1st Time Home Buyers - Need Advice Looking at House Tomorrow!

[metro]

DH and I have been house hunting for the past month. I mostly do my perusing on the internet - looking through all the MSL listings. Tomorrow we''re walking through our first home consideration.

The home was built in 1970, so it''s not a new home - but it has been updated cosmetically. The home owners still reside in the home, but won''t be home for our walk through.

Our realtor will be escorting us. What should I look for? What should I ask? Any advice?

 

[metro]

And because we all like pics - here are some pics of the house for your viewing pleasure

 

[curlygirl]

I''m only a condo owner so I don''t have a ton of advice for you but I wanted to say that the house looks great!! It''s decorated really well--like right out of a Crate and Barrel or Restoration Hardware catalog! Love the stainless appliances in the kitchen--that''s a huge plus!! Looks really nice, let us know how it goes! Good luck!

 

[Efe]

Whenever I buy a property I check for 2 things. The first is the big ticket replacement items like the roof, furnace, and structural issues. The second thing is that I check with local officials to make sure that there are no major negatives planned for the vicinity (easements, highways, etc.) Also, if you get to the point of buying an older property, make sure your inspector checks for proper insulation. We have a 40 year old house that didn''t have a stitch of insulation and we live in the D.C. area. We have spent a good deal of money to fix that. Good luck. Very exciting time for you.

 

[metro]

Date: 12/8/2006 3:34:08 PM
Author: BizouMom
Whenever I buy a property I check for 2 things. The first is the big ticket replacement items like the roof, furnace, and structural issues. The second thing is that I check with local officials to make sure that there are no major negatives planned for the vicinity (easements, highways, etc.) Also, if you get to the point of buying an older property, make sure your inspector checks for proper insulation. We have a 40 year old house that didn''t have a stitch of insulation and we live in the D.C. area. We have spent a good deal of money to fix that. Good luck. Very exciting time for you.

The homes we are looking into are 40 years or older. Very good advice, thank you!

curlygirl, yeah, I LOVE the home decor of the current owners - and the wall colors are bold, which I love! This looks like a place the fam and I can move right into w/o much work. I hope it turns out to be as great as it looks in the pics!

 

[KimberlyH]

Metro,

My best advice for you is to mimic Bizou''s regarding ensuring the house is structurally sound.

Second, don''t fall in love with decor and overlook key things (like layout and such). It''s so easy to walk through and love how a house is decorated but have it be the wrong house for you, it''s very typical of women buyers and why people spend a ton of money on staging. Envision your life in the house as opposed to how it appears now, because when you move it it will be void of most of what makes it homey and what is left is what you have to live with.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Metro - How exciting that you are going to look at a house! A word of advice: Don''t "pre-fall-in-love" with a property before you actually see it. A lot of my clients leave a property and are SO DISAPPOINTED because a home somehow didn''t live up to their expectations, which were formed by a few photos and a virtual tour. I know this is easy to say and hard to do, but just take a step back and make sure you take an objective view of the property.

Also, the only person who can tell you if a property is structurally sound is a structural engineer. The next best thing is an inspector. If your market is anything like mine you won''t have an inspection until after a an offer is negotiated. If an inspector tell you at that point that there are major issues with the property you must be prepared to continue to negotiate for either the work or the $ to fix any issues, or you must be prepared to walk away. I am not anticipating any issues with your property (and who ever is, LOL), but just a few words of advice.

Finally, I hope it is everything you ever dreamed of and then some! Let us know how the showing goes tomorrow!

 

[butterfly 17]

Hi, I ditto what Dee*Jay said. Don''t fall in love with the pictures b/c when you get to see the actual house, you may find things that aren''t evident in the pictures.
I went through about 50 houses b/f I found the one I currently live in now. But, for the one I am moving to, I only saw 7. Some people find the right home the first time they go look.

It''s hard to say what to look for. Only you know what you want. I know I wanted something new, easy to move into, no wallpaper, larger than what I own now with more backyard space.

Trust me when I say that you will know it is"THE ONE". You will just have that feeling that this is the house for you.

As far as the roof, structure, termite inspection, you really need a licensed inspector to do that, unless you know how to check for these things yourself.

The main things I would be worried about would be leaking roofs, floods in the area, old plumbing and termites. I would definitely want to make sure all those things are checked out by a professional.

