Tips on buying a house

[Betty]

We're buying a house! Okay - that's jumping the gun a bit. We've been pre-approved. We're to the point of getting a realtor and going to look.

I'd love some tips on looking on buying a home. (You know how once you've done something, there are all those little things that you get from the experience but no one ever seems to tell you beforehand.)

I know we should get a home inspection done before buying.

What else do I need to know?

We're looking in the low cost area of Perris, Hemet and surrounding communities which put us closer to my work. Staying clear of Moreno Valley.

[Snowflake]

I think you should buy this one (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090620/stage_nm/us_finearts_lloydwright)

[Kevy Baby]

Staying clear of Moreno Valley.That is a wise move

[3894]

I think you should buy this one (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090620/stage_nm/us_finearts_lloydwright)

The "Ferris Buehler's Day Off" house in Highland Park, Illinois was recently listed for $2.3 million. With a Ferrari, that could be fun.

Betty, go to as many open houses as you can stand. You'll get a really strong idea of the market. After that, contact a realtor to take you around.

When you see the realtor, have a list of non-negotiable deal breakers. Of course, the realtor will not take your list seriously. You say "no stairs" and you even have a good reason for that, let's say. Your realtor will try to "educate" you that you don't really mean it. Same thing with price range. You tell the realtor X is your limit and next thing you know, you're being shown a Y or two "just for fun". Stand your ground.

Edited to add: I'm sure this isn't you but on those HGTV shows about buying property so many react to the paint, carpet, and drapes. They say something like, "Those walls go better with my sofa than the ones in the other house." Paint, carpet, and drapes can easily be changed out.

[Moonliner]

Get LESS house than you are approved for (cost wise).

Don't even think of getting anything other than a fixed rate.

Realtors work for the seller not for you.

[mousepod]

Don't just get a standard inspection. Get chimney inspection (assuming the place has a chimney) and sewer inspection. We actually fell out of escrow because a place we were buying misrepresented the sewer system.

[scaeagles]

It is a buyers market, more so in CA than elsewhere, I would presume. There are so few buyers out there that if you demonstrate even a small amount of patience you should get them to meet your offer rather than going back and forth with counter offers.

[Betty]

I think you should buy this one (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090620/stage_nm/us_finearts_lloydwright)

ha! That's just a bit out of our price range. ;)

[Betty]

The "Ferris Buehler's Day Off" house in Highland Park, Illinois was recently listed for $2.3 million. With a Ferrari, that could be fun.

Betty, go to as many open houses as you can stand. You'll get a really strong idea of the market. After that, contact a realtor to take you around.

When you see the realtor, have a list of non-negotiable deal breakers. Of course, the realtor will not take your list seriously. You say "no stairs" and you even have a good reason for that, let's say. Your realtor will try to "educate" you that you don't really mean it. Same thing with price range. You tell the realtor X is your limit and next thing you know, you're being shown a Y or two "just for fun". Stand your ground.

Edited to add: I'm sure this isn't you but on those HGTV shows about buying property so many react to the paint, carpet, and drapes. They say something like, "Those walls go better with my sofa than the ones in the other house." Paint, carpet, and drapes can easily be changed out.

So - open houses I can just show up for... but most listings I need to have the realtor make an appt. and stuff?

And it won't do any good for them to show me more then I'm approved for so that's no problem and I'm not afraid to tell them so. I'm not looking at houses "just for fun". :rolleyes:

It's hard to see a house and not compare the flooring and paint to others - but it bears repeating that that's not a good reason to buy this house over that one.

Thanks!

[Betty]

Don't just get a standard inspection. Get chimney inspection (assuming the place has a chimney) and sewer inspection. We actually fell out of escrow because a place we were buying misrepresented the sewer system.

Great tip! I've written that down. One thing we really don't want are sewer problems! ew!:eek:

[Betty]

It is a buyers market, more so in CA than elsewhere, I would presume. There are so few buyers out there that if you demonstrate even a small amount of patience you should get them to meet your offer rather than going back and forth with counter offers.

Wait wait wait. I would rather not have to - but I think you're right. Even more so considering there should be a wave of forclosures coming up here pretty quickly... they had a moratorium that will be over?

