Buying a home - any suggestions??? (1 Viewer)

[Dennis Reno]

My wife and I are seriously considering making an offer on a home. I have only purchased one other home/property which is the condo we currently live in. Any suggestions on questions we should ask, things to look for, etc?
BTW, the home has a partially finished basement that looks ideal for the HT setup, so don't worry about that aspect

 

[DonRoeber]

If you're serious, get a real estate agent to do the actual paperwork and stuff for you. Doesn't cost the buyer anything. Make sure that you can retract your offer if its accepted, but a home inspection turns out to be disastrous. Hire a good home inspector, your realator should know one.

 

[KyleS]

Get a buyer agent to work for you, as stated above it doesnt cost you a thing as they split the commission on the house with the sellers agent. Make sure that you get a good inspector to go through the whole house, dry rot, termites, etc. Most markets are really a buyers market due to the recession so make sure you are buying on your terms not theirs. And last you MUST be willing to walk away if they dont meet your requests or at least are willing to work with them (some requests can be overboard). Best of luck on the new home purchasing.

KyleS

 

[DennisHP]

Make sure you have a home inspection by someone YOU hire and don't do it yourself even if you do know about construction. A thorough inspection will eliminate possible headaches later. I know it sounds weird and is hard to do, but go talk to the neighbors. You're gonna live next to them so you might want to find out ahead of time if they have anything you can borrow.

 

[Dennis Reno]

Thanks for the suggestions. I will definately hire an inspector. I hired one before purchasing the condo I am currently in and it saved us several headaches as well as helping to point out some minor issues. Worth every penny IMO!

 

[Jason Handy]

I would suggest learning more about the reputation of the builder. My wife and I just bought a house in central Virginia, and shopped around more for the BUILDER than anything else, simply because we had heard that this will severely impact the quality of the house. And remember that problems don't just show up right away within the first year - many of the most brutal problems show up 2 - 3 years down the road (i.e. plumbing).

How old is the house? Is it in a development? If so, look around at some of the other houses, maybe find a realtor that has sold houses in this development before.

Just some thoughts, your mileage may vary.

Jason

 

[Kurt B]

The suggestion of getting a 'buyers' representative is a good one. Remember the 'real estate agent' works for the seller. They buyers agent will work for you and you can usually get one that is fairly inexpensive.

The inspection is a must, even in a newly built home. When I built mine, I had an independant inspector look mine over and he caught some things I missed, nothing major but it was nice to have it taken care of ahead of time.

Check out the inspector also, not all are created equal.

Good luck on the new home.

~Kurt

 

[Ashley Seymour]

The suggestion of getting a 'buyers' representative is a good one. Remember the 'real estate agent' works for the seller. They buyer's agent will work for you and you can usually get one that is fairly inexpensive.

A buyer's agent is also a 'real estate agent'. But not to split hairs, get a buyer's agent. The thing to remember, is if you make an offer with the agent who is listing the house, he/she can act as a buyer's agent (called a limited dual agent) but you will be giving up some negotiating options; the main reason you want the buyer's agent.

As far as inexpensive that is a relative term. If a property is listed with a total commission of 6% (check to see if 7% or more in the norm in your area) typically the listing agent will get half, and the other half goes to the buyer's agent.

Our state recently exacted a law that allows for the buyer and agent to negotiate the commission more efficiently. If the listing agent is willing to pay the selling agent 3%, but the buyer and buyer's agent negotiate 2%, what happens to the other 1%? Make sure the Buyer Broker contract you sign spells out exactly what the commission is, how is paid, by whom, under what circumstances, and for how long is the contract in effect. If you sign a Buyer Broker contract that is good for three months, then buy a For Sale By Owner on your own, guess what. You may still owe the Buyer Broker a fee of 3%.

Your Real Estate Purchase and Sale Agreement should have a rather lenghthy section dealing with home inspections. Get the home inspection. Also, get a blank copy of the contract and read it before looking for property. Many agent will not want to spend a lot of time explaining it. If you spend less than an hour going over the contract with the agent I doubt you understand much of what you are signing.

If you find the For Sale By Owner property, get an attorney to write the contract, or as mentioned above, the Buyer Broker.

What are you going to do with the Condo? Keep it? Sell it? Can you keep it and still qualify to buy the other home or do you have to sell first to raise the funds? If you have to make an offer contingent upon the sale of your place, be prepared to sacrifice a lot in your negotiating position.

Know your market. You can't assume you are in a buyer's market. Find out the average days on the market. We have an active real estate market and our average marketing time is in the 80 day range. Good clean, well priced properties sell rapidly. Foreclosures are low, there is a lot of new construction in the entry level market. Our upper end homes of $250,000 and up are a bit slow right now.

Good Luck

 

[Dennis Reno]

Thanks again for the suggestions!

Ashley - we are taking another look at the home tomorrow. I will be sure and ask the agent for a blank copy of the contract. BTW great idea! Regarding the condo, we will be selling it but the purchase is not contigent upon the sale of the condo.

Instead of a buyer's agent, I was thinking about asking the current Realtor (of the home we are interested in) to list our condo. Will that give me better leverage or would I be better off bringing in a third party???

One more question (for now...) do we have the home inspected before we make an offer? It would seem odd to do so afterward!

 

[Robert McDonald]

Dennis, the contract should provide that within x days you can have the house inspected and if there are defects either (1) you and the seller adjust the purchase price accordingly or (2) you have a chance to walk and get your deposit back.

 

[Ashley Seymour]

Instead of a buyer's agent, I was thinking about asking the current Realtor (of the home we are interested in) to list our condo. Will that give me better leverage or would I be better off bringing in a third party???

When you do that you are taking that agent out of the negotiation process. He/she will have a duty to the seller to get the best price and terms and if signs an agreement with you as a Buyer's Agent he/she will have to abstain from recommendations concerning price and terms to either party.

The agent of course will love the extra business of having the condo listing. Maybe you can negotiate a lower fee for the condo listing