First time home buyer - totally clueless!

LaurelJoy91 · February 2014

H and I are meeting with a Realtor on Saturday to look at some potential houses. We are completely new to this. Any ladies out there have experience with house hunting that can give me input on what sort of questions to ask or things to look for that might not be quite so obvious to newbies like us?

LadyMacaron · February 2014

Gosh, there is so many things that I look for vs. what you may look for. We all have different needs for our growing families, you know? I mean, aside from how many bedrooms/bathrooms you want, do you want a one story or two? Do you need an office? Are you willing to take care of a large yard? Are you willing to put in work or do you want something ready to move into?

In my opinion, the best thing to do is to make dream list and then do a little research on your area. Sometimes you realize very quickly what is an attainable dream vs. unrealistic one is on your budget. For example, if your budget is under 200K, you may find it hard to find a house with granite or hardwood floors. After all that fun stuff, we always ask about HOA fees, yearly taxes, neighborhood amenities, is there a gas line, how long ago the ac/water heater/etc was replaced, do the appliances come with the house. We also like to have a large privacy fence, so we ask about that.

There is actually a "Buying a Home" board on The Nest that has great info. I would def. go lurk/post there.

LaurelJoy91 · February 2014

LadyMacaron said:

Gosh, there is so many things that I look for vs. what you may look for. We all have different needs for our growing families, you know? I mean, aside from how many bedrooms/bathrooms you want, do you want a one story or two? Do you need an office? Are you willing to take care of a large yard? Are you willing to put in work or do you want something ready to move into?

In my opinion, the best thing to do is to make dream list and then do a little research on your area. Sometimes you realize very quickly what is an attainable dream vs. unrealistic one is on your budget. For example, if your budget is under 200K, you may find it hard to find a house with granite or hardwood floors. After all that fun stuff, we always ask about HOA fees, yearly taxes, neighborhood amenities, is there a gas line, how long ago the ac/water heater/etc was replaced, do the appliances come with the house. We also like to have a large privacy fence, so we ask about that.

There is actually a "Buying a Home" board on The Nest that has great info. I would def. go lurk/post there.

The things I bolded are the sort of details I was meaning. Obviously my husband and I have discussed the major things such as budget and how many bedrooms/bathrooms and whether or not we are willing to put work into fixing a place up. I'm just worried that there are all kinds of little details we're going to miss and then find out after signing all the papers that those 'little' things end up becoming big hassles. Things that someone wouldn't know to ask if they hadn't been through the experience before.

For example, I read one list saying you should always check the water pressure by turning on the faucet and the shower while simultaneously flushing the toilet, but I probably wouldn't have thought to do all of those at once and probably would have only checked one at a time, thought they seemed fine, only to find out later that you have to wait 10 minutes after flushing the toilet before you have enough water pressure to shower (this happened at my SIL's house while we were staying with her and it made it such a pain to get ready for work in the morning if you were running late and someone else beat you to the bathroom).

Thanks for the info about the home buying board, I've never been to The Nest but will definitely check it out. I'm sure they'll have some good input, but if any of our other fellow June moms have ideas I'd love to hear them. I trust you guys and like to hear your opinions.

LaurelJoy91 · February 2014

Tdonatoni said:

Make sure you trust the Realtor you are working with. Don't pick a random; ask friends or families for referrals and meet them to make sure that you get along with their personality before you start looking at homes.

Make sure you are pre-qualified for your loan. You will need to know what price range you can actually afford. You do not want to be looking at houses way outside of your budget because they will have everything on your checklist, you will fall in love and then be heartbroken when you realize that you cant actually afford it.

Understand that cosmetics can be changed, structure/foundation cant. Paint, flooring, cabinets, counter tops can all be changed. Location and the structure cannot. Look to see floors are slopping or if there are lots of cracks in the walls. Those are clues to foundation and structural issues.

Also, as fun are reality home buying shows are - they aren't real. So don't expect that you are going to look at three houses and have one be your dream home.

Good tip on the foundation, thanks! Also, I talked to someone today about getting pre-qualified, just have to wait for all the info go get processed and we're supposed to have an answer on price range sometime tomorrow.

