What are your home buying tips?

[Razp_Sorbet]

Just got pre approval for a mortgage ☺️
Any tips for house hunting?

[Anonymous]

Congrats! Also awesome you are buying so young. I wasn’t ready to buy until I was 35.

Anyway right now it is really a toss up if it’s a good time to buy or not. However this what I recommend:

• Location, location, location: it’s much better to buy a fixer upper in a higher end neighborhood vs buying a very nice house in a crappy neighborhood. The value of the homes around you will rise your home own value (or lower it). Plus the money you put into fixing the place you will get back when it’s time to sell.
• Make sure to check crime statistics on Zillow and online. If you are unsure about a neighborhood go to the nearest grocery store and look around at the patrons. There you will get a real feel for the neighborhood. Do it at least 3 different times of the day.
• Check the local HOA rules. When I bought my place I had no idea that overnight parking on the curb and guest spots wasn’t allowed. That sucks! HOAs have funny and sometimes really stupid rules.
• Get more than one home inspection (especially if the house is 10 years or older). My back patio was sinking into the foundation causing water to tickle into my basement during heavy rains storms. Long story but I ended up suing the former owners (and I won) because they lied about it on the seller disclosure form.
• Make sure to double check the AC and furnace. If this goes out you can be looking at a mandatory $10k+ in replacement costs.
• Look up your neighbors names online (including live in relatives). There are free background checks available including sex offender registries. If something does pop up it might worth the background check fee to see exactly when and what someone did (some are much worse than others.).
• You will make money on your place if you stay in it for at least 10 years. In my opinion it’s better to rent out a place vs. selling it in the short term. So make sure your HOA allows it. Once a mortgage is paid off the house is nice asset to have.
• Be ready to spend more money on repairs, updates and furniture than you planned. Newer houses obviously will be less of a problem. But still be ready.

Anyway congrats and happy house hunting!

[LiamJHayden]

1. Take your time. A lot of RE agents will tell you that they have several more people looking. while that might be true, it is also used to try to pressure you into pulling the trigger before you are ready.
2. Check local ordinances to see if there are any that would be a hindrance to your lifestyle.
3. Scope out the neighborhood and schools if you have or are planning on having children. As in check a database to see if any known sexual predators live on the street or nearby.
4. Make sure the location is convenient to public transit / highways, etc. if you work away from home.
5. When looking at the costs, make sure to factor in property taxes, insurance, utility costs (especially if the house is in an area that gets extremely hot or cold).
6. Foot the bill, if needed, for an independent inspection. When shopping for rental units I ran into an inspector for the seller who did not even turn on the mold detector, thinking I would not notice. Had my guy go out and sure enough... Any way I did not buy that building.

[Razp_Sorbet]

I agree. Though because if where I live no home is going to be 100% perfect. The banks have to approve the home we buy anyway, required to have a builders report and required to be insurable

[midnightmoon05]

Save like crazy then pay all cash!! It’s worth the wait!!
no need to deal with banks/loans/fees…then become a slave to them for the next 20-30 yrs…and paying soooooo much more!!!
hapoy and excited to hear you are working toward buying your first home!!

[Agape93]

Get home inspections done and gave a well and septic inspection done

[Agape93]

Have

[mobiusforniner]

Dont go into it thinking its your starter house. Make it your forever house.

That said, i used to work for a utility company and inspected house work. Some of the things I learned:

1) 1980s to 1990s construction was solid. Anything mid 2000s and on, suck. Anything older just feels and smells like grandma's house

2) Single story open floor plan is better, especially when you have kids. Two story feels crammed.

3) older kitchen appliances last forever. My oven is 1986 and still works. Dont replace old working appliances with new smart shit.

4) big yard with lots of landscaping is very hard to keep up with.

5) large and tall trees on property near home are a liability. If they dont fall, you're cleaning gutters of leaves at least once a year.

6) painting is the easiest home renovation you can do. Dont freak if a room color is not your choice. Its not hard to change it.

