Hi All,
I'm currently looking to buy a house. I've been searching realtor.com and ziprealty.com. Anybody else have any suggestions for online sites? Also, any tips on buying a house? This would be my first time. thanks
About to buy a home.. need some tips
- Thread starter TranceNation
- Start date
Hi All,
I'm currently looking to buy a house. I've been searching realtor.com and ziprealty.com. Anybody else have any suggestions for online sites? Also, any tips on buying a house? This would be my first time. thanks
Don't rush it! Try to go with a 15 year mortgage....it will save you a ton. That is if you can afford to do so of course.
15 years or shorter if you can afford it.
Get a real estate agent who knows the area. There is nothing that can replace their experience. It helps alot.
Find a good mortgage company. Make sure, if you care, they won't sell your mortgage to some out-of-state company, like mine did.
Inspect the CRAP out of that house. Make sure you get a termite warranty paid up and a home warranty if you can manage it.
Before you move in, take a look at your attic. Reinsulating is worse than painting. Do it before you move your furniture in.
FHA loans (first time home buyers) won't loan you money to buy a house with rotten wood or broken glass. The seller will have to fix that for you.
Make sure the AC system is good. Make sure the breakers are sufficient. Ask neighbors about the local power grid.
Hopefully, your decision WILL come down to the nitty gritty things.
Get a real estate agent who knows the area. There is nothing that can replace their experience. It helps alot.
Find a good mortgage company. Make sure, if you care, they won't sell your mortgage to some out-of-state company, like mine did.
Inspect the CRAP out of that house. Make sure you get a termite warranty paid up and a home warranty if you can manage it.
Before you move in, take a look at your attic. Reinsulating is worse than painting. Do it before you move your furniture in.
FHA loans (first time home buyers) won't loan you money to buy a house with rotten wood or broken glass. The seller will have to fix that for you.
Make sure the AC system is good. Make sure the breakers are sufficient. Ask neighbors about the local power grid.
Hopefully, your decision WILL come down to the nitty gritty things.
At this point, aluminum wiring isn't that bad.
It is a known safety issue, agreed. But if a house has been around 30-40 years with aluminum wiring and it hasn't burned down yet, there's a good chance that it won't. Ask any electrician. Re-wiring a house is possible, but most of the time an honest electrician will tell you to just maintain the sockets and switches and look out for obvious tell-tale signs of corrosion at hotpoints. Use the silicon gel-filled twist caps for installing new fixtures, etc.
Shop around for rates. You're dealing with salesman, so each one can offer you different rates and/or points.
Get a good realtor that will take care of a good offer contract. Make sure it says you can back out if the home inspection doesn't suit your needs.
Really, a good realtor is something you should consider.
Get a good realtor that will take care of a good offer contract. Make sure it says you can back out if the home inspection doesn't suit your needs.
Really, a good realtor is something you should consider.
FeathersMcGraw
Diamond Member
- Oct 17, 2001
- 4,041
- 1
- 0
If you're planning on using a Realtor (yes, it's actually a trademark), consider finding one who is a dedicated buyer's agent. Otherwise, they will be acting on behalf of the seller and will be obligated to convey any material information that you let slip that might be of use in negotiation to the seller.
cool thx for the info. Yeah I got to find a good one in the Chandler/Giblert AZ area. I'm trying to avoid homes made by KB Homes or Trend Homes builders. Heard they were not very well made. Any other pitfalls I should look out for?
MrDudeMan
Lifer
- Jan 15, 2001
- 15,069
- 94
- 91
i sent this to someone else when they asked for some help...so sorry if it is out of context but im not typing it all again...these are a few tips on how to tell if your house has foundation problems (engineering firm is my job)
first, get elevations of the house. it will show the floorplan with numbers in each room. they should mostly be between -.5 and .5 (inches). this is how high that part of the foundation is in that particular part of the room with respect to the center. by the way, getting it examined by an engineer means nothing. the quality of the engineer can change so much you wouldnt believe it.
anyways, walk around and look where the downspouts go away from the house. if the grade of the pipe leading away isnt to code, it will cause a heave in the foundation (uplift) and none of the doors perpendicular to the outside wall will close right. look for cracks in ceiling drywall. it usually follows the lines of where the drywall meets another piece. that is caused from settling (not enough water below the house, usually caused by trees). if trees are fairly close or any limbs overhang the foundation, ask if there is a root barrier. if there is no root barrier, you need to MAKE SURE the roots are either not under the house or are not already causing problems. a root barrier can be installed but they are expensive. plus, if trees are already hurting the moisture in the area, a root barrier will only stop it from breaking more, not fix it. if it has sprinklers, make sure they dont shoot away from the house completely. the soil needs to be saturated somewhat. if there are trees around the house, it needs more water than normal. trees suck water out of the ground like no ones business.
check all of the closets, nooks, little spots, tile, brick, stone, exposed foundation and anything else that is a stiff substance for stairstep cracks, hairline cracks, breaks in joints, etc. if you look at the ground right next to the house (on all sides) it should either drain away, have drains, or be graded so water gently rolls off dirt the other direction.
