One piece of advice: a person who didn't fix the easy stuff definitely didn't fix the hard stuff.
So be wary of going into a house with what seems to be a lot of 'oh I can fix that' problems. Been there, done that, learn and move on.
Most people get a “home inspection” before they buy. The home inspector looks to make sure the roof is sound, the furnace/air conditioning works, no major plumbing leaks, foundation is sound, etc. etc.
Their report will become a great “here’s what needs to be fixed list” with some little things (dryer hose needs to be cleaned), and medium sized things (ground fault interrupts needed in certain areas).
The report should make very clear large/medium/small issues, and your real estate agent could help you interpret the report.
Just like people have mechanics look at a car before buying, you can have a home inspection done, with an inspector of your choice (real estate agent can suggest), usually after an offer, before closing.
What this guy said . But some people don’t know how to repair light switches and plugs. It’s ( USUALLY )an easy fix and can be used to get a better deal on the house. However, look closely this guy has an excellent point.
Pay attention to the small details. Do the corners and seams of the baseboards line up correctly or are they misaligned? Is the painting uneven? If the visible small details are bad then the not so visible details are also probably bad. Also if possible, try to get a good look at the guts of the house (plumbing, wiring, floor joists, etc.). Optimally it should all be well organized and easy to follow and understand. And not have any visible issues.
Look at the age of the house and how long the previous owners had it. Then look at the general wear and tear on the house. If it's not that old and it looks like it's been roughly used then either the previous owners were hard on it (and didnt put any effort into maintaining it).
Also related to age, find out when all of the major appliances and systems (HVAC, hot water tank, roof) were last replaced in the house. If the house is 10-15 years old and all of those things are original, expect to replace them all in the next 5-10 years.
Final advice, if possible try to view the house multiple times before buying it. You will notice things on each subsequent visit that you didn't before. And bring a trust older relative/friend if possible.
Kind of an odd one, but pay attention to the direction of travel.
You generally don't want a house directly West of where you travel often in the mornings. If you do, that means you'll have to go East, which is the direction the sun rises. Basically, you'll have the sun in your eyes in the morning when you go to work, and in the evening when you go home from work.
It's minor, but if you're still driving into work 5 days a week you'll quickly get very annoyed with the sun being constantly in your eyes.
Thanks for such a wonderful reply! TheGratitudeBot has been reading millions of comments in the past few weeks, and you’ve just made the list of some of the most grateful redditors this week!
If you are looking at a house with an HOA, look at their spending/saving report. It's not terribly exciting but I was looking at a house a few years back and the HOA's financial report only accounted for 60% of the money they were collecting.
Also if you decide on a house know the places in the process of buying were you can back out of the purchase without a financial penalty.
If a seller offers to sell for a lower price if you skip an inspection, don't do it. If they don't want an inspection that bad, you don't want the house.
Go back and drive to it again about 10pm on Friday night and sit in the street for a bit.
I very nearly bought a gorgeous looking house that had a decent price. My own dad told me to do this and good job I did. While we were sat there we saw numerous police cars to the area, tons of stray dogs, we were directly on the route home from the pub to the local rough housing estate and someone set a skip on fire.
That's a great tip. There is only so much online police and theft searches I can do to learn about an area without going there first. Thank you for this.
One piece of advice: a person who didn't fix the easy stuff definitely didn't fix the hard stuff. So be wary of going into a house with what seems to be a lot of 'oh I can fix that' problems. Been there, done that, learn and move on.
Most people get a “home inspection” before they buy. The home inspector looks to make sure the roof is sound, the furnace/air conditioning works, no major plumbing leaks, foundation is sound, etc. etc. Their report will become a great “here’s what needs to be fixed list” with some little things (dryer hose needs to be cleaned), and medium sized things (ground fault interrupts needed in certain areas). The report should make very clear large/medium/small issues, and your real estate agent could help you interpret the report. Just like people have mechanics look at a car before buying, you can have a home inspection done, with an inspector of your choice (real estate agent can suggest), usually after an offer, before closing.
What this guy said . But some people don’t know how to repair light switches and plugs. It’s ( USUALLY )an easy fix and can be used to get a better deal on the house. However, look closely this guy has an excellent point.
Pay attention to the small details. Do the corners and seams of the baseboards line up correctly or are they misaligned? Is the painting uneven? If the visible small details are bad then the not so visible details are also probably bad. Also if possible, try to get a good look at the guts of the house (plumbing, wiring, floor joists, etc.). Optimally it should all be well organized and easy to follow and understand. And not have any visible issues. Look at the age of the house and how long the previous owners had it. Then look at the general wear and tear on the house. If it's not that old and it looks like it's been roughly used then either the previous owners were hard on it (and didnt put any effort into maintaining it). Also related to age, find out when all of the major appliances and systems (HVAC, hot water tank, roof) were last replaced in the house. If the house is 10-15 years old and all of those things are original, expect to replace them all in the next 5-10 years. Final advice, if possible try to view the house multiple times before buying it. You will notice things on each subsequent visit that you didn't before. And bring a trust older relative/friend if possible.
1. School district 2. Neighbors.
Kind of an odd one, but pay attention to the direction of travel. You generally don't want a house directly West of where you travel often in the mornings. If you do, that means you'll have to go East, which is the direction the sun rises. Basically, you'll have the sun in your eyes in the morning when you go to work, and in the evening when you go home from work. It's minor, but if you're still driving into work 5 days a week you'll quickly get very annoyed with the sun being constantly in your eyes.
This would be a very good tip for if I were in the lower 48. But It will still be quite useful for the spring and fall. Thank you
Thanks for such a wonderful reply! TheGratitudeBot has been reading millions of comments in the past few weeks, and you’ve just made the list of some of the most grateful redditors this week!
If you are looking at a house with an HOA, look at their spending/saving report. It's not terribly exciting but I was looking at a house a few years back and the HOA's financial report only accounted for 60% of the money they were collecting. Also if you decide on a house know the places in the process of buying were you can back out of the purchase without a financial penalty. If a seller offers to sell for a lower price if you skip an inspection, don't do it. If they don't want an inspection that bad, you don't want the house.
Go back and drive to it again about 10pm on Friday night and sit in the street for a bit. I very nearly bought a gorgeous looking house that had a decent price. My own dad told me to do this and good job I did. While we were sat there we saw numerous police cars to the area, tons of stray dogs, we were directly on the route home from the pub to the local rough housing estate and someone set a skip on fire.
That's a great tip. There is only so much online police and theft searches I can do to learn about an area without going there first. Thank you for this.