Home Buying Tips
-
- 3
Our home buying experience was very pleasant, which is something not everyone is fortunate enough to say. Not only do I credit our experience to our realtor and smart financial choices, but to our research ahead of time into what we truly wanted out of this home purchase. Here are just a few home buying tips.
Home Buying Process
Here is a very brief run down on the home buying process.
First, you’ll get pre-approved for a loan. This is income based and a pretty good idea of your total home buying budget. Keep in mind, you do not need to spend all of what you’re approved for! The type of loan will depend on your credit, your background (for example a VA Loan) and how much you have for a down payment.
Second, get a realtor. Find recommendations from locals, read lots of reviews, and find someone you are comfortable communicating with. It’s best to keep an open and honest line of communication with your realtor so that your needs are understood and met.
Third, you’ll begin visiting homes and put in an offer.
Once your offer is accepted or countered and then accepted, that’s about when the 30 days of the closing process starts.
Next you’ll have a home inspection done by a general inspector.
Fifth will be the appraisal, conducted by a neutral third party so that there is no bias for either side of the transaction. If the appraisal does not match the offer price, there will be a renegotiation unless the buyer (you) included appraisal gap coverage as part of the offer. This means paying extra in cash to cover more than what the house is worth.
As long as all of these go smoothly you’ll be signing a contract agreeing to make your payments and the house will be yours!
Feelings About Home Buying
I found it’s best to think of home buying as a long term financial investment. Every house we entered I pictured as a blank slate. Move this here; Open this wall up. I started feeling like Joanna Gaines redesigning every home I stepped foot in.
I considered how much we would be paying up front, how much to invest in renovations and how much of a return we would see. It’s not always necessary to think of home buying as so transactional, but knowing we would only live here for 3-5 years we had to be a lot less in love with the house and more in love with the numbers surrounding it.
It’s difficult to feel so detached from such an expensive purchase. Especially since the day after we closed on our house the Air Conditioning Unit died and we spent another $8,700 out of pocket to replace it.
Helpful Questions
Here are a few helpful home buying questions to ask your realtor. They should be able to find lots of this information or know it ahead of time for you. Not all of it applies to every home, but we asked most of these questions for every house we visited. Obviously we purchased our home in Virginia, so there are plenty more questions to ask based on your location.
1. Is Flood insurance required?
2. When was the roof last done?
3. What’s the condition of the fireplace and chimney?
4. What are the types hookups for appliances? How old are the appliances?
5. What kind of ventilation and fixtures are in the basement?
6. Is the outdoor workshop or shed stable?
7. Are there any recent renovations or major repairs?
8. Any water (sewage) or structural concerns?
9. How old are the windows? Do they lock?
10. Is the attic insulated? What’s the house insulated with?
11. How many smoke/carbon monoxide detectors are there?
12. Any asbestos or lead based paint in the home?
14. Info on previous tenants if possible.
Some of the biggest things from this list I’ll touch on.
Flood insurance can be a steep additional monthly cost, and factors into how much you can afford to pay each month. This obviously depends on your location.
Many houses built after 1989 won’t contain asbestos or lead based paint (1978). So this is more of a concern if you’re looking at older homes that need renovations.
Learning about the current home owners is incredibly helpful.
The first house we put an offer on was vacant for over 5 years, leading to flooding in the basement and opening up potential for foundation issues and permanent damage. It was flipped by a large contractor company so they were unable to provide us details about the home’s care.
The second house we put an offer on (and the one we ended up purchasing) we knew that the owners were smokers. This meant even though they didn’t smoke in the house, we wanted to replace carpets sooner rather than later and have a good cleaning done before moving in.
Home Buying Surprises
Of course, no amount of research on the property or its owners can prepare you for everything.
The day after closing our AC Unit crashed. We discovered that the unit had been unsafely rigged to operate on a very short term basis, likely just long enough to work through our final inspection and closing date. There was a massive air leak, which caused the unit to work itself to death. We had no choice but to buy a brand new unit, patch the leak and replace some faulty duct work.
This is the essence of home buying. At some point something (or even multiple things) is going to break and need to be replaced. It’s always smart to have a well established budget and savings before purchasing a house, so that these extras are just annoying, rather than devastating.
If you’re looking to buy a home that you KNOW you’ll be selling in the future, make sure you look at these things as well;
1. Location – schools, workplaces and shopping conveniences are all big deciding factors for home buying
2. Curb Appeal and Street Safety. – Many families won’t buy a home on a busy street for the safety of their children. If the home is big enough to accommodate a family, it might be best to pick one on a quieter street.
3. Costs before Selling – Consider what major features or appliances will need replaced sooner or later and make a plan.
This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to buying your home. I highly encourage research from reputable websites and speaking to experienced home buyers for more information. These home buying tips are just based off of my personal experience.
Our home buying experience was very pleasant, which is something not everyone is fortunate enough to say. Not only do I credit our experience to our realtor and smart financial choices, but to our research ahead of time into what we truly wanted out of this home purchase. Here are…
Our home buying experience was very pleasant, which is something not everyone is fortunate enough to say. Not only do I credit our experience to our realtor and smart financial choices, but to our research ahead of time into what we truly wanted out of this home purchase. Here are…
Thank you for writing this post. I like the subject too.
I’d like to find out more? I’d love to find out more details.
Please provide me with more details on the topic