First time home buyer questions inside...

[purbeast0]

with the way the market is and the rates, my wife and I have been looking around at houses, and we went on our first tour this past weekend.

we found one house that we actually really liked. and that brings me to a few questions that i had...

what are some basic things to look for when looking at a house to purchase? this is a used house that has had a lot of renovations and new appliances added to it. it was short saled on June 1st this past year, and I could only find 1 picture of it before, which was exterior. i couldn't really tell the condition other than the fence around the house was really ugly and beat, which is now gone. the price back then was $250k, and they are asking $349k for it now. pretty sure some invester bought it as a fixer upper in order to just sell it. as i stated, everything inside is brand new and looks really nice. with this type of house, anything specific to check for?

i asked the guy who toured us how to find out about the crime rate and he told me to simply call the police department about that. he also mentioned about a greatschools.com website to look at the school districts for the neighborhood and get advice.

other than that, what are some general basic things that you would recommend to a first time homebuyer? i know that we would definitely want to get it inspected (and not sure if required to or not), and one thing I really want to be certain is there is no mold. one of my friends got screwed on this and it cost him a fortune to get everything fixed, plus he is allergic to it. i also am allergic to it.

another quesiton i had, is that this place is 5 bedrooms. most of the houses in the neighborhood are around 3 bedrooms. the one downside to this having 5 rooms is that there really isn't a master bedroom, and my wife and I didn't like that. we were wondering if we knocked down one of the walls to make 1 large master bedroom, and possibly put a walk in closet as well, would that devalue the house?

the same goes for the basement. there are 3 side rooms in the basement (on top of the main open area when yo ufirst go down, a bathroom, and the laundry room. 2 of those 3 side rooms are bedrooms. they are pretty small bedrooms, but they can technically be called bedrooms. the other room down there isn't, because it has a smaller window. we were again, wondering if we knocked down the wall of that smaller room to make the "main" room downstairs larger, would that devalue the house?

sorry for the questions, but like I said i'm just looking for general tips in this area. also, are there any other things you wish you knew BEFORE you purchased your first home?

 

[wiredspider]

Seems like you should just keep looking, unless the location is great, which it doesn't seem like from your post. No reason to plop down all that money and still have to put so much more money and effort into changing it when there could be another perfect house for the same or less price.

 

[purbeast0]

Seems like you should just keep looking, unless the location is great, which it doesn't seem like from your post. No reason to plop down all that money and still have to put so much more money and effort into changing it when there could be another perfect house for the same or less price.

well the location is pretty great. and my wifes brother and brother in law both do home work like what we are looking into doing.

we're definitely not dead set on that one house though for sure. but as of now we do really like it. it's also a corner lot which is nice.

and for the area we want to live, we definitely can't be extremely picky about anything. we definitely won't get our "dream house" right now. but that's okay, that will be down the road sometime.

 

[SamQuint]

Make sure you check comparable prices in the area. Check out Zillow.com to see what other houses are worth. It will give you a good idea what the average price in that neighborhood should be. If your house is being sold for much more than the general average that is probably a bad sign. Many times people do a lot of upgrades and expect to get a huge increase in selling price from them. Just because some upgrades have been done doesn't mean this house is worth more than the others in the same neighborhood.

 

[purbeast0]

Make sure you check comparable prices in the area. Check out Zillow.com to see what other houses are worth. It will give you a good idea what the average price in that neighborhood should be. If your house is being sold for much more than the general average that is probably a bad sign. Many times people do a lot of upgrades and expect to get a huge increase in selling price from them. Just because some upgrades have been done doesn't mean this house is worth more than the others in the same neighborhood.

yea I have actually done that and it seems to be pretty average for the area. thanks for the suggestion though!

 

[SamQuint]

Also with the inspection make sure they do a termite inspection. Ask the inspector what they are actually inspecting. Termites may not be detected in some inspections. I walked with an inspector one time and he looked and took pictures and tested the electrical wiring and water pressure. Also ask for the age of the roof. (they can cost 5-15,000 bucks to replace) Make sure they check the foundation. Roof, foundation, plumbing, and electrical are usually the big things to worry about.

 

[purbeast0]

Also with the inspection make sure they do a termite inspection. Ask the inspector what they are actually inspecting. Termites may not be detected in some inspections. I walked with an inspector one time and he looked and took pictures and tested the electrical wiring and water pressure. Also ask for the age of the roof. (they can cost 5-15,000 bucks to replace) Make sure they check the foundation. Roof, foundation, plumbing, and electrical are usually the big things to worry about.

thanks for the tips about the inspection, will definitely mention that when i mention the mildew thing.

the roof is actually a new roof as well, so that probably will be okay too.

the guy giving us the tour worked in construction previously, and he noted that the heater in the basement was also new.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Go around with the home inspector. Ask him to point out anything he finds noteworthy. If you don't understand what he's telling you, keep asking questions. Make sure he goes up into the attic and doesn't just poke his head through the access panel. DO NOT use an inspector recommended by a realtor or bank.

