If you’re thinking about a particular property and are checking out the neighborhood, be sure to take a drive on the street behind the property, if one exists. That way you can see if the place shares a backyard fence with the neighborhood meth house or other trouble spot.
I disagree. Carpet and paint are two things I’d overlook because they are easily (though not necessarily inexpensively) replaced.
Personally, I’d rather own a home with good bones that needs work in a nice or up-and-coming neighborhood than one that was completely fixed up and at the top of my budget. Why? 2 main reasons:
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Here in Ohio anyway, property taxes are assessed based on the value of your home. The tax assessor rarely makes home visits to reappraise the property. That means a fixer upper will be assessed at a lower rate for the length of your ownership vs. than the one that is pristine.
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With a fixer-upper, you can make changes and do upgrades as your budget allows, knowing that if/when you go to sell you will recoup that money. If you buy a home at the top of your budget, you won’t have any wiggle room should something break down.
I agree 100% with the advice to get a realtor who listens to you. Ask her where the up-and-coming neighborhoods are, where the safe neighborhoods are, where the neighborhoods are with people in your demographic. It is his/her job to weed through all the properties and only show you the ones that would appeal to you, based on your very clear feedback.
Good luck!
Check the FBI and Census databases for the areas you’re interested in. There is a wealth of info if you have the patience to figure out how to access it. There might also be some good info at the NAR site.
Check to see if you are in a radon remediation area.
Obviously get a full inspection but take points off if the electrical system is more than 20 years old and if the roof or heating system is more than 15 or so years old.
Electric hot water heaters tend to last about 5 years so ask about that.
Real Estate speak: Fred Dagg explains what RE advertisements are really saying.
(YouTube skit: 3 mintues)
I agree with the recommendations above for a checklist, it will keep you focused on what you need and you won’t get distracted by one cool feature of a house. My checklist had 3 ‘must haves’ and it was tempting to settle for a house that only had 2 of those, but I kept looking until I found one with all the ‘must haves’, plus a few of the ‘would be nice’ features.
Don’t get discouraged if you see a lot of crappy houses, it’s the crappy ones that don’t sell quickly that fill up the listings making it seem like there are a lot of choices. There are good houses, you just have to sort through the crap and be patient.
(Actually, I think that was yellow lines, period.)
Prepare to look for a looooong time to find what you what in your lower price range, then be prepared to make an offer the moment you find the house with your “must haves”. Mine were a safe neighborhood, good roof and heating/air conditioning, and low utilities.
Best thing I did was not wait for my agent but instead check the MLS listings every day and tell her which ones I wanted to see. Took me most of a (rather discouraging) year, but when I walked through it I just knew and it scared me. I ran away but thought better of it a couple of hours later and made a full price offer, which beat the other two offers they got that day.
Please remember that your real estate agent may be friendly, but they are not your friend. They are there to make money. You are not there to be their friend, make them happy, or forge a relationship in any way. Don’t be afraid to disappoint them. Don’t be afraid to change your mind or refuse something. Don’t hire anyone whose card they give you (except the title company for closing, nothing you can do about that). Ask around or Google for a home inspector; be there when they finish their inspection. Don’t buy a home warranty even if the inspector ‘guarantees’ you’ll need and use it; if they mention a specific thing, get a professional in for their opinion and go from there.
Your agent shouldn’t have a problem w/ any of this if they’re professional. If they’re NOT professional, they’ll pout, lie, raise their voice w/ you, talk you into using their friends in the home inspection and mortgage business and maybe even bring their kids (and one kid’s girlfriend) along on one or several of your viewing appointments w/o telling you first.
Here’s a slightly different suggestion: imagine you own the house you have selected, and want to sell it. That mental experiment can bring an entirely new perspective to the place. Suddenly you can see the faults, the things you’d have to repair, the other things you’d have to persuade a buyer to accept.
It’s not a bad idea to walk around the neighbourhood you’re thinking of buying into as well. I would have probably realized that all my walking around here was going to end with an uphill walk if I had done that thoroughly.
And it gives you information for your “must not have” list, which is as important as the “must have”. When I was looking for a flat to buy, “lift” was supposed to be a plus - until I saw a place where it was big enough for two people if they really, really liked each other. “Lift added afterwards, not large enough for a pram” joined my no-way list (I wasn’t planning on needing a pram, but I was planning on bringing up small furniture).
That’s right - you’ll see things that you didn’t even realize you wanted or didn’t want. We saw a great house with a gorgeous sun-room - I didn’t add sun-room to my “must-have” list, but it sure would be nice if there was one, or room to build one!