means - but it is something to have the owner take care of.
Great advice I would like to add to. Years after we bought our house we were scratching our heads and wondering just how old our roof was. Get that info and write it down.
In addition to this and the home inspector you should personally go around the whole house and check every single faucet, switch, door, window, outlet, whatever you can see. Look for water stains. If you buy the house you will be using those things on a daily basis. You may not be able to get a seller to fix them all but it is very annoying to have a stuck door or a drippy sink on the day you move in. A dozen of those types of problems are an issue.
Ask about the neighbors. We live beside a house with 10 kids. On the weekends they are all at their dad’s house and our neighborhood is quiet and pleasant. During the week they are standing in the street cussing at one another. When I sell, I’ll be showing the house on the weekend. A smart buyer will ask around about the neighbors.
I second this advice. First home I purchased I was too wrapped up in the house I ended up living next to a very bad neighbor. Not evil bad but rude and just not a pleasant family to live next to. You don’t want to be a prisoner in your home.
So spend some time in the neighborhood before you commit. Especially with a very young child.
Just a thought regarding schools - you’re still some years away from enrolling your daughter. You need to bear in mind that things can change in that time. A different principal or superintendent can swing things from one extreme to the other. Not trying to scare you, but what may appear to be a great school this year could well be not-so-great 5 years down the road. Or not. Just something to consider.
I think most places that have HOAs are required to make the covenants available to a potential buyer within days of an offer. If you are considering a house in a neighborhood with an association, learn all you can about the rules, the enforcement, the board - talk to current residents. We moved into what seemed to be a nice little neighborhood - only 48 houses - but it turned out the HOA board were wanna-be Gestapo. I was so glad to move out of that place!