List can go on and on, but thats what comes to mind right now

[Razp_Sorbet]

I somewhat agree though the 1920/1930s homes have such good bones! And there's one I have my eye on that though I haven't seen in person yet the only downside of it is that the rooms have hideous paint, the carpet in the bedrooms is some weird honeycomb pattern that you'd see on a bus seat to hide stains and the kitchen is from the 70s. But all cosmetic details

[mobiusforniner]

Yes, but construction standards were different in the 20s and 30s and generally living areas were smaller since people spent their free time outside back then. I wouldn't personally look at homes before the 70s. But you're new zealand, right? Not sure the average home age over there.

[Razp_Sorbet]

We have "leaky homes" so I'm avoiding that era which is 1988 to 2004.

70s is about where the majority of the ones on the market in our budget are. Some complete with the original carpet (🤢)

But we are definitely going to take our time since we aren't in any rush and we are going through a home loan company that pretty much handle all the annoying stuff for us

[mobiusforniner]

Good luck. Having a home is a worthwhile adventure. I write thie while sitting on a couch in my living room, grand piano to my side, my violin on my wall, kids playing in the hallway... mom singing while making a dessert in the kitchen. Same house past 14 years.

Its worth it. Believe me.

[Razp_Sorbet]

Oh yeah I believe that, I'm looking forward to having outside space and room for another cat and to maybe have a little one 😺🤰

[Jersey2]

@Razp_Sorbet He had some good points, his number 5 bit me but I liked the trees anyway. A 1920s home, watch out for old electrical wiring and see if it has been upgraded including how much electric it can handle. Also, watch for lead based paint and asbestos. Have a buyers agent that knows the neighborhood. Some q920s houses in California had their foundations created with cement mixed with beach sand. The sand had salt of course and the foundations are now crumbling. Good luck.

[AviatorTom]

Her are my big tips to remember...

1. Set a budget, and be aware that you will probably exceed it.

2. Be aware that someone else might outbid you for that perfect house; most buyers go through 4 or 5 house offers before winning one.

3. Be sure to figure in extra costs of ownership... insurance, utilities, HOA dues if your house is part of an HOA

4. If part of an HOA, be sure to read and understand its rules. Some may surprise you.

5. Make your purchase offer contingent on a successful home engineering inspection; if anything is found, be sure the sellers fix it or guve you enough money to fix it after you own it.

[Finchie40]

Always ask your realtor if there is any thing new being built in the area , like shopping centers, restaurants etc. if so , then your property value has a good chance of going up in value and it will be a smart investment , and if you ever decide to sell , you can Sell your home for more than what you bought it for and it will be easier to sell , After the first year I purchased my home , my home equity shot up like crazy , to the point I will make a nice profit when I go to sell this home , I am just not ready to move yet, Moving sucks lol

[Jaximus-Lion]

Well! I live in Sweden so i am not sure that what works here will work where you live. So! What i look for is a small community, a medium size house (100 m²) , countryside ish, about 25-30 minutes away from downtown. Always have a house inspection agency or whatever it's called to check for the flaws. Make a list of what you want, the area, your priorities like supermarkets, transport, schools, job, and so on. Near countrysides houses are nie and cheap. For example i bout my house for 85k usd, the same ish house in downtown will cost about 400k 🤷‍♂️.

[Adam1978]

Step one decide how many years of work a house is worth to you. Ie something like 10 years should be the highest you go. You should then be able to pay off the whole mortgage in this time without living like a monk. That's your budget, if you spend more you are literally selling your self as a slave. Because that house will need maintenance and after 10 years you have to fix it up and that will cost. So you better not have to pay both mortage and repair bills.

[Razp_Sorbet]

That's not realistic in this country

[Adam1978]

There is always cheap places, don't sell your life to the bank. And as the fertility rate goes down in all countries the house prices will fall with it. Immigrants will not keep it up forever. If you pay expensive prices you are a part of the problem.

[Razp_Sorbet]

Houses are just generally expensive here. The cheapest ones are the ones that need hundreds of thousands of dollars of work.

[Adam1978]

Maybe but aslong as you can live in the place, you can fix them up instead of paying mortgage. And in the speed you can afford.