 

[movie zombie]

ditto butterfly. its always a mistake to set your heart on one particular house, car, etc. there is always another and more often than not its better than the one you had your heart set on. i remember my real estate class teacher saying the biggest mistake people make in buying is thinking only one particular house will make them happy. they end up overlooking real problems and usually paying too much.

movie zombie

 

[Dee*Jay]

Metro - how was the showing today?

 

[metro]

I''m very disappointed to report that on Friday afternoon, my realtor called me up to tell me that this house went under contract Friday morning

Talked about bummed!

I was really looking forward to seeing this house. It seemed perfect - just exactly what we were looking for in our first home.

I keep telling myself that it wasn''t meant to be.

(sniff-sniff)

The hunt is still on for the perfect start home!

THANKS FOR THE ADVICE!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Oh Metro I''m so sorry that you didn''t even get to see it. But honestly, there are LOTS more homes out there. Just sit tight and the perfect one will come along.

(BTW, have your realtor check the listing every day and see if it comes back on the market for any reason.)

 

[butterfly 17]

Yes, I am sorry to hear that as well. I am positive the perfect house will come up and who knows, perhaps the deal will fall through and you will get it at a good price.

I know of a few people that found a house that they loved, but for some reason, either the house was in contract or the sellers accepted another offer, etc., did not get it, and then a few months later they got a call asking if they were still interested in the house for a lower price.

It happened to me twice in fact and I am pretty sure the same thing happened to Mara.

Also, some sellers are even accepting backup offers, so I would still ask to see the house anyway, just in case.

 

[butterfly 17]

Date: 12/11/2006 3:21:30 PM
Author: Dee*Jay
Oh Metro I''m so sorry that you didn''t even get to see it. But honestly, there are LOTS more homes out there. Just sit tight and the perfect one will come along.

(BTW, have your realtor check the listing every day and see if it comes back on the market for any reason.)

Dee*Jay, why is it that once the house is in contract, most realtors no longer show the house any more. Wouldn''t it be good to get a backup offer just in case?

 

[Tybee]

Metro,

My husband and I just bought our first house this June.
I went through a couple of REAL heartbreaks during the process. There was one house in particular that I was IN LOVE WITH, that fell through. It felt like a bad break up to me. I used to run by the house just to look at it! (yup, a house stalker, right?)
Anyhow, long story short, we found OUR house. It has all the elements that we wanted... and ended up being 10 times better than that other house.
People warned me not to get emotional, but that''s just SO hard.
Good luck!

Tybee

 

[movie zombie]

i wouldn''t put a back offer on the table unless i had actually walked through the house!

movie zombie

 

[Dee*Jay]

Date: 12/11/2006 3:33:19 PM
Author: butterfly 17

Date: 12/11/2006 3:21:30 PM

Author: Dee*Jay

Oh Metro I''m so sorry that you didn''t even get to see it. But honestly, there are LOTS more homes out there. Just sit tight and the perfect one will come along.


(BTW, have your realtor check the listing every day and see if it comes back on the market for any reason.)

Dee*Jay, why is it that once the house is in contract, most realtors no longer show the house any more. Wouldn''t it be good to get a backup offer just in case?

Butterfly, you''re right, it is a smart idea to get a back up offer. And technically and legally a listing agent is obligated to show a property and present all offers to the sellers up to the moment of closing, even once the home has gone under contract. But in reality a few different things happen. Many agents are (let''s face it) lazy. Once they get a contract the next thing on their mind is the closing table and the commission check. They do not want to keep showing a property and they will either flat out refuse a showing or make an open-ended statement that there is a contract on the property already... (dot dot dot), which almost already results in the other agent not asking for a showing. The flip side to this is that many agents will not even call to request a showing on a property once it reaches a certain state in the contract process. There is "contingent" status, meaning that a contract has been negotiated and the inspection and attorney review process is still going on, and there is "pending," which means that the inspection and attorney review are over and they''re just waiting to close. Once something reaches "pending" it''s a waste of breath to call and ask for a showing. In "contingent," if your client REALLY REALLY wants to see something it''s always worth a call to see how the process is going. If there seem to be issues that might result in the contract not going ahead then often agents will get you in to see it.