Tips on buying a house

Betty · 06-22-2009, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3894

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".

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!

3894 · 06-22-2009, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Betty

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

Exactly.

Ghoulish Delight · 06-22-2009, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Betty

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 $.