[Razp_Sorbet]

I'd rather go for somewhere livable with cosmetic details that I want to change. It will be our home for the foreseeable future.

[RealMarek]

Yes, make sure you get a thorough home inspection before buying. Make sure you have enough saved up to keep paying the mortgage for at least year if you get laid off. Keep in mind adjustable rate mortgages are dangerous because the payment can go up with interest rates. If rates fall you can refinance a fixed-rate mortgage.

[Jay3344]

Get a home inspection before buying. Don’t succumb to FOMO, and search for a good deal and the house you want. Know the area a little and make sure you’re happy with it. Get good advice and try not to go for variable interest rates. Pay down the mortgage points to get as low of an interest rate as possible. Research the paperwork necessary before applying for the mortgage so that when you go to an originator you’re prepared. Be patient

[Kelly6]

buy a bigger home, because its not easy to switch.

and by in a place or town that is developent phase

so in future house value incresses fast

[andreasderjuengere]

Pity you - you are about to enslave yourself to a bank.

[Razp_Sorbet]

I'm about to own a home and not pay other people's mortgages.

[andreasderjuengere]

And once you paid it off, you're old enough to die in it :)
Buy something by all means if that makes you happy. I'm just saying...

[Razp_Sorbet]

I don't understand why you see owning a home as a bad thing?

[mobiusforniner]

Screw em. I have a house and will never go back to renting...

[andreasderjuengere]

@Miss Sorbet - I don't say it's bad for everyone. It certainly will make a materialist happy (er). Just not ME...
My own reasons: instead of paying for a landlord's life, I pay for a banker's life; is that a difference?
Further: If I'm stuck with a house and my neighbours turn out to be shitty... if I want or need to change location/country/continent/employment/career - then I'm slowed down, have made myself inflexible.
Investment and ''property'': for my new house today there will be 50 or 100 NEWER houses once I have paid it off. Add inflation and ongoing maintenance and owning a house becomes quite questionable.

[Razp_Sorbet]

You realise you don't have to pay off the house to move right 🤔🤨

[andreasderjuengere]

I do. But it isn't sold like a bag of beans.
When I moved from Europe to SE Asia it took months to sell Mom's house after she died. And from afar I was exposed to the good will of my greedy brother. So I left it to him in the end.
Again, and speaking for myself: I'd rather have a camper van if I MUST own a home :)

[Razp_Sorbet]

Thats pretty normal. Here it takes months to find a rental... You're also paying outrageous prices for rentals to the point it's cheaper to pay a mortgage

[andreasderjuengere]

Now THAT could make sense even to me :)

[Wise4myage]

Yeah, make sure the neighborhood is as safe as it can be. And check the crime statistics for the zip code.

[Razp_Sorbet]

I'm from the area so I know where the no go zones are

[Wise4myage]

Excellent. Good luck in your search.

[loveslongnails]

It's better to have the least desirable house in a great neighborhood than the most desirable house in a not so great neighborhood !!!

[OfDeath]

Find out when an Auction will be and get some of your friends to show up pretending to be very annoying neighbors.

[call_me_scar]

Kill someone in it so the price goes down by 10 or 25 percent before buying

[EaterPeter]

Research, research, research, if you do rental close for any reason be very careful, lock the mortgage rate for longer without additional cost

[mommymommymommy]

If it's had lots of owners, either something is VERY creepy in it, or something bad happened

[lorenzomichael]

Stay out of the ghetto. And pay you mortgage payment on time.

[Anonymous]

Don’t buy over your budget. If you’re preapproved for a specific amount, it doesn’t mean you can automatically afford it.

[Razp_Sorbet]

Actually it does... They don't approve you for more than you can afford. Obviously the higher the amount the less pocket money you will have

[Opinion Owner]

Yeah, they may have changed it since I bought during the peak in 2008. They had me qualified for something way over my budget.

[Razp_Sorbet]

Possibly different countries have different ways of doing thinga

[the_sinner]

It shouldn’t be too big or shouldn’t be too small.

[bondjames37]

Congratulations! 🏡