LadyMacaron · February 2014

I def. agree with the above on cracks on the walls/ceiling. Foundation issues can be crazy expensive. Look for mold and water damage. A lot of these things though will be found during an inspection if you make an offer.

FeliciaTwo · February 2014

Definitely look around a bit first. For us, looking around helped us to understand what we wanted in a house, vs what didn't matter so much. For example, we found that location was a huge decider. We also wanted something "funky" that had something unusual about it. Anyway, my main suggestion is to look around a bit first. That way you also get an understanding of what is a good price and what is not.

I wanted to bid early and often, but luckily my husband held us off for a while. We live in an area where houses go FAST (1-2 weeks) so it helped that we saw TONS of houses, and thus could really recognize when we saw a great one.

Good luck!

ricecakes1216 · February 2014

We bought our first home in October. We drove around to almost every house that we had seen online. Resale is huge to me so I wanted to make sure that the neighborhood wasn't run down looking. My area is either brand new or 1950s that haven't been taken care of. We talked to our Realtor about the neighborhood we bought in (it's about 10 years old and very well maintained. Lots of homes ranging in price and all increasing in value). We decided HOA was important because the standards are much better and resale is really good in the neighborhood.

If you look at a neighborhood make sure to get all the covenants and read through them thoroughly. Some have really weird, strict ones and some are more relaxed. Also make sure you can afford the HOA fees.

I agree with everything Tdonatoni said. Be realistic and remember that the homes you are looking at are decorated in the current homeowners tastes, not yours. There are a lot of cosmetic stuff that you can and will change. And don't be afraid to go to the homes multiple times. We looked at our house three times before we decided to make an offer, each time we got more and more in depth.

hopin4babies · February 2014

When looking at the rooms try to picture your furniture in there. A room may seem big especially if it is empty but once you move in you may realize that it is actually tiny. Ask about how old the roof is, and major things like that. If it looks like it has been renovated pay close attention to those renovations. If they cut corners (for example put the trim on sloppy and incorrectly) then they probably cut corners in other places that can't be seen. When you find one and get an inspector do not go with an inspector that your realtor recommends (we made this mistake). Do your research on local inspectors and choose wisely. If the home has a crawl space make sure the inspector inspects it as well. Also I'm not sure if every county has this but the ones around me have an accessor site where you can look up properties and their info. You can see past sales and see if the property has gone up or down drastically in value which may show you red flags.

We just bought our first home in August so most of this is from recent experience. We are young so didn't have a lot of money. I wanted a fixer upper and we got a decent deal on our home but definitely missed many things. The previous homeowners did a lot of diy renovations and I realized this at the time and knew how to fix their mistakes but I didn't realize how many mistakes they made. There were a lot of hidden things we didnt notice and our inspectors didn't mention. For instance they just slapped the trim together (not one piece of it was put in even remotely correct) so we fixed all of the trim right away in the bedrooms and living room. When I removed the trim around one of the windows in our bedroom I found a 6 inch gap between the drywall and window. They had pieced together trim to make it wider and the blinds hid it. It wasn't a hard fix (just put up a piece of drywall to fit that area and mudded and painted) but it was frustrating that they were that stupid. They had replaced all windows in the home but were too cheap to buy the right size. We have also found many problems in the addition that they added but its too much to list. We love our home and knew we had work to do but it really infuriates me every time I find another corner they cut just because I like to do things right the first time. I will also add that we absolutely loved the woman that worked with us through the lender. She was always so helpful and would answer any stupid question I had with the whole home buying process. Try your best to find someone that is helpful whether it be your lender or realtor it really makes a stressful process easier. Don't be afraid to ask questions even if you think you sound stupid or annoying. If your realtor wants the sale make them work for it and do not buy unless you are 100% sure you love the home. Sorry this is so long but if you have any questions feel free to pm me. Good luck!

MrsLabRat · February 2014

We are in Escrow right now. Definitely look around yourself on Zillow and Red Fin. I agree with PP to ask about HOA and Mello roose (sp?) taxes (for newer cities). Also look UP when you are walking through a house- look at roofing and for potential water damage in ceilings, these are expensive repairs.