It feels wrong to take glee in others misfortune - but at the same time - I didn't go out and spend $350,000 on a house worth $100,000.

[Strangler Lewis]

I would imagine that the State of California or some state or local board of realtors has some helpful online publication about everything you need to think about and do in the process. The big agencies probably do as well.

How annoying, there's a bee in the garage. That wasn't in the disclosures.

[Morrigoon]

Realtors work for the seller not for you.

That's a misconception. Yes, we're paid out of the commission that the seller agreed to pay when they listed the house with a listing agent, but make no mistake, your realtor is there to represent YOU.

However, this makes one very good point - don't use the listing agent to double-side the deal thinking that somehow you'll get a better deal out of it. Use your own agent that you chose for yourself, because you want someone who can fight your battle for you. An agent double-siding a deal is less of a negotiator and more of a mediator/facilitator, because they have to treat both sides equally.

There are some very good prices out that way, so you shouldn't have too hard a time finding something you like.

The inspection is written into the standard CAR forms, it's one of the standard contingencies of the deal (eg: your offer is contingent upon satisfactory results from the inspection). When you do the inspection, the inspector will come back to you with a report on the things he found wrong. This becomes a 2nd point for negotiation, where you negotiate on things the seller will or will not fix, or amount they might be willing to negotiate on price in lieu of fixing. Sellers will not fix everything, pick your battles. Decide what's important.

Do not be afraid to walk away from a deal.

Here's something that is an option on the standard CAR form, but not many agents use: be sure your agent checks off the box that says, "The loan contingency will remain in effect until loan is funded". That is a huge out for you, should anything go wrong with your lender.

Definitely ask seller to pay for a home warranty, with the air conditioning upgrade. It's a small concession for them to make, and gives both you and the seller some peace of mind. We even renewed our home warranty up until this year, and only dropped it because they've already had to come and fix all the major stuff that we were worried about fixing (got a new heater and garbage disposal, stuff you'd rather not pay for out of pocket!)

You'll get more concessions out of a regular seller than you will out of a bank. That's not to say don't buy bank-owned properties, because let's face it, those are some of the better deals out there right now, just set your expectations of negotiation accordingly. For example, banks probably won't fix much, if anything, following the inspection. So if you don't like the results of the inspection, be mentally prepared that you might have to walk from the deal.

[Betty]

Printing up Morigoons post for my info folder. Great tips!

[Betty]

Here's something that is an option on the standard CAR form, but not many agents use: be sure your agent checks off the box that says, "The loan contingency will remain in effect until loan is funded". That is a huge out for you, should anything go wrong with your lender.


What does this mean?

[Morrigoon]

It's a checkbox on the standard CAR purchase contract. Just make sure your realtor marks off that box.

Basically, it means that if you don't get your loan, you don't have to buy the house anyway. See, if you had a normal loan contingency, then after you've shown that you're approved for a loan that meets the terms you set forth on your offer contract, you would have to remove the loan contingency. Let's say you do that, and all looks good, then suddenly in the last week or so of your escrow, something happens where the bank now doesn't want to give you the loan, or changes the loan terms drastically (don't think it doesn't happen, it does!)... you end up in a bit of a pinch because now you're obligated to go through with the purchase, and you have to either make something work out with your current lender, or find another lender.

Oh, that's good advice too... get approved by another lender... that way, if anything does change last minute, you have a lot more options, as you're further along in the loan process than you would be if you had to scramble at the last minute to get a new lender. Also keeps lenders on their toes in giving you the best deal they can. Make sure lender #2 knows you already have one pre-approval and that they're having to find a loan that makes them competitive with that. I can give you a few names, if you want.

[Moonliner]

That's a misconception. Yes, we're paid out of the commission that the seller agreed to pay when they listed the house with a listing agent, but make no mistake, your realtor is there to represent YOU.

So if the buyer was to make a comment like, 'Gee I like this house, I'm going to offer 5k less than asking but I'd pay asking price if I need to"

Would you or would you not be legally obligated to pass that info onto the seller?

[Ghoulish Delight]

The agent would not.

[Morrigoon]

Moonie: if the agent you're talking about is the buyer's agent, absolutely not.

