...buy a house

[TypicalDeviant]

Not the exchange of cash necessarily, but all the other crap.

The wife and I are house hunting and could use any advice the varied populace of Literotica has. What do you wish you knew? What do you wish you had done differently? What worked for you?

Thanks!

 

[Lost_Yonder]

Not the exchange of cash necessarily, but all the other crap.

The wife and I are house hunting and could use any advice the varied populace of Literotica has. What do you wish you knew? What do you wish you had done differently? What worked for you?

Thanks!

Having a great realtor makes a world of difference, but unfortunately you don't usually know how good, or bad they are till afterwards! But someone who listens to you and seems to show you what you are looking for is a good start - and they don't all do that! Shop around, don't just go with one - ask a few, talk to them, make sure you get along - ask them to show you a few houses, just make it clear that you are also talking to other realtors before you choose one to work with.

Also, be clear on some basic things you are looking for - amenities, locale, distance from work, sq. ft., etc. - but be flexible. I like taking the shot-gun approach - look at a lot of different houses initially, even one's you aren't that interested in to get a feel of what is out there.

Be patient.

Have fun!

 

[sunandshadow]

Yeah, make a list - we decided we wanted a house with central air and parking that wasn't just on the side of the street and at least 1 and a half bathrooms, and I was astonished how many of the houses for sale in this area did not have what my housemate and I both considered really basic, essential features. On the other hand we didn't find out until after we moved in that the house was built on the site of a demolished building, and the yard was filled with bricks and crap from that, and thus agonizing to dig or plant anything in. If I had known then how much I was going to get into gardening as a hobby, both that and the fact that the back yard has no truck access and poor sun would all have been things that made me think twice.

Also its important to hire an inspector to inspect the house before you make any offers on it. They might tell you the house has an obnoxious problem like mold in the walls, or radon, or the bathroom tilework is disintegrating, or the roof is rotten, or any number of things that would be time-consuming and expensive to correct.

 

[Derroreaper]

Get pre-approved, if you haven't already. Sellers are more apt to take a lesser offer serious if they know you wont be wasting their time.

Talk to the neighbors near any house you like a lot. You can learn a lot about the people you might be dealing with every weekend (Loud parties etc).

This one might sound stupid, but check all the toilets and bath tubs. Working plumbing is one thing, slow running drains, and super cheap fixtures can cost you a pretty penny later.

 

[Ldy_Sea]

Check out the houses at different times of day. Look at your sun exposure and who is around he neighborhood.

Chek crime reports with teh local PD. especially nuisance crimes like loud parties, trespassing, vandalism. When I moved into my current house Within the first several months I had over 15 tires slashed on 3 cars including 7 at one time on mothers day.

turns out this had been going on a year or so and if I had asked the local PD or any of the people in the neighborhood, I would have known this and not bought this house.

Check with yur electrical company about the priority of power restoratin for your address in a black out.

I live in FL and after the 2004 hurricanes my street didn't get power back until everyone else in our subdivision had power for 3-4 days. Because there is only about 15 houses on the street and no businesses or other priority facilities.

What cable, internet, and phone providers are available and the costs.

If in a city what if any laws they may have for pets. or county (if applicable.)

If you are going in an area with an active HOA get a copy of the bylaws to make sure they are not too restrictive for you.

Accessability to things you consider important. Restaurants schools shpping churches etc . . .

Space considerations. If you are pack rats is there enough storage for your stuff or wil the house be cramped.

Exsisting furniture youplan on keeping. Make sure it fits where you want it. Use a tape measure and graph paper if necessary.

Check how old the electrical and plumbing are. I called an electrician to add a few outlets and 2 weeks and 5K later the whole house had been completly rewired.

Age/condition of major appliances. We were told the AC was new when we moved into this house and it died within 3 weeks of our move in date. The previous owner stole parts from his employer and built a juryrigged unit.

thats all I can think of at the moment.

 

[NippleMuncher]

Also its important to hire an inspector to inspect the house before you make any offers on it.

IMHO as a former general contractor, home inspectors are merely a means to remove money from your pockets. Care to hazard a guess as to where home inspections originated? If you guessed Washington DC, home of the most paranoid and litigious parasites on the planet, you'd be right.

In my pre-retirement days, not that long ago, ANYBODY could be a home inspector, all you had to do is take a one day class to register yourself as an inspector. I took the class, but decided that it was not conducive to what I wanted to do with my business. The class focused more on what NOT to do than what an inspection should include. When all is said and done, the inspection means nothing.