SarahSmile01 · February 2014

Everyone has such great suggestions! The only thing I would add is to make sure to look up the school district. An app like Zillow should tell you the closests schools and their ratings.

YetterEA · February 2014

Shop around for your mortgage and do you homework. This is the largest purchase of your life and you would astonished at the amount of people who put no time or effort into making sure they get the best loan (Part of my job entails making sure people get fair and equal access to credit so I know something about this, if you have specific questions later PM me). Make sure quotes you get for your monthly payment include escrow (property taxes and insurance). Bankrate.com is a good source for national lenders, but check out local ones too.

tbmadeamistake · February 2014

Remember that not estimated mortgage payments do it take into account things like insurance, PMI, and taxes. Always factor those in. Also look closely in basements for any signs of water. I think everything else I would say has already been mentioned. Good luck!

kibean · February 2014

Everyone does have good suggestions!

My realtor had us drive around the whole area for a while to get the feel for it. She also had me picture a day at home and try doing the things I would want or need to be doing (such as laundry) so you can get an idea if the layout is going to be a pain-3 sets of stairs between laundry and bedrooms might sound okay, but actually trying it out with a bunch of stuff in my arms was a deterrent.

Oh, and check out the crime maps and sex offender registries for your possible areas.

becomingmommyagain · February 2014

See if the county auditor has a website that you can search the property. They record things like room additions, taxes, prior mortgages, true property lines. Names of the current owners. These will all be helpful in evaluating the property and negotiating on a price. If you know what the owner paid and the amount of cash he put down compared to current market prices, you can make a much better estimate on what you're willing to pay. Also, google the owners and look them up on facebook- it seems creepy - but if you can get an idea of the kind of people they are, you may be able to get a better deal - young family, older couple, single, widower, divorce...they all have different motivations for selling. We found that it was most difficult to negotiate with widowers and older couples as they tend to be more attached to the house. Divorce couples are also hard to negotiate because you have two people trying to get full value and not budging on price just to spite the other.

Know what your limits are and stay well below them. Just because the bank says you can loan up to a certain amount, it would be wise to stay well below...especially with a LO on the way. You'll be much better off saving a few hundred bucks on mortgage each year that you can invest in family life.

Contact the school district and see what schools the property is assigned to and review the ratings for the school. Also, find out if they have busing, is there before/after school care available with transportation and what the costs are and if there is a wait list. If no transportation, is it easily walkable?

Look at the cable/dsl/fiber optic options for the address as well.

If you live in an area with snowy winters, evaluate the route in/out of the property - is it hilly? are the roads wide?

Really examine the neighborhood closely. Look at the crime watcher boards and look up the address to see what kinds of crime if any are occurring in the neighborhood and whether there are sex offenders living near by. You're not just buying the house, you're buying the neighborhood and all of those things can affect your resale.

Make a smart investment in your home, not just an emotional one.

ETA: Zillow will be your friend. You can evaluate whether the house has been listed before, what the price drops have been etc...for both the house you are looking at and the neighboring houses.

becomingmommyagain · February 2014

And.....find a home inspector that is well trusted and not affiliated with or recommended by either realtor. Dont go cheap on the inspector. Its better to spend $500 for peace of mind later, or to get out of a contract if the inspection is bad. And, when the inspector does his inspection, you should be there. Ask a million questions. A good inspector will be happy to answer any questions you have and to take a deeper look in any question areas. They will take pictures and send you a full write up. Which will be useful for later.

If you are buying an older home (1960s era) beware of copper/aluminum wiring. Your inspector will point it out, but you should demand the homeowners have a licensed electrician inspect and certify the home. Improper copper/aluminum wire junctions are a major cause of house fires. There are ways to mitigate the issue that are not terribly expensive.

amackattack · February 2014

We just bought a house for the first time. Things I didn't really look for that I wish I had:

Poorly done drywall

Envision hosting 25 people in your house. Where will they all hang out?

Is there sufficient tile or hardwood in your entryway, or will mud and snow get tracked onto your carpet?

Is there a hall closet near the front door?

