Due to certain information we received from my landlord this past weekend (she might be selling this place we are renting), we need to start looking for another place to live. In looking for another place to rent, all the 3 bedrooms are $900. Wow - we could have a mortgage payment for that! Which got us thinking, maybe we will just buy. We will still keep an eye open for a cheap (nothing more then $800) place to rent, but we will also start looking at houses to buy. I have a slight (very slight) idea on what is going on when it comes to buying a home. The biggest thing I wonder is, what do you ask your agent about a house. So I'm putting it out for whomever reads my blog: What questions did you ask your Realtor about a house you are looking to buy? This is I have thought of is:
1. How long has it been on the market? Any contracts? If so, why did they fall through?
2. Age of water heater + furnace.
3. Has the house ever flooded?
4. What is the neighbor hood like?
Ha - I defintily need some input on this matter. So if there was any question you think are important to ask, let me know! I had some more, but I can't think right now. It's past my bedtime..lol. Thanks for any + all help!
9 comments:
just do a home inspection, that it the most important thing ever!! Legally the homeowner has to state anything wrong with the house that they know of. The other thing I would suggest is talk to the neighbors before you buy so you know problems in the neighborhood, schools, and what's really gone on in the house, like a meth.
I love utahrealestate.com. I have used it to buy two homes and love how I can change my search options and keep an eye on what's on the market. You can also see how long its been on the market. I love looking for homes. Good luck!
Yes we will definitly do a home inspection! No doubt about that. And thanks for the tip about talking to the neighbors! Good idea. I will be doing that too. Thanks Rachel! :)
Well, obviously, I've never bought a house, so I don't know what info is available to the realtor, but if they have info about utility bills, that would be nice to know (if bills are outrageously high, that would be an added expense each month. Or perhaps windows aren't air tight and will need to be replaced). Knowing school districts and ward boundaries would also be important.
When you are looking for a house, make sure you take your camera with you and a pros/cons list for each house, plus any comments you may have about each house (what you love about it, what needs fixed, etc). You might be looking at a lot of houses, and it would be easy to get them mixed up about which house has which features.
Good luck! And I'm very jealous :)
We are house hunting right now too. This will be our third home purchase. Some tips:
*Take your time. We did a whirl wind one or two day, look at 30 homes and then put in an offer. Don't be in a hurry.
*Look at crime. There are websites that you can see sex offenders etc.
*Agree with above: School zones and ward boundaries matter.
*Distance- from work, schools, shopping, parks, freeways, from railroad tracks & from airports... noisy places and smelly places. Our first home was a mile away from a slaughter house and it'd totally stink.
*Check out the neighborhood. Walk around it at different times a day, like when school starts/ends and work day starts/ends.
*Be there when the home inspection is done. We've always done a long distance buy and had our realtor there for the inspection.
*Before making an offer, open every window, turn on every faucet, open every door, drawer, etc. Go slowly.
*Look at zillow, look at mls listings
*Find out real estate taxes, they can add a lot
*Get a pre-approval letter from a lender before you shop... that way you have a good idea how much house you can afford to buy.
I'm sure I have more, but these are the ones that come to mind first. Have fun!
Thanks everyone for all the wonderful + amazing tips! I am going to be doing all these suggestions! Luckily for us we shouldn't have to move out at least till the summer (or even longer if it take a while to sell the place) so we should have time to find just the right place! Thanks again - ya'll are awesome :)
I haven't ever bought a home, but I've been through the headache listening to everyone talk about it.
Get a good real estate agent! Someone you trust-ask around. If you don't like who you have, FIRE THEM IMMEDIATELY. Too many people are looking for work to keep ones that won't treat you right. My brother almost got sued because of his moron real estate agent screwing up paperwork constantly.
Legally, the REA (real estate agent) can't tell you if the neighborhood is a good one or not, it's against equal oppurtunity housing. You could ask them if THEY would live in that neighborhood.. but best thing is to ask the neighbors. Better yet, you can actually get the police report faxed to you from their department. We did that when we were looking for apartments. One report for the year was 10 pages... but it was mostly noise, cars being keyed and domestic disturbances. One apartment complex had quite a few shootings. It was good to know.
Drive around, find a neighborhood you like, look for houses for sale in that neighborhood.
Negotiate! My brother bought an expensive house and they went down more than $20,000 on the price.... check the fair market value for the neighborhood, too.
Shop around! Remember you might have to sell the house in the future... my poor sister in law-they always wanted to fix up the house they used to live in but never did. When they tried to sell it they had to put in $5,000 of improvements (brought the value up $30,000 though)... but she never got to enjoy her granite counters.
Thanks Anna! We do have an awesome real estate angent. I had two friends tell me to go through her. One of those friends has used her a couple different times.
And we will be shopping around lots. Not in a huge hurry since we have at least till July.
Thanks for all the info :)
That's so exciting. You'll have to let me know everything you learn. Nick and I are gonna start house hunting soon too! Hopefully get into a house sometime this year.
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