by the way, find out whether or not the house has piers under it. if it has piers, you dont need to worry about anything i said about the trees. if it has piers, that means it is standing on them. imagine standing on stilts. that is exactly what your house is doing. the piers are sitting on bedrock 15-20 feet below the surface. there is no way they are going to sink. only think you have to worry about is uplift (heave). to stop that from happening, make sure gutters, sprinklers, culverts, downspouts, etc are leading away at sufficient grade. also visually inspect the perimeter of the house and make sure 2-3 inches of the slab are above ground. that prevents water from entering the house.
if your house isnt a slab, let me know, ill let you know what to look for on a pier and beam or cmu block foundation (it has a crawl space under it, you can see under the house). those types of foundations are far superior to slabs.
if you have a pool, walk around and look at the edges. about 10-15 inches away from the waterline, if there is a crack that circumscribes the pook, that is ok and normal. a long time ago they used to build it such that the crack you see would happen. the pool does not move up and down, the surrounding ground does. they didnt know that in the late 70's and 80's, and once these cracks started showing up, the started to build them differently. if you see a joint around the pool (thin strip of wood or plastic) that is a newly designed and should-not-crack pool.
everything i have said is assuming the foundation/pool is designed properly.
do you have attic access? if so, look in the attic around the sides and see if there is a piece of wood bracing every OTHER rafter. the rafters running straight up the roof should be 16-24 inches on center (Depending on design) and there should be a perlin brace every OTHER one of those rafters. ive been in houses that were missing 2, 3, and even 4 perlin braces in a ROW. if you walk outside after observing that, you can see the settling pitch in the roof.
let me know if anything didnt make sense.
first, get elevations of the house. it will show the floorplan with numbers in each room. they should mostly be between -.5 and .5 (inches). this is how high that part of the foundation is in that particular part of the room with respect to the center. by the way, getting it examined by an engineer means nothing. the quality of the engineer can change so much you wouldnt believe it.
anyways, walk around and look where the downspouts go away from the house. if the grade of the pipe leading away isnt to code, it will cause a heave in the foundation (uplift) and none of the doors perpendicular to the outside wall will close right. look for cracks in ceiling drywall. it usually follows the lines of where the drywall meets another piece. that is caused from settling (not enough water below the house, usually caused by trees). if trees are fairly close or any limbs overhang the foundation, ask if there is a root barrier. if there is no root barrier, you need to MAKE SURE the roots are either not under the house or are not already causing problems. a root barrier can be installed but they are expensive. plus, if trees are already hurting the moisture in the area, a root barrier will only stop it from breaking more, not fix it. if it has sprinklers, make sure they dont shoot away from the house completely. the soil needs to be saturated somewhat. if there are trees around the house, it needs more water than normal. trees suck water out of the ground like no ones business.
check all of the closets, nooks, little spots, tile, brick, stone, exposed foundation and anything else that is a stiff substance for stairstep cracks, hairline cracks, breaks in joints, etc. if you look at the ground right next to the house (on all sides) it should either drain away, have drains, or be graded so water gently rolls off dirt the other direction.
by the way, find out whether or not the house has piers under it. if it has piers, you dont need to worry about anything i said about the trees. if it has piers, that means it is standing on them. imagine standing on stilts. that is exactly what your house is doing. the piers are sitting on bedrock 15-20 feet below the surface. there is no way they are going to sink. only think you have to worry about is uplift (heave). to stop that from happening, make sure gutters, sprinklers, culverts, downspouts, etc are leading away at sufficient grade. also visually inspect the perimeter of the house and make sure 2-3 inches of the slab are above ground. that prevents water from entering the house.
if your house isnt a slab, let me know, ill let you know what to look for on a pier and beam or cmu block foundation (it has a crawl space under it, you can see under the house). those types of foundations are far superior to slabs.
if you have a pool, walk around and look at the edges. about 10-15 inches away from the waterline, if there is a crack that circumscribes the pook, that is ok and normal. a long time ago they used to build it such that the crack you see would happen. the pool does not move up and down, the surrounding ground does. they didnt know that in the late 70's and 80's, and once these cracks started showing up, the started to build them differently. if you see a joint around the pool (thin strip of wood or plastic) that is a newly designed and should-not-crack pool.
everything i have said is assuming the foundation/pool is designed properly.
do you have attic access? if so, look in the attic around the sides and see if there is a piece of wood bracing every OTHER rafter. the rafters running straight up the roof should be 16-24 inches on center (Depending on design) and there should be a perlin brace every OTHER one of those rafters. ive been in houses that were missing 2, 3, and even 4 perlin braces in a ROW. if you walk outside after observing that, you can see the settling pitch in the roof.
let me know if anything didnt make sense.
TRENDING THREADS
-
Discussion Zen 5 Speculation (EPYC Turin and Strix Point/Granite Ridge - Ryzen 9000)- Started by DisEnchantment
- Replies: 25K
-
Discussion Intel Meteor, Arrow, Lunar & Panther Lakes + WCL Discussion Threads
- Started by Tigerick
- Replies: 23K
-
Discussion Intel current and future Lakes & Rapids thread- Started by TheF34RChannel
- Replies: 23K
-
-
Facebook
Twitter