These are the most annoying things for me. Of course we did consider school district. We also considered proximity to a highway, since being far from a highway can really tack on to your work commute.

brooklyngirl46 · February 2014

Everyone here is so wise! Ditto to what was said. My husband and I made a check list of things we were looking for, and went to each open house along with it. After a while, details start to blur, so that helped us keep track.

Also, like what was said focus again on the things that can't be changed (or that realistically, you are probably not going to end up changing even if they can). I bought an apartment, but for me the floorplan was key. I knew I wanted 2 bedrooms that were not on top of each other, and that's not something that can easily be changed (unless you are on one of those home reno shows).

Good luck! It's such an exciting time

JulieSmiles · February 2014

Once you find a home you really like, visit it several times at different parts of the day. We visited our house 2-3 times, but all at the same time of day. Had we visited later in the day or first thing in the morning, we would have seen the crazy drunk neighbors who like to fight in their front yard with no pants on.

AandJ28 · February 2014

When H and I started looking, we would find listings online that were within our price range and had what we wanted. We would then drive to the houses to see: what does it actually look like outside? what is the neighborhood like? what sort of traffic patterns are there? how long will it take to get to xyz?

We were able to rule out a ton of houses by doing this. It helps to see the house and neighborhood prior to see the inside. Like other PPs have mentioned, there are a lot of things you can change but you cannot change the location of the house. If you drive by and don't like the neighborhood, it's easy to toss it from your list.

Also when looking online, be sure to research the school district. Find out what their rating is and ask around to see what others have to say.

justme04 · February 2014

We just purchased are home last August. The ladies over on the nest Buying a Home board are extremely helpful with everything from the types on loans to what to look for to help your resale valu. We had a limited budget and knew that would hit our wish list. We made sure we got the things we absolutely felt were needed like a decent size yard for the kids and a home in a school district at least comparable to the one DH and I had gone to. We wanted a privacy fence but settled for a fenced yard. We will be replacing it this summer. We gave up hard wood for carpet through out but we've already started replacing flooring. And while it is rather open compared to all the houses we looked at we've been kicking around ideas to open it more and expand our tiny cramped kitchen a bit (seriously you get chlostraphobic if there are two people in there). We looked at 60 houses and made offers on two, the one we bought but it was initially declined and another one which was accepted right away but turned out all the electrical needed replaced which we used to back out when the previous owners of this house came back after a month with a counter offer. We were realeaved this was the house we wanted.

ADalesa29 · February 2014

Good luck! House hunting is so fun but can be stressful. I would just say to make sure you know what you are looking for/need (#bed/bath, garage, etc). Don't get hung up on small cosmetic stuff. Paint color, light fixtures, door pulls are all easily changed. If you find one you light make sure any contract is contingent on a home/pest inspection. Try to get pre-approved for financing as this makes the negotiating process easier.

MrsCase1 · February 2014

I had only really lived in one state prior to moving to the state where I eventually owned a home. The issues homeowners face in CA regarding property upkeep are way different than the ones they face here in TX. Make sure you ask about building codes, foundation and insulation, etc. Know how well that house is built and do NOT skimp on an inspection if you fall in love with one. Realtor should also be able to produce market data on school district for the area.

temursgirl · February 2014

As PP mentioned, things may vary depending on your region (I'm in California). A good realtor who is on the same page as you are is really helpful. I worked briefly with four before finding one who understood our needs and wants. She also happened to have grown up locally, which was a plus, and had about 15 years of experience. She was able to help with a lot of things, including setting up the home inspection, pest inspection, and appraisal (required here), she knew a great mortgage broker, and had we needed a new insurance broker or contractor, she had worked with many. Also, if you have a good broker and inspectors they can guide you through the process when you have questions.

We were present for the home and pest inspections, which was informative for the purchase decision, but also helpful for me to learn things like where the breakers are, etc.

We were lucky that the seller was a widower who wanted to sell to a family he liked, and his agent is now our neighbor across the street, so between them they have answered a lot of our questions as they've come up. If there's anything at all that puzzles you, you must ask someone. Your agent might be the best person to start with. But never hesitate to clear up any point.

Some resources for schools are:

https://www.greatschools.org/

https://www.education-consumers.org/national.htm

Make sure to check which school is assigned to that address. Our neighbor who lives on our easement, as well as the people at the end of our street are in a different district. Remember to check high schools as well as elementary. Also, find out about changing schools within the district or any other rules.