If the agent is double-siding the deal, then they might not tell the seller "hey, they said they'd be willing to pay more", but they might advise their seller to counter-offer. That's why it's a good idea to bring your own agent to the deal.

Oh jeez, this reminds me of another bit of advice:

DO NOT TALK TO THE LISTING AGENT! I mean, make nicey-nice if you run into them, as you might at an open house if the agent is sitting their own open house (sometimes agents looking to pick up clients will sit open houses for other agents, that's different), or if you and your agent visit a property where the listing agent has to let you in. But don't tell them anything about your moving circumstances, finances, etc. Remember to keep your cards close. Every bit of information will be considered during negotiations.

For example, if you were relocating to an area, and you had a job starting in 3 weeks, and you made the mistake of revealing to the listing agent that you were in a real hurry to close for that reason... don't think for a moment that that wouldn't come into play during the offer/counteroffer stage. They know you need to find a place, and soon, and that they can negotiate harder because you don't have much time to look at other properties. All that agent needs to know is that you'd like a 2-week escrow please, and the why of it is your business.

If you've picked a buyer's agent that you're going to work with, and you still visit open houses, as your agent for a stack of their cards. When you go into open houses, the agent sitting there most likely wants to pick you up as a buyer client. Maybe they're the listing agent, maybe not, and certainly while you're in the market for an agent, it's worth talking to them, you might like them. But it gets annoying after a while when agents are trying to poach you from whoever you've chosen, so once you have someone, you can just say, you have an agent, here's their card if they want to follow up.

One other thing: As a courtesy, if you work closely with one agent for a while, and they've been taking you out to look at houses, etc., then you decide you'd like to check out new construction... please please tell your agent and let them take you there the first time you visit. If your agent is not with you the first time you visit new construction, then the builder cuts them out of the deal if you end up buying that, and you basically rob your agent of the time they've spent with you. They only get a pittance from the builder even if they bring you to them, but at least it compensates them for their time and gas if you've been working closely with them. It really really sucks when you put weeks of work in for someone and they go to new homes behind your back and you get cut out of the deal.

[3894]

So - open houses I can just show up for... but most listings I need to have the realtor make an appt. and stuff?


Exactly.

[BarTopDancer]

If you can, visit the neighborhood(s) you're considering at different times (weekend afternoon, a Tuesday night). You can get a feel for the type of neighborhood it will be - are there parties going on at night on the weekends? Are a bunch of kids playing the street on a weeknight?

[Morrigoon]

Yeah, you can cruise open houses if you just want to get an idea of areas, but to look seriously, you need an agent.

Here's why:

Open houses are done for two reasons: to appease a seller, and to meet buyers. Only a very small percentage of homes sell from the open house. It does happen, but not as often as half-hour tv shows would like you to believe.

But buyers definitely visit open houses, usually before they have an agent. So agents sit open houses (their own listings, or another agent's listings) as a way to meet these folks and get them as clients. Unless you're the listing agent, you don't give a rat's patootie if the client wants to buy the house you're sitting in, or another house. Even if you are the listing agent... it'd be nice if they want to buy your listing, but you're more than willing to show them any other house they might like to buy too. A sale is a sale, whichever side of the deal you're on.

The good news in this situation is this: the agent sitting the open house is going to be more open than you expect, to hearing that the house you're in is not quite what you're looking for. And the smart agents will either have a stack of listings similar to that house with them, or will be ready to hop on the MLS to find some. They will often be able to show you those homes that very day.

Some homes might be great deals but bad open houses. For example, if it's too far inside a neighborhood, it probably won't be a desirable open house (for an agent) because people coming in off the street might easily get lost on their way there, so you end up with less traffic through the house. Or myriad other reasons along those lines. So not every house on the market gets held open, or if it does (to appease a seller), it might not be often. You don't want to miss those deals by only looking at open houses, ergo, you need to talk to an agent to get access to those houses.

Really good listings get into contract quickly. This can lead to some headaches with REO's (bank owned properties). Some REOs are listed waaay below the price they'll end up going for as a way to attract buyers, then they get multiple offers and get into a competitive bidding situation.