Since you're considering remodeling, get a good general contractor to walk through with you and discuss possible issues and determine if your budget is reasonable.

If this is an older house, 20 years or more, make sure plumbing is up to snuff. Check how many circuits are in the electrical box and what's on each circuit. If all available circuits are in use, it's a sure sign that remodeling has happened before.

 

[SearchMaster]

Turning a 5 bedroom house to a 4 bedroom won't diminish its value especially if the neighborhood is typically 3 BR. You could verify with the realtor but that's my understanding. And creating a master suite might bring more value than the cost.

 

[monkey333]

As stated above, going from 5 to 4 won't make a big diff for resale. However going from 2 to 1 would. Also, you can change the house, but not the location, so that is key...

 

[quikah]

Make sure all those renovations were properly permitted if required.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Check crimereports.com for crime statistics and if any sex offenders are nearby.
Go at night and see the neighborhood. Most places are great during the day but can become a hell hole at night.
Talk to some of the neighbors. I had my wife do that. People are much more likely to talk to her as opposed to some crazy looking dude (me). Ask about the pros and cons of the neighborhood.
Get a realtor and have them do the comps. Basically look up all homes that have been sold in that area and that will give you an idea of what its worth.
Definitely get a home inspector. How old is the house? Copper wiring for electric? Copper piping for plumbing? Age of ac unit? Any major insurance claims? You'll have to pay a separate company to do the mold tests. Home inspectors are very generic and mold testing is very specific. Look for someone in your area that specializes in mold testing.

 

[96Firebird]

http://spotcrime.com/

 

[Tiamat]

Watch a few episodes of Homes Inspection, seriously. I've learned quite a bit from that program pertaining to things to look for. All of the expensive fixes are non-cosmetic and hiding behind walls, under floors, above ceilings -- areas that the standard home inspector does not look.

Try to find places with unfinished basements. The skilled inspector/tradesman will know what to expect when they step into an unfinished basement by looking at the HVAC, the floor joists, electrical etc.

Improper grading of the land will cause huge headaches if you are looking at places with basements. Improper grading leads to foundation issues which can be very expensive.

If the home you are looking at has been renovated, ask if permits were pulled and that the work is actually to code. If not, you are liable to bring it to code - this could be a very unexpected unwanted hidden added cost to your home. In reality, almost all renovations need to have permits pulled. If not, they are most likely not to code and could pose a danger. A lot of people don't get permits and this is a severe problem that could be passed onto you. This applies to decks and patios as well. Any renovation that deals with electricity, plumbing, hvac to any degree needs a permit. Any renovation that deals with general construction needs a permit.

You should also pay attention which way the house faces pertaining to sunlight. Nothing is worse than too much sunlight in the wrong rooms, no good places to plant any garden that you might want. Knowning the direction the house faces, you can also know which windows/doors get hit by driving rain during rain season -- this enables you to know where to take a very close look for water damage, erosion, efflorescence in concrete, infiltration etc.


Instead of hiring a general inspector, spend the extra cash and hire dedicated tradesmen (plumbing, electrician, HVAC specialist). While this might seem overkill, they are the ones that know how much it costs to fix stuff. They can spot stupid things very quickly and intuitively. They also have the tools necessary to check everything throughout the house. For example, HVAC have CFM readers for balancing the HVAC throughout the home, they also have Smoke machines to look for leaks within the furnace system. Never go with the inspector that is recommended by the realtor. Never go with the inspector that inspects without you being present. It is ok to spend more than you want to with the Inspection because it can save you from buying the wrong home. Even though the home might look perfect, if it has 100k$ worth of damage hidden behind the drywall, under the brand new hardwood floor or tiles, behind the beautiful shower, underneath the awesome deck, you are going to be in a very difficult spot.


There are so many areas where you need to learn before buying your first home. I know you must be very excited, but the biggest mistake you can make is rushing into it not knowing what to expect -- and there are lots of things. I doubt the rates will do much in a month. If you watch Homes Inspection and read some of his advice throughout the next two weeks, you will be able to ask the right questions, and make very smart decisions much more easily.

my 2 cents... Good luck!

 

[weezergirl]

I used redfin to buy my house (highly recommend!) but they have this cool interactive home inspection thing you can check out to see some basic things you should look for:

http://www.redfin.com/home-buying-guide/interactive-home-inspection

But definitely find and hire a good home inspector...ours missed a few things that we regret now.

One thing I wish we knew more about our house before we bought it was how bad the insulation is. In the winter time it is FREEZING! We noticed older houses don't have really good insulation. I don't know how you check for that though.

Also, I noticed the #1 important thing about buying a house...is the school district. Even if you don't have kids....it really makes selling the house a lot easier. We live in socal though so I dunno if it's different elsewhere.