We live in the suburbs and previously lived in a neighboring town, so we had a feel for the area. Since it's a little further away, we drove between the house and DH's office, the city, major errand destinations, etc. to get a feel for the drive at different times of day.

We also researched the town on Yelp (for amenities), its own website, zillow (for property values), and this site for demographic info.

bumpuser9343355 · February 2014

My mom always told me to buy the worst house on the best street. Location is one of the few things you will never be able to change, so that was our most important factor in picking our house. We also used a realtor and a mortgage company that came recommended by people we knew personally. Get a good inspection, for sure.

I also compared home-buying to wedding dress shopping: It can be easy to fall in love with the first one you look at, but you have to try on more options before you commit! We ended up buying the first house we toured, but we saw about ten others before we put in our offer.

Good luck!

crossfitkiwi · February 2014

All of the advice everyone has given is awesome. We brought our first home last year and it was a scary but awesome time. One thing I will add is to be open to change your mind about what you think want as you go thru the process. We 'thought' we wanted a craftsman with room to do some renovations. We ended up with a 5 year old town home and could not be happier. After closer examination we liked the idea of DIY much more than the reality.

Good luck!

ElTrain5 · February 2014

My short and sweet advice, is to do two things yourselves. 1) Figure out how much you want to spend on your mortgage (including taxes, insurance, PMI). If you go to a broker, they will more than likely use a formula to figure out "how much you qualify for", which does not mean you can actually afford that in real life. and 2) Research houses yourselves online though MLS listings and ask to see the ones you are interested in. It's a lot easier to be objective and weed out a lot of listings that way. Plus we found almost all of the listings we liked ourselves, if we had relied on our agent we would have missed out on a lot.

Oh, and third... have a SERIOUS discussion about what/how much work you are willing to do on a house. Chances are, whatever work you "think" needs to be done, you will probably need to triple it, so be very realistic about what work you can A) Afford, Do yourselves (really) and C) Want to wait for to be done (i.e. if it's going to take you 5 years to save up the $10k to add a bathroom, are you really willing to wait that long?)

shellbell813 · February 2014

Sorry, didn't have time to read through all the PPs, so I might be overlapping a bit... BUT we currently have a contract on our first house. I am learning as we go but I have 3 big suggestions for you of things that we have learned...

First, get pre-approved BEFORE you even start looking. I say this because it will #1) give you an idea of what you can afford and #2) a lot of realtors won't work with you until you do---and having a realtor is a HUGE help! Ours has been amazingly helpful!

Second, make a list of the things that are important to you and prioritize them. i.e. - a yard, a garage, # of beds/baths, hardwood floors, etc. This was very helpful when going through a list of a bazillion houses to figure out which ones were even worth LOOKING at.

Thirdly, when you find the house you love, you've found the house you love. I had a hard time with this because the one we put an offer on was one of the first houses we found, and we had only visited about 7... I felt like we hadn't seen enough. But my husband helped me realize that none of the other houses were going to live up to my favorite and I was going to be very disappointed if we didn't get it. It wasn't worth keeping on looking to risk someone else sweeping out and getting an offer in.

justme04 · February 2014

Oh I forgot to add that we used a buyers agent. They work solely for the buyer and in the buyers interest. I made the choice after we interviewed a few realtors who seemed especially keen on pushing properties under their listing and it just felt like they were more interested in foundling their income then really helping us find what we were looking for.

ChristineBaker23 · February 2014

I didn't read all this cause there are some long posts and I'm watching the Olympics

Hubby and I have just started looking at houses as of last October ish.
Some things I have learned simply by diving in blind:
We picked a house and arranged with a random realtor to see it. Fell in love with the realtor and have stuck with her. She basically just opens the house for us then watches and plays with our 2 yr old while we look around, its fantastic
I make a love/hate t-chart for each house and write things down while we are looking. Doing this we have learned that certain things are a definite deal breaker for us and if it's on the list the house gets a big x and I push it from my mind. Don't talk yourself into a house despite a problem. There ARE other houses and one of them will be perfect. Through this my realtor has learned what we like and don't like by reading my notes. And she prints out the flyers for me to write on the back of

Pier and beam is cheaper to fix than slab foundation but both are expensive
Get pre-approved for your loan so when you find that house you want you can make your offer. We missed a great house because of this.
Only look at 3 or 4 at a time or it starts to blur together. I like to take a pic from the street to help me remember.
Not all listings are online. Drive around some in neighborhoods you like.
Between 1960 and 1980 they really really liked wood panelling and polyurethane.