Now, areas like Perris and Hemet are probably moving at a different pace than Orange County, so this might not be as big of a problem, BUT, the advice remains the same:

If you like the property and you are comfortable with your offer price, do not waste time, write the offer. Be prepared between yourselves, know what it is you want so that you recognize it when you see it and are prepared to act quickly. Bad deals languish on the market, but great deals go quickly.

You can get an idea how hot a property is by looking on the kitchen counter (or whatever central drop spot might be most prominent in the house.) Agents who visit a property drop their card off for the listing agent to see they've been there. If there's a pile of cards, then a lot of people are looking at that house. All the more reason for a sense of urgency.

Talk to your lender about being prepared to write you a pre-approval that matches your offer. After all, you don't want to submit an offer for $250000 with a pre-approval that says you can go up to $300000 - that's just asking for a high counter-offer.

[Morrigoon]

If you can, visit the neighborhood(s) you're considering at different times (weekend afternoon, a Tuesday night). You can get a feel for the type of neighborhood it will be - are there parties going on at night on the weekends? Are a bunch of kids playing the street on a weeknight?

Sound advice!

[Kevy Baby]

More RE advice: Buy low, sell high

[katiesue]

We just went through this. Definately get a good agent. Also you can sign up for services, either through your agent or another random agent, that will send you daily upates of new homes listed in your target area. You can specify area, price range, number of bedrooms etc. I found this superhelpful. Helps you see what's out there. Service was free. I also did a lot of my own internet searches. Helped to see what was out there, what the price ranges were things like that.

We had lots of issues as mostly Condos were in our price range. And lenders aren't currently condo friendly. They have a lot of specifications, depending on the lender, as to what they want to finance a condo. A larger owner occupied as opposed to renter ratio was one of the biggies.

We had one offer fall through because the condo association was going through a major assessment because of grading/drainage issues. It didn't affect the unit we were looking at - but no one would fund it anyway.

Also if you can find a good mortage broker it really really helps. The lenders are changing what they want from a buyer daily almost. Our closing had one small hicup but because I had a really good mortage broker I had no issues at all with the actual loan.

And if you can at all afford it - don't give notice on your current home until you have closed and have keys on the new one. I know a lot of people who have had things fall apart at the last second and if you've given notice you can end up in a huge mess.

Also make sure you know what the HOA fee or assessments are- if any. In the area we were looking at they run $350-400ish per month. That's for a condo but the homes can be $100-150. Just somthing else to keep in mind when you're thinking of what it's actually going to cost you.

[Ghoulish Delight]

It's hard to see a house and not compare the flooring and paint to others - but it bears repeating that that's not a good reason to buy this house over that one.

Thanks!Sometimes it is. It shouldn't be the highest priority reason, for sure, but if you're looking at two otherwise comparable houses, if house A is $5K cheaper than house B but would require spending $10K to change out floors/paint/cabinets that you hate, then if you buy house A you're either going to end up spending more, or end up living in a house you hate because you can't bring yourself to spend the $.

[katiesue]

oh something else I saw on one of those firstime homebuyers tv shows. If you are approved for say $250K and the house you buy is $200K - you don't get the $50K difference to make improvements. Those have to come out of your pocket. (it was really funny when the broker explained to the guy how it worked, he was floored).

[Betty]

It's a checkbox on the standard CAR purchase contract. Just make sure your realtor marks off that box.

Basically, it means that if you don't get your loan, you don't have to buy the house anyway. See, if you had a normal loan contingency, then after you've shown that you're approved for a loan that meets the terms you set forth on your offer contract, you would have to remove the loan contingency. Let's say you do that, and all looks good, then suddenly in the last week or so of your escrow, something happens where the bank now doesn't want to give you the loan, or changes the loan terms drastically (don't think it doesn't happen, it does!)... you end up in a bit of a pinch because now you're obligated to go through with the purchase, and you have to either make something work out with your current lender, or find another lender.

Oh, that's good advice too... get approved by another lender... that way, if anything does change last minute, you have a lot more options, as you're further along in the loan process than you would be if you had to scramble at the last minute to get a new lender. Also keeps lenders on their toes in giving you the best deal they can. Make sure lender #2 knows you already have one pre-approval and that they're having to find a loan that makes them competitive with that. I can give you a few names, if you want.

I'll take a few names - sure! They need to be FHA approved though. And thanks for explaining. This is all very confusing for someone with no experience buying houses.