So what do you really need? Absolutely, positively get a pest inspection. The report should be broken down into two sections, title 1 and title 2. Title one items are active problems, such as rot, mold, leaks, or pests. Title 2 items are relatively inconsequential things such as cracked or fogged windows, missing door/window hardware, etc.

When hiring a pest company, you want one that does both inspections and repair work. Companies of this nature generally provide a more honest appraisal of the home than those who ONLY do inspections and treatments. Also, a company that does the repair will give you an estimate on the repairs, which not only gives you an idea how extensive the damage is, it helps you to determine if other contractors hired for the job are being fair with their bids. Pest work was one of my specialties, so I can give you more insight here if you have specific questions.

For one last crack at home inspectors, all you are getting is an opinion on the condition of the home, that is all. There is no recourse if the inspector missed something detrimental or mislead you as to the actual condition of the home. They are not responsible for anything other than to give you an opinion for whatever fee they charge.

What should you be looking for? The ideas proposed by others are spot on. Is it located near schools, amenities that you need/want? Does the property have adequate access for your needs, e.g. RV access, adequate driveway/street parking, etc.? Does the house itself have the amenities you require, e.g. well planned kitchen, plenty of bathrooms/bedrooms, pool, yard, etc.

Be aware that the home's orientation to North and South on the compass will affect how the house and yard are shaded throughout the day/seasons. There are many times where the street curves and you don't realize that your house is not sitting in the orientation that you thought. This, of course, is not only important for shade, it is important for sun if you intend to have a veggie garden or have other special needs for the yard.

I'll stop there for now, if you have some specific questions, just ask.

 

[IsabellaKing]

Knock on the neighbours door - on the pretext of asking something about the neighbourhood. It'll give you some idea as too whether you could live next door to them.

Never buy an old house unless you really love spending all your spare time doing renovation work.

 

[SweetErika]

Oh yes, definitely think about the sun exposure! We failed to do that (we just saw a nice, bright home in the spring) and it was a huge fucking mistake because we get cooked all day when it's warm out.

Another thing we didn't check was the trees surrounding our home. A couple of years later, we had to have a huge, perilous oak removed at the bargain price of $2400 after a big branch punched a hole in our roof and the whole thing started threatening not only our home, but our neighbor's. It turns out the sellers knew that tree was rotting and dangerous well before they sold the house.

One thing we DID look at was the "extras," like appliances, closet organization systems and shelving in the garage. This house had good appliances (save for the washer and dryer, which we sent with the seller in exchange for keeping the fridge) that are still working great and a lot of shelving/organization, which has saved us tons of money.

I totally get where Nip's coming from on the home inspection front. In fact, some company has just been advertising However, I think they CAN be very useful if you hire an inspector with a stellar reputation and a ton of experience. Ours had both of those things, and save for the bad tree, we haven't had any surprises yet. He gave us excellent tips, accurate estimates on the condition and checked everything so we knew what to expect in terms of future repairs, plus he pointed out some things we wouldn't have thought of and gave us cost estimates on fixing/replacing them so we could ask for compensation from the seller. There's a lot of shit you don't think about or see when you're used to an apartment, or even condo/townhome! Now when we buy our next home, we'll have a much better idea of what to look for ourselves, but as first-time homebuyers, the inspection was definitely work the 300 bucks or so, and I wouldn't hesitate to hire a really superb inspector again.

 

[Maxell46]

Location location location!!!
First and foremost: Location.

Meaning: School Districts if kids are in your future ( or already there )

Great advice already given but being aware of what schools kids will attend should be a big part of the home buy.

Pest Inspections-
I've no idea where another poster lives so perhaps it's completely different there but here a pest inspections are for Wood Destroying Insects ( certain molds/fungus are included ) ...they don't go around doing home inspections for foggy windows and structural damage not done by pests. At least not here in NY. We have extremely strict codes for WDI reports and the report has nothing to do with the structural integrity of the home outside the realm of Termites/Carpenter Ants/Wood Destroying insects/Fungus .
Having spent the better part of 30 years working on/in homes with the last 20 in Pest Control ( sold my pest control company last April ...retired from the business ) I've done hundreds upon hundreds of WDI reports.

A structural engineer is a MUST IMO. These folks are some of the ones who do the home inspections here in NY...Not a pest control guy who's main concern is finding termites and carpenter ants because they make lots of $ on those insects if found.
No Home Inspection Report = no mortgage here in NY. Its very cut and dry.
Maybe other states its done differently...but here its a rather grueling process to become a home inspector.
IMO a home inspection done by a well trained pro is a MUST!
The home will be your biggest investment and well worth a few hundred $ .
Spening 100s of thousands on a home and then skimping on a few hundred bucks is foolish...
Get the Home Inspection done.