Overall, we just kind of dove in and it is going well. Our only real mistake was not having our loan situation all figured out in advance. Other than that, I believe you will learn as you go. So I say just kind of fly by the seat of your pants a little and you will find out what works for you and your realtor.

LaurelJoy91 · February 2014

Thanks for all the great advice everyone! There are so many good tips in there, I'm going to make up a list of what you all have said to show my husband. You all have been so helpful, for real.

I've been doing a lot of looking at houses online while waiting for my appointment with the realtor and am getting an idea of what I like about certain houses and dislike about others. I found what I thought was the perfect house for the perfect price, only to contact the realtor and find out that it's already being sold and will be closed upon soon, and now that I've seen pictures of this house I can't find any others that even compare

But I know that I can't go based on internet listings alone and really do have to see the places in person to have an accurate idea.

One issue we're having is that we will be moving to a different state, so we have to plan a 4 hour drive every time we want to see a place, so I'm not sure how well I'll be able to view the same place 3 or 4 times and at different times of day. I'm hoping to be able to fit several houses into one day while I'm there on Saturday. We're also going to be moving to an area with a much smaller population than we currently are in, so that's really limiting the selection. I'm not seeing nearly as many places listed online that I like as I thought I would. Just hoping that when I see them in person something will pop out at me.

temursgirl · February 2014

@LaurelJoy91 it's quite likely you'll like something in person. It's totally different than just seeing pics. Actually, the house we bought looked crappy online. We only went to see it because of the great area and school district and I expected it to be all wrong for us. Instead we both liked it immediately. Also, in our area the standard is that bids are due within about 3-4 days of the showing, so you commonly don't get to see the house more than briefly before offering. It's terrifying because it's such a big purchase, but it worked out for us. Keep track of what you see and trust your instincts. And make your agent do some legwork... He or she should be able to dig up a lot of the practical info so you can focus on whether you can live in the house.

LaurelJoy91 · February 2014

@Temurlang1 you are so right. We had our first appointment with the realtor on Saturday. I realized that a few houses I had seen online had very misleading photos. The photos online looked great, but in person we noticed a lot of things that just couldn't be reflected by a photo, like the way we could tell the floors were sloping under our feet. Our realtor was really excited to show us one house in particular, which online looked fine but really nothing special and I thought it was out of our price range. When we got there, though, we fell in love with the whole place. The photos didn't accurately represent how huge and beautiful the back yard is, and there were a few rooms that simply weren't shown in the photos at all. Plus, after looking at all the other houses in a similar price range and realizing how much work (read extra $$) they would need before we could move in, we realized that this house isn't such a bad deal anyway. We made sure to go back to the neighborhood later in the day without the realtor so we could talk to neighbors, and the ones we talked to seemed to really like the area and say it's very quiet and everyone is friendly. We're trying not to rush into a decision, but I'm having a hard time not referring to it as "our house" already because it just feels like home and I can picture living there so easily.

Thanks SO much for the tips everyone. I thought going into this without any experience was going to be a horribly intimidating experience, but so far things have been going great!

MrsBHM · February 2014

Someone may have mentioned it already but go visit the house at different times of the day. Dogs barking, school bus traffic, random things you may not notice if you only stop by once.

LaurelJoy91 · February 2014

MrsBHM said:

Someone may have mentioned it already but go visit the house at different times of the day. Dogs barking, school bus traffic, random things you may not notice if you only stop by once.