[Prudence]

When you're looking at homes that aren't empty and staged, remember that looks can be deceiving. Sometimes rooms look smaller without anything in them than they do with - which seems odd. And if the house is still occupied, it can be hard to see past all their stuff and imagine your stuff fitting in.

Oh, and look for non-forecloseures/not bank owned in areas where there are lots of foreclosures in such. Maybe the owners are like me and are willing to cut huge deals because the foreclosure competition is just too great.

[Morrigoon]

Not to mention seller concessions like closing costs and repairs!

[Betty]

All such great advice. Really really helpful. You guys totally rock - you know that? I swear -the answers to everything are online - and the vast majority of them are right here in my little LoT home. Where's a kissing smiley when I need one?


Speaking of HOA's. I've heard a lot of horror stories about them. What's your experience with them? Helpful? Or small people who want to rule the world - or at least the neighborhood?

[Betty]

Can I expect them to do repairs that come up in the inspection? Is that a pretty normal thing to have happen? (that is the house needing repairs that the owner wasn't already aware of and them agreeing to fix them)

[Betty]

What's this I see about Land Use fee for all the listings on Red Fin? Do you know what that means?

[Betty]

If you can, visit the neighborhood(s) you're considering at different times (weekend afternoon, a Tuesday night). You can get a feel for the type of neighborhood it will be - are there parties going on at night on the weekends? Are a bunch of kids playing the street on a weeknight?

We did this looking for apartments and what a difference it makes. when I looked at one place, it was street sweeper day and there wasn't a car on the street. That place had serious parking issues every day but Tuesdays around 9am.

[Prudence]

Depends on the repair. If an appliance doesn't work (my case), then yes - certainly expect them to repair/replace. However, what you're going to get is a laundry list of every possible flaw. And every home, no matter how well prepared, will have such a list. If the owner is no longer in the area, repairs become more difficult. Is it worth it to you to fight for touching up paint or making other minor corrections? Your realtor will advise you on what is best. If you fight for every little thing, though, the seller may decide you're too much trouble and let the deal fall through.

[Morrigoon]

Depends on who's in charge.

My preference is homes with no HOA, but that's getting harder to find these days, and of course no HOA means your neighbors can be as redneck as they want, and there's nothing you can do to protect your property's value. So it depends on what your priorities are.

The biggest problem with HOAs is that they're run by the people with the time to run them ;)

For me, a big selling point on my condo community was when I saw that everyone had a different fence around their back yard, and different plants in the front. That told me that the HOA wasn't ridiculous with its rules, and that you had some ability to personalize your space. On the other hand, someone else might see that and think that the non-uniformity takes away from our property value.

I lived in one neighborhood in Summerlin (in Las Vegas) that was really cute, but we noticed high turnover in the residents that lived there. Turns out, the HOA was run by a bunch of old people with nothing better to do than drive the neighborhood writing nastygrams to anyone whose lawn was 1/4" too long, oil stains on their driveway, or an ugly truck parked out in front (actually, the nastygram was because there was stuff in the back of the pickup, but I'm sure the real reason was because the truck was ugly and there's nothing they can do to forbid that)

If you come across neighbors when checking out a house, they're a great source of information about the area. Don't just ask them how they like the neighborhood though, because almost everyone will say great. Ask specifics like who are the loud partyers, do the neighborhood kids run around together, are there lots of teenagers around, how's the HOA, etc.

[Betty]

Talk to the potential neighbors! Simple advice yet I don't know that I would have done that first. Good thinking.

[Morrigoon]

re: repairs

The seller is not obligated to fix them, but it becomes a point of negotiation for you. If you want them to fix it, they can either fix it, cut you a deal on the price, or risk letting you walk away from the deal. Some things you will probably get fixed, some other things you might not. Be prepared to pick your battles. Also, there are times when something you need repaired might be better done by yourself, so in those cases, you might be better off asking for a price concession. For example, let's say there was something wrong with the front door, and it needed replacing. Would you want them to replace it with the cheapest POS on sale at Home Depot that day, or would you rather get a different concession (maybe extra money towards closing costs) in lieu of repair, then apply that money now not coming out of your pocket for cc's, towards an upgraded door of your choice?