Anyways...
just a few thoughts

 

[culloden]

Lots of good advice. As another former builder, I'd particularly like to second NippleMuncher's advice about home inspectors. Consider that they get most of their referrals from Realtors, and they won't get many referrals if they point out troubles with houses that cause problems with sales. I actually considered becoming a home inspector until I went on a couple of ride-alongs and realized I couldn't compromise myself enough to succeed in that business. By all means, hire an engineer or a trusted contractor to look at the house. Make sure they're acting as your agent. Don't simply trust the Realtors recommendation. (If you go the contractor route, you may still need a licensed home inspector to satisfy your mortgage holder.)

In general, don't trust what the Realtor has to say. Sure, there are some good ones out there - ask around locally with your friends and family. But in my experience, well, I've been lied to or misled by Realtors more than any other class of human being on the planet. Their job is to sell houses. It's all commission. No sale, no pay.

In addition to what everyone else has had to say, I'd caution you to look for water issues. Does the lot slope away from the house? Is there evidence of moisture in the basement or crawlspace? Musty smell? Rot? Mold? There is nothing more damaging to a house, or more expensive to fix, than an uncontrolled water problem.

 

[AdjectiveNounVerb]

Building on what others have said, definitely make a trip through the neighborhood at dusk before you make an offer. I had a house I loved - until I did that.

Check the FEMA FIRM maps. Flood insurance is an additional cost if you have to buy it. Also, if you're in a coastal area of a hurricane state, check to see what storm surge category you're in. I ruled out a house because it was in a Category 1 surge zone; the one I bought is theoretically safe through a Category 3.

Also, as far as the location - how long is your daily commute going to be? That can be huge, especially given the ever-increasing cost of gas.

Remember, too, things are going to be tradeoffs. I told my realtor flat-out I will never buy a house in a HOA. Which is fine, but basically ruled out any house I could afford within twelve miles of where I work. I was ok with that tradeoff. Someone else might not have been.

Finally, culloden is right. Realtors lie. Think "stereotypical used car salesman". On that note, your city has a Comprehensive Plan or Master Transportation Plan, probably online. Read it. It may say that little two-lane 35mph road the house is on is scheduled to get widened to a 4-lane 45mph highway with a median. A lot of realtors either won't tell you that or will tell you not to worry because "they won't really ever build it". You can get burned that way - I've seen it happen all too much.

 

[culloden]

Flood insurance is a great point! Be very, very careful. After Katrina, FEMA vastly increased the areas considered subject to federal flood insurance. FEMA's action is an over-reaction to the woeful planning done pre-Katrina. A friend of mine was recently required to start purchasing flood insurance on his house, in a area that's geologically documented not to have flooded in at least a thousand years. The new flood zones can be challenged. If you have the money to do a hydrology study of the entire basin, that is. Which you don't. Make absolutely sure you're not surprised by finding out that a house that never required flood insurance now does. This should be a part of your title search - Be sure it is.

 

[TheB]

1. Go sit in the neighborhood, at night or weekends. Get the feel for how things are, ie, kids playing, traffic speeds, traffic noise.
2. Learned this with my first house. Talk to someone that you know will give you straight answers with mortgages. If you have 20percent down, no PMI. if you don't, research an 80/20 loan. 80 on the first, 20 on a second....gets rid of PMI. Check the fees and rates on getting the second, it may no be worth it.

 

[Down_UnderKid]

went through this 6 months ago with mine and my gf first house. Very exciting times ahead, but do research.
make sure you go to as many open days as possible to see what you get for your money
get pre approval so you dont get let down if you cant borrow what you want
look under beds, behind doors, corners of roofs, check out appliances ie heating, cooling.
do drive arounds of the neighbourhood to check it out at different times
try find out the reason for selling, if they want a quick settlement you have room to negotiate a price to suit the short settlement (thats what we did)


we got our house cheaper than what they were after because they wanted a quick settlement.

like i said check as much as you can. When we moved in, we had to pull up carpet in one room because it smelt like kids piss (they masked the smell in inspections with air freshners) then when we turned on the AC the smell had gotten into that.

good luck and save as much as you can and go into the house with money spare to by/fix stuff that might pop up

 

[njlauren]

I totally recommend getting your own home inspector to look at the place, the people the real estate people bring in might be qualified, but they also have a conflict of interest since they are trying to help say the place. It might cost you a couple of bucks, but get someone who is a structural engineer, a PE is a pretty good choice, if you have any doubts about the house, especially an older house or at the very least find an inspector other people have used and liked (things like Angie's List are not a bad deal). The big things in a house are the structural integrity, the wiring and the plumbing, how good the roof is and so forth, they are all big ticket items. Also check for things like if the area has a high water table and if the basement seems to have problems with dampness/mustiness and the like, I firmly recommend finding a home in an area that doesn't have groundwater problems, pain in the neck to remediate. I also recommend finding a house with 200 amp electrical service, lot of older houses still have 100 amp service and frankly it may be strained.

