I guess this counts as a potentially happy thread, since I’m now looking for a first-time home purchase. So far I’ve had a meeting with a real estate agent, been pre-approved for an amount I’m comfortable with (although I’d like to spend less), and looked online. There is a surprising amount of property in this area in my price range, although I’m trying to avoid most of Albany and Schenectady and don’t really want to go east of the Hudson or north of the Mohawk. The sheer number of hits is overwhelming at times. Not to mention trying to figure out some of the doubletalk in the listings–does “a little TLC” mean it needs new carpets and some paint, or does it mean it needs a new roof and siding and a furnace. And even though I’ve lived here for 4.5 years now, I still don’t know a lot of the areas. But this is what I’m going to be paying an agent for, right?
Any particular tips on what to look for? Obvious red flags, must-haves vs nice-to-haves, complete deal-breakers? How about some amusing stories to take some of the stress off?
You need to understand what you need and want in a house. First: NEEDS-you have to come up with 5-10 items that you must have (examples: price less than $500K, location no more than 25 miles from work,etc.) Then prioritize them in order of importance. Next, list your wants (stuff nice to have but not essential): examples: new bathrooms, bay windows, finished basement: give each a priority score as well. Now, when you look at a house, review your list and check things off.
This will help yo and keep yo from wasting time.
Also look for potential problems with the property which may not be obvious at first - like a steep driveway which will be slick and hard to drive up/down in the winter, or a lot that’s graded poorly so that water flows in the direction of the house, or noises from trains/planes/nearby highways, or an awkward room layout. One brand-new house I remember looking at was pretty, but the route from the garage to the kitchen involved cutting diagonally through the carpeted living room; that house was going to look a lot less pretty in a year or so after a big path had been worn into the living room carpet.
And don’t just think about your daily commute: actually drive it at least once before you decide. You may discover the traffic is horrendous during your actual commuting time and the drive will be much longer than you expected. Better to discover that before you buy the house!
If you find a house you really like, spend a few minutes calling the local police department to find out what, if any, calls they’ve had in the past six months or so.
In my experience, a little TLC means anything from painting and flooring need updating to needs all new plumbing.
When we were looking at homes, I found one in a decent neighborhood with three bedrooms priced under my budget. I was excited to see it. Turns out two bedrooms were the garage. Complete with garage door, open rafters, concrete floors with oil stains. They strung up sheets to separate the “rooms”.
There was also the house with dirty underwear in the kitchen sink. The owners of that house offered to leave their bedroom sets, only because the stairwell was so narrow they would’ve had to take things out through windows.
Unfortunately, no matter how well you do your homework, there’s really no substitute for going out and physically looking at a crapload of houses. Don’t assume you’ve done something wrong because you’ve seen two dozen you don’t like.
Go and look at a LOT of houses, even ones that may not seem quite right on paper, or you don’t like the pictures, or that are a bit over your price range. It will help you get a feel for what’s out there, and you’ll start to develop an eye for what the house is and not what the contents are.
Don’t be swayed by things the realtor may say are popular or let him/her assume that you want a certain thing. Be very very clear about what you can’t live without, and things that are dealbreakers. Clarity is especially needed if you are like me and the last thing you want is a fancy house on a postage stamp in a cul-de-sac neighborhood filled with families.
Stick to your budget, and budget also for possible upgrades and repais, but don’t let that stop you from looking at places that are a little high on the price. Prices can be negotiated, and especially if its been on the market for a while, or it’s a somewhat non-traditional house or property, there may be a surprising amount of wiggle room. It will also help hone your eye for what’s a good deal in a particular market.
Now, I need to get back to packing, 'cuz we’re moving in a couple of weeks
eta: Go drive around on your own in areas you think you’d like to live in. Get a feel for traffic and shopping, and drive through neighborhoods that look interesting to you. I found my first house by doing that, saw a sign on an interesting piece of property that our realtor had passed over as being too small a house for us. It was little, but we loved it anyway.
Schools are important even if you don’t have kids, since school quality is high correlated with price. When we looked the realtors had books of school test scores.
On the amusing side: My husband and I visited one house with such vividly bright neon green carpeting on the entire first floor that we could’ve dispensed with any lighting.
Something my FIL told us: never buy on a street that has double yellow lines. Why? Because it can become a thoroughfare and the city will take part of your front yard.
Check out the house at night, walk around during the day and see if its the kind of neighborhood you want to live in. I would even inquire about the neighbors so you have a better idea of how loud or welcoming the people next to you are. See if your street is a shortcut street. Sometimes people speed through those types of streets as I discovered in one of my rental houses.
Ultimately I rented a house in a neighborhood I thought I wanted to live in and turns out I hated it so now I bought a house on a street that is perfect for me as they say location, location location.
Look at a bunch of houses, then stop for a little while and let all the stuff you’ve seen settle in your brain for a while. Then go on line, like you’re doing here and get some opinions and look at new house plans and stuff like that. Then go out house shopping again with a more informed eye. Don’t settle, there are a ton of properties for sale these days, wait for the one you like. If you don’t find real estate agents annoying go out with them to look. But you can find tons of houses advertised and just go looking around at the exteriors by yourself. You don’t need an agent to find out about the neighborhood, as a matter of fact you shouldn’t trust what they say anyway. Obviously what’s inside the house will be important to you, but everytime you come home you’ll see the outside first, and you want to see something that will make you happy to come home to. Once you have a likely prospect call an agent or the owner to get an inside look. YMMV
This. Every time you see a house that you don’t like, that’s another data point.