We made our sellers repair caulking in our place, and that ended up not being the greatest decision because they used some cheap-a$s plastic caulk stripping stuff that looks awful. And naturally, we've been too lazy to go in and undo that, and redo proper caulking.

[Ghoulish Delight]

I don't recall when in the process we got it, but we got a years' worth of HOA meeting minutes to thumb through at some point. That was a good resource because it showed what the HOA was concerned about, how intrusive they were, and whether they were dealing with neighbor disputes well.

[3894]

Yeah, you can cruise open houses if you just want to get an idea of areas, but to look seriously, you need an agent.


Everything in your post is really informative and true but my point about the open houses is to get a hands-on idea of the market before contacting an agent. This would be way before Betty would be ready to make any kind of offer. It's just to look and see real estate without having an agent along.

When Betty has a feel for the market, then definitely, absolutely and positively, she should work with an agent. It's the most streamlined way of getting to a deal.

But agents work for the sellers, as has been said in this thread. It is in the agent's interest to get the highest price possible. It can only help for Betty to come prepared.

[Ghoulish Delight]

But agents work for the sellers, as has been said in this thread. It is in the agent's interest to get the highest price possible. It can only help for Betty to come prepared.
As has also been said, a seller's agent works for the seller. A buyer's agent works for the buyer. It is in the agent's interest to make a sale. If her agent isn't working to get the price that Betty wants to pay, the agent makes $0 because Betty doesn't buy the house. No matter what, Betty is the one in control. If the agent isn't working in her interest, the agent doesn't get a sale, the agent doesn't get a comission.

[Morrigoon]

I guess I just operated differently, then. I always considered getting my clients the best deal was in my best interest.

edit: What GD said.

[Ghoulish Delight]

I'm sure there are agents that are just trying to get you to pay the highest they can get you to. In which case, it should be pretty obvious. If an agent is trying to get you to pay more than you want to pay...dump them.

[Morrigoon]

I don't recall when in the process we got it, but we got a years' worth of HOA meeting minutes to thumb through at some point. That was a good resource because it showed what the HOA was concerned about, how intrusive they were, and whether they were dealing with neighbor disputes well.

Yeah, that's written into the paperwork too. They have a certain length of time to get the HOA info to you, and you have a certain length of time by which you have to approve of the HOA info and remove that contingency.

The main reason it's there is that if the HOA is not handling its finances well, that could have a serious, major impact on your property value and your personal finances. So you wanna take that seriously.

[bewitched]

I didn't throughly read the other posts, so sorry if I repeat.

You can look on http://www.realtor.com/ to see what kind of houses you like and what different houses in your price range feature. You may also find specific houses you want to look at prior to meeting with your agent.

Don't be distracted by the seller's personal style. Is the house truly awesome or does the owner just have awesome taste in furnishings?

Look at little inconsequential things that might bug you down the road. For instance, half of the rooms on our house have wall vents that are off center. I know that sounds minor but a lot of furniture and pictures look off center because of it. It drives me nuts!

Ask for utility costs for the prior year. A "great deal" might not be so great if you have to pay loads more in one house than a slightly more expensive but similar house.

Don't get discouraged and don't go look when you're in a bad mood.

[second class citizen]

I know this has little to do with dealing with realtors, banks, etc; but has more to do with tips on considering what house or unit to buy, so if you're not interested in that, just skip this:

Before John and I rented our house, we asked the owners if we could take room measurements BEFORE we considered renting the unit. It took us only about an hour. I think the landlord liked that because it showed them we were dead serious. Being a retired architect and us having specific furniture that we wanted to accomodate, we wanted to guarantee that all of our most important pieces would fit properly before we took the contract.

We noted the room sizes, locations and sizes of windows and doors, closet spaces, ceiling and wall fixtures, appliances, hook-ups and electrical outlets. We even drew elevations and took measurements of kitchen cabinets. We had set specific "deal breaking" requirements for total home square footage, storage space and usable kitchen countertop surface and kitchen storage capacity. Before we even signed a rental contract, we had placed all our furniture onto a Autosketch floor plan.