I agree with others as well, decide what it is you want in a house, what are the major things you need, what you might wish for. For example, if you want central air but the house doesn't have it, and it is baseboard heat, it can be really expensive to put in central AC.

If you have kids you want to send to the public schools, how are they? What kind of programs do they offer? What kind of test scores and such do they have? Note that in a lot of places, the best schools tends to come with towns with higher property taxes (depends on how schools are paid for, of course, lot of places it is local taxes; on the other hand there are towns with pretty average schools who have high property taxes, because taxes are done by the county, and the county happened to have cities like Newark and Patterson and such in them, you get hosed in those kinds of place (this is NJ). Also, what kind of tax base does the town have? Lots of bucolic towns out there, with charming homes, restricted commercial base, and you pay through the nose for it.

In the town, how are town services? Do you have to pay for your own garbage collection (some towns you do)...police? How is fire protection done, professional or volunteer (volunteer tends to be more cost effective, for obvious reasons)? Does the town do recycling pickup, or do you have to take it to the recycling center? How strict are the building codes (not talking about safety per se, but rather about the 'esthetic' codes), where for example if you think you might like to have a wildflower garden in the front yard you may get fined, or if you want to put a shed on your back property they may give you a hard time, etc...(all kinds of stupidity out there, especially in the burbs, not even with HOA's).

One biggie? If you are living in a cold zone, try to find a house with natural gas rather then oil heat, I would not buy a house with oil heat unless I had the money to convert it (and natural gas was available). For all the bluster of the oil heat industry, the gas units are cleaner, they are more efficient and more importantly natural gas prices are likely to remain pretty stable for the foreseeable future, while oil prices are going to keep rising, even with the move to use natural gas more (as i write this, the stand futures contract is down below 2 bucks for 2500 mmbtu/month contracts for some future months, has halved in the last several years while oil has gone up).

Also look for good layout in a house. For example, if you can find a house that a)has a laundry area and b)is on the main level or better, on the level with the bathrooms, that is a wonderful thing, take it from me, beats in a multi level house trudging to a basement laundry area. Having a decent size place as a family room is nice if you have kids, even better if it is close to the kitchen/dining room (just my preference, depends on what you like). A kitchen should have a lot of cabinet and counter space, or at least as much as possible, you never have enough

Obviously some of these also depend on your budget and such. I would say the structural and infrastructure things are critical, other things can always be addressed later on

 

[TypicalDeviant]

Holy crap this is a lot of good advice (he said as he furiously scribbled down notes).

Keep it coming!

 

[Down_UnderKid]

just thought of something else

take as many different people through the house as you can(if possible)

first time i went though our house i was excited as its what i wanted

second time i went through with my gf/fiance and we were both excited, but i looked a bit harder

3rd time we had our olds there and they found heaps of stuff i didnt notice (where is the clothes line, no door stops, did u see that crack there ect)


also make sure the owners of the house arent in the house during any inspection. pester the hell out of the estate agent to do this. i inspected our house to measure up for things and the woman was there, her feral kids were bugging me and the house was a mess. tell them to leave, its 30mins max.

 

[laceNlthrgrrl]

Shop your loan options.

Hire a home inspector with the best rep you can find. Make any final deals contingent on the home inspection.

 

[subwannabe]

Really good advice so far. I have to say again, home inspection. They will let you know every burned out light bulb in the place. You could run up several hundred dollars if you wind up having to do a few on different homes but what happens if you don't do it and you wind up buying a house with literally thousands or tens of thousands of dollars worth of problems? One thing I don't think anyone else really mentioned but in most cases you can't really trust your own real estate agent (especially if you are the seller) to be on your side. They split the commission with the other realtor - they are on their side to "get the sale and commission" and often think of themselves first and their customers second. They often lie or do tricks behind your back for their own benefit. Of course not all are like this, but probably more than half are. The last thing I can ditto is checking out the neighborhood and, if you can, police reports from that area. There are several different ways to go about this, some already mentioned. Even though it can be a nice neighborhood beware of the neighbors from hell.

 

[TallMan69]

Know how much house you can afford. Your realtor/bank will be a big help. But there's no shame in staying lower. Too uncertain of times to go higher though (bubble housing market, tough job market and houses just are not a good investment besides for the benefit of the creature comforts they will offer your family).