We're trying, but we are moving from out of state, so we have to make a 4 hour drive any time we go to see the house. We will be going back on Friday to potentially make an offer, so I'm going to try to stop by a few different times of day. So far, we were there around 12:00 and then again around 4:00. We asked neighbors about dogs barking and some other things. I don't think there are any bus stops, and there is no thru traffic on the surrounding roads. We did hear that there is some foot traffic.

caitb413 · February 2014

All of the advice here is great- you posted this thread at the same time MH and I started looking for our first house, so thank you! We checked out school ratings online and also looked at the sex offender registry for the neighborhoods we were looking in (just out of curiosity). We are currently under contract for a home and it's scary and exciting all at the same time. Good luck with your search!

LaurelJoy91 · February 2014

caitb413 said:

All of the advice here is great- you posted this thread at the same time MH and I started looking for our first house, so thank you! We checked out school ratings online and also looked at the sex offender registry for the neighborhoods we were looking in (just out of curiosity). We are currently under contract for a home and it's scary and exciting all at the same time. Good luck with your search!

You're welcome and congratulations! We talked with the realtor again yesterday, and we are most likely making a trip back on Friday to officially put down an offer and sign a contract. It's so exciting! I told DH that we must actually be turning into adults now (we're 22 and 23), having a baby and buying a house all at once...

lizok22 · February 2014

hindsight is 20/20, i wish i had seen a thread like this before i bought mine!

Rkfishy · February 2014

becomingmommyagain said:
And.....find a home inspector that is well trusted and not affiliated with or recommended by either realtor. Dont go cheap on the inspector. Its better to spend $500 for peace of mind later, or to get out of a contract if the inspection is bad. And, when the inspector does his inspection, you should be there. Ask a million questions. A good inspector will be happy to answer any questions you have and to take a deeper look in any question areas. They will take pictures and send you a full write up. Which will be useful for later.

If you are buying an older home (1960s era) beware of copper/aluminum wiring. Your inspector will point it out, but you should demand the homeowners have a licensed electrician inspect and certify the home. Improper copper/aluminum wire junctions are a major cause of house fires. There are ways to mitigate the issue that are not terribly expensive.

Yes, absolutely get a trusted, thorough home inspector (the timing of home inspections is part of the due diligence that is sometimes completed before and sometimes after a contract of sale is signed, depending on the state you're purchasing in). I've worked for a real estate attorney and a major bank buying/selling/managing property for clients, so I'm quite familiar with the full process, even though DH and I haven't purchased one of our own yet (but are looking).

In the NYC area, home inspectors run in the $500 range. You want the inspector to point out every minor and major cause for concern, which not only gives you leverage for purchase price/repair credit negotiation with the Seller, but it also gives you your post-closing maintenance list of stuff to fix. Also, keep an eye out for asbestos in older homes (inspectors should point it out if they see it). It is extremely expensive to remove or remediate ($10K+) and if you later do any renovation work to the house, you may be required to remove it.

MSUMands · February 2014

One thing I learned (the hard way) was not to have your "big three" in bed with each other. That's your loan officer, your realtor, and your inspector. Not sure if it is legal or not, but there are kickbacks that occur. We had some issues with this.

For us, the three most expensive things were important to ask about: the foundation, the roof, and the AC/Heater. When were they replaced? Is there a warranty? Any known issues?

Before we bought our first home, we toured about 40, put offers in on 3, had 2 accepted, paid for 2 inspections, and eventually purchased our current home after the first inspection made us leary. Even though the home was built in 2001, the bones of it were not good and we were looking at 20K just to get in the front door. I never ever would have guessed, thank goodness for the inspection!

As a few previous posters have mentioned, you need to go in with an open mind. Almost anything can be changed, but at what cost? The house we toured with the bedsheets stapled to the wall instead of wallpaper? Couple hours and a few cans of paint. Crappy carpet with stains on it? Time consuming and costly, but easily fixable. The house with NO overhead lighting in any room (yes, there was a shit ton of lamps)? massive electrical overhaul that we weren't willing to take on. A house that reeks of smoke as soon as you step foot in the door? That smell never goes away, so we didn't even bother touring that one.

Also, check out the elementary school that your LO will go to. Unless you are planning on moving within 5 years, get familiar with it, check out the website, if possible check it out in the morning or at dismissal. Greatschools.net and City-Data.com are great resources

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First time home buyer - totally clueless!

Re: First time home buyer - totally clueless!

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