Dream Home: Know What You Want and Ask these Questions
This is only my second post on home purchasing. We are taking the process slowly, waiting for our home to come to us. Most people we have talked to think we have some time until the market begins to move upward again. We viewed our first homes last Wednesday. It is very strange looking at actual homes other than apartments or condos, makes you feel more like an adult. Good or bad, I don’t know. Here are a couple points and observations I picked up from our views as well as some of the questions we asked.
1) You know right away whether a home may be for you or is totally and utterly not what you want. The first home we looked at was not for us. But like any nice couple we looked around, pointed out the good things. Fairly soon our realtor discovered our actual opinion and nonchalantly stated “this house will be on the market a while.” After that we knew we could be a lot more honest with our realtor. After all he had no personal connection with the home. Later on in the evening we were much more direct with our opinion which I believe helps refine the process and helps both parties lay out what they are expecting.
2) We laid off the big questions, tried to stay within our knowledge. It would be impossible for the realtor and I to get into a discussion on the foundation and possible repairs on a first visit. That is what a home inspection is for. Here are some questions we asked as well as a few others.
Things to look out for inside the house and questions to ask:
- does the property need updating - if so, how much will this cost
- are the rooms big enough for your needs - furniture etc
- what is the cost of Council Tax and the average costs of other utility? bills such as electricity, gas, water
- why are the sellers moving
- does the house have full central heating? If so, how old is it
- how is the water heated? Combination boiler or tank, etc
- have there been any problems with the boiler; when was it last serviced by a Corgi engineer
- if there is a loft, has this been insulated? If so, how long ago
- does the property have cavity wall insulation
- has the property been altered in any way and if so are the relevant planning and building control consents available to inspect
- is there any sign of subsidence (e.g. major cracks in the walls or the doors sticking)
- is there a smell of damp or any other sign such as the walls feeling damp, the wallpaper peeling/paint bubbling, watermarks or mould
- do the window frames have cracking paint? (If you can press your finger easily into the wood it’s rotten)
- has the room recently been decorated, if so, why (a problem might lie underneath)
- how much storage space is there
- are there sufficient power points, how old do they look
- does it feel like it could be your home
I think the last one is the most important!
3) I guess my last observation deals with what the realtor told us after we viewed the homes. He says “I know you like the one house, but lets wait until you find a house that you walk into and are firmly blown away, I can’t live without, kinda feeling.” I think that is some