As an architect, I'm also acutely aware of things such as house/room orientation. Which rooms are going to really heat up in the summer? Which are going to be the hardest to cool? Which are going to be too dark, too cold, etc? How are the windows laid out, so if the a/c breaks down or if central air is too pricey, how will the house cool off best "passively"? Are windows double-glazed, etc? Energy costs over the long run of home ownership can be enormous!

Another reason to lay out the rooms is to find out storage capability. How much square footage do you have for all your clothes and junk? At the time, we even had measured the amount of our current clothes space and set a requirement for the house we rented. Guess what? Even having done that we STILL put extra clothes out in our now "unusable" two-car garage.

Do not forget light fixtures, electrical outlets, appliances and hook-ups. In this Energy and Technological Age, these things can really impact your lifestyle, if those items are missing from your home or are poorly located.

All of this was only for a rental. If I'm going to be BUYING something, I'm certainly going to go through AT LEAST all of that, if not more.

[alphabassettgrrl]

Can I expect them to do repairs that come up in the inspection? Is that a pretty normal thing to have happen? (that is the house needing repairs that the owner wasn't already aware of and them agreeing to fix them)

You'll get a reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally long list of things that are wrong with the house. Every house. Spots of dry-rot, areas of termite damage, slight problems with the plumbing that in real use, you'll never notice. Some might be worth fixing, but that will depend on what's wrong, and how bad it is. We got a slight reduction in the price because the chimney has some slight damage that we probably should get fixed but haven't.

Your question about HOAs- I despise them. I asked the universe to send me a home that didn't have one, and I got it. Sure, you risk redneck neighbors, but for the most part, I'll take the risk, over the certainty that the HOA will annoy me and make me pay for the priviledge.

Things to do: You'll need to show 3 months of bank statements to show you have the down payment, and make sure nothing shows up as an unusual deposit (have the money before you apply). They want to make sure you have the money free and clear, that it's not a loan from somewhere.

Get a second loan going. Our first one had something odd happen, and eventually they rejected us. Had we had a second application, we would have closed a bit sooner.

Never accept any variable-rate loan. Fixed rate, fixed payment.

I second the suggestion to visit the neighborhood at different times. See what it's like. Especially on a Friday night.

Good luck! May you find your dream house!

[3894]

I guess I just operated differently, then. I always considered getting my clients the best deal was in my best interest.


The best are going to think longterm and repeat business and referral. I have no doubt that the realtors at LoT are among those.

[Strangler Lewis]

Do a Megan's law search and find out what your prospective neighbors are into that might annoy you.

My sense in this market is that seller's agents are not going to assist their clients in holding out for some mythical highest offer. The agent only gets 3% of any difference and probably won't want to spend much time chasing after that.

[katiesue]

I also found the HOA minutes useful. A great way to see if there are any problems. Mine were farily ordinary and it seemed most improvements got approved. I also second Morri's looking around at other units to see how strict the HOA is. Mine seems fairly lax judging by everyone's patios.

Repairs - as others have said you have to pick and choose. I knew we wanted to repaint for instance so no use hassling about any of that. There are some repairs that are building code - I'm not sure if they HAVE to fix them but we did get them to fix those (an earthquake strap was in the wrong place on the water heater). I also compromised some as well. There is some dry rot on my patio doors. I got a $600 concession toward repair of that, it's not the full cost but it's part of it.

And I also second checking out the neighborhood at different times. My complex has absolutely no guest parking. Guests have to park on the street. The issue is it's a cul de sac so not so many spaces and there is a Church across the street. So Saturday around 5 and Sunday mornings - parking bites. The rest of the time it's not too bad. Luckily for me, well maybe not lucky, Madzers dad lives in the apartments that share the cul de sac. So I've been there at all kinds of various times dropping her off and picking her up so I knew exactly how the parking worked.

I had a really good Real Estate agent. I made an offer $40K less than it was priced at. We ended up at $20K less and it appraised for 5K more than I paid so I'm pretty happy with that. The other thing that's been wonderful with my Agent is she has a ton of contacts. I've only owned for a little over a week and I've already had it all painted, new celing fans installed, light fixtures and the dry rot door guy is coming next week. All arranged through my realtors contacts. And a friend's hubby does construction work and says I've gotten a killer deal price wise on getting this all done.