Also this. If your realtor doesn’t listen to your list of must-haves, get another realtor - there are plenty of them out there. Drive through the back alleys of areas you like, too - I think you can tell as much about an area by the alleys as the front yards.
The old saying of the most important thing in buying a house is location is so true. Twice now we’ve bought a house that we liked very much, but both times, we’ve made an error in location and regretted it. The first time we couldn’t put a garage in the back yard because of a large telephone pole being in the way, and the second time, we live on a big hill, which I didn’t realize would be such a pain in the ass for walking! We also have rental units across the street from us, which has turned out to be a problem.
Oh, “Needs TLC” or “Handyman special!” is a red flag, unless you’re able to do repairs yourself. On the other hand, you can get a very good deal on a house that is run down and needing a “lipstick and rouge” renovation, as long as the fundamentals of the house are sound.
“Cozy” means really, really tiny. “Quaint” and “picturesque” means old and run-down.
One column is for “must have’s”: for instance, if you must have 3 bedrooms and two baths and a garage and backyard, etc.
One column is for “would be nice”: for instance, finished basement, pool, two car heated garage, etc.
Stick to price. Make sure that price includes all repairs and upgrades you want to do/have to do after you buy the house.
And yes, no shortcuts to actually going and seeing each place - but your list should narrow down the number of places you need to see.
Location is very important - do you want to be so near a school you hear those kids every day, coming and going from school and during the breaks? Is it near shopping or near a highway/freeway to get where you need to go? Think in terms of rain/snow/wind/storms of any kind - is there a hill that could cause landslide or flooding, trees that could fall on house, will it be easy to get in or out in an emergency? Some of this will cause higher rates for home insurance.
Don’t settle, but also don’t fall in love…if your heart goes pitter-patter, that is good, but don’t let the heart convince you to go over budget because of one or two things that blow you away…yeah, a pool is great, but does it overcome the fact that the foundation of your house, or the entire roof of the house, will need total repair in the next five years?
I think when the right house comes along, you will know. Often you don’t even have to get out of the car to see this isn’t the house…and often you will go in with low expectations and suddenly discover a gem.
Have fun but remember this is probably the biggest financial investment of your life so just pretend mom or dad is sitting on your shoulder and what would they say? Sometimes that helps to bring you back down to reality.
My thoughts from my home buying experience once upon a time.
Travel time to work is a bonus but may change dramatically if you change jobs. for about 6 years I had a 7 minute trip to work.
Look for grocery stores, post offices, doctors office, everything you may commonly visit. How far away are they.
Never look twice at anything with white carpet. It will look like utter crap within a week.
Always spend less than you think you can afford and plan on a few months of letting your budget settle out. Its amazing how many “little things” a house can need and those expenses add up. I actually budgeted myself an extra 20% over my payment a month for a long time in savings and it will save your ass if you do and a major appliance dies or the neighbor kid puts a baseball through your 6’x12’ front window. Even if you think you are ok, building a nest egg for the eventual need to reroof, repaint, or whatever. One of my “must haves” on my list was an unpainted brick or masonry exterior. I hate painting. After I left that house the first thing the moron that bought it did was paint it, and I think it looks horrid.
Work with your agent - it is literally their job. Do all of things mentioned above, and then present your findings to your agent, and ask them to come up with a good list of properties to look at that meet that criteria (location from work, acreage, etc.). If you feel like your agent isn’t working with you, cut and run. If you are not 100% comfortable taking to him/her, walk away.
There are a lot of real estate agents that suck, big time, and are thinking of moving quick because they are thinking of the commission check. Number one warning sign - make sure your agent listens to you. Not just nods at your checklist, but listens to and notes your comments about different houses you’re looking at. Not just tells stories about how her kid went to that school, but listens and notes what your kids are like and what they may need in a neighborhood and school.
Note - just because your agent encourages you to move quickly on a home doesn’t mean they’re a jerk. In our area, and particularly in our town, home sales are moving lighting fast. Several agents in our office have properties that are being listed and have accepted offers in less than a week. If you are suspicious of why your agent is pushing you to move fast, ask to see the recent time intervals from houses listed to houses sold in that neighborhood. Those numbers exist, are easy to get for an agent, and are not secret. You’ll be able to tell if she/he is full of shit.
The listings I look at regularly have included Walk Scores in them now, and I love it! They’re not completely accurate since I walk a lot further than a lot of people, but they’re a good rule of thumb - a house with a Walk Score of 10 is not right for me, since I prefer to walk to everything I can. I don’t know if the listings the OP is looking at have that, but I hope they do. Thinking about things like that for yourself are a good idea, too, though - I have a good grocery store within walking distance of me, but it’s uphill on the way home - that can change things.
I don’t know how your budget is, but when I house-hunted mine was pretty limited. I was approved for 105K but didn’t want to go over 97K, so I was really careful to not start edging into that 110K zone.
I knew that I would not have money to do anything beyond new paint and curtains, so whatever I picked had to perfectly fit my needs. As my realtor told me, if you have unlimited funds, you can afford to be picky. If you have a limited budget, you can’t afford NOT to be picky.
I had a short must-have list: fenced or fence-able, garage off the kitchen, no basement (preferably), near kids’ school; but every item was extremely important so I kept those priorities in place.
If you find a place that you love except for the major remodel you would need to make it fit your life, move on. The perfect house is out there.
Enjoy, and good luck!