We live in a collapsed housing boom with a lot of previous homeowners that shouldn't have been homeowners or who bought more home than they could afford. So don't overlook the foreclosed, bank owned homes. Banks don't want to own homes. They want money so they are often very motivated sellers.

I would say get a short term warranty agreement built into the sale negotiation the if something goes wrong say in the first 12 months (probably because it had probs that didn't show up with the inspection but were broke or not working optimally from when the house was previously owned but will get picked up by the warranty protection if you have it.

Get comp houses listed so you can know if it really is a fair market price. Ask how long a house has been on the market. It might have some hidden reason for why it's not selling.

Have a plan to have as much unpacked within 6 months. Whatever doesn't get unpacked within that time will stay in boxes for many more months (if not years!). Ask the packrats on the thread!

Have a list of things you have to have (ie 3 bedrooms or an attached garage) vs things that would just be fun (garden tub, breakfast bar).

Good luck! And happy hunting!

 

[AdjectiveNounVerb]

We live in a collapsed housing boom with a lot of previous homeowners that shouldn't have been homeowners or who bought more home than they could afford. So don't overlook the foreclosed, bank owned homes. Banks don't want to own homes. They want money so they are often very motivated sellers.

Agreed but with one caveat: foreclosed homes may be more of "fixer-uppers" than other homes, at least if the ones I looked at and the one my friend bought are any indication. I think how long they're unoccupied has something to do with it. Plus, people who are trying to sell their house may make minor repairs if they know there's something glaring that would be a turn-off for people looking at the place, which I don't think banks do (hence listings that say "as-is").

Totally unrelated thought about location: find out if there's a nearby noise or odor generator. When I was a kid, we moved to a house where very often it would smell horrible outside. Turns out we were less than a mile from the largest sewer treatment plant in the state. My parents hadn't known it was there and the seller didn't volunteer the info since they weren't required to. And as for noise, the obvious one's an airport, but there's other things that can do it. I've even heard people complain about the noise from high school football games & band practices.

 

[Irol]

Having looked at over 100 homes and offers in on several we finally found the one we belonged in. An inspection is most important. We thought we had a sure thing and the inspection revealed a foundation crack that would have cost around $20k to fix. Another one ended up being in the flood zone. Another one had had an addition built on years ago but never had the final inspection so it still had a permit open on it and wasn't really "approved" to live in. It was a simple fix but our contract ran out by the time the permit was closed and someone else put in an offer.

Look at the home, A LOT! If your realtor isn't willing to open the doors for you several times then they're not worth your time. Find a new realtor who will be patient. This is a 30 year investment. Wanting to look at it 5-10 times should be acceptable. Go when it rains, when it's windy, when it's sunny, etc. Look in the basement for signs of moisture and leaks.

Move some furniture! If the house isn't empty you'd be surprised what people try to hide with furniture. Anything from rotten hardwood to termite damage.

Go around all windows and doors with your hand. Do you feel a breeze? Leaky windows mean high cost to heat and cool homes. The window may be fine but it may not be caulked or insulated around it well.

Bring a level and a flashlight! Put a level on the walls, on the floor, the windows, door ways, etc. A house built off level can be a pain in 10 years when you want to update and want new doors and things.

Meet the neighbors. They will tell you a host of history on the home.

Make sure it's not in a flood zone; flood insurance is very expensive.

If the basement has exposed ceilings pay a lot of attention to areas around pipes (kitchen sink, bathroom tub and toilet and sink). Is there old water damage? new water damage? Look under cabinets where sinks are to see if any signs of leaks. Some of these are simple fixes, others require floors to be torn out because of mold.

Get a realtor for yourself. Don't go from house to house calling the name on the sign. The name on the sign is being paid for by the person selling the house. Their best intesterest is for the seller not the buyer. Get someone who is there to represent you, the buyer.

....and look up a good mortgage calculator. I have one on an excel spread sheet. You plug in the price and interest and how many years you're going to pay. It will tell you what your total purchase price will be when all is said and done. It also tells you month by month how much goes to interest and how much goes to the actual house. Very neat tool, i use it for other things in life as well.

 

[unregistered]

 

[unregistered]

 

[glynndah]

Check out the zoning in the area you want to live AND find out if anyone's applied for a zoning variance. We'd settled on a house we liked, had it checked out by a contractor friend, and were all ready to make an offer on the house when we decided to make one more trip by the place. When we turned the corner, we were greeted by the sight {and thankfully not the scent} of dozens upon dozens of farrowing huts in the fields surrounding the property. Our potential neighbors had opted to go into the hog business.

Needless to say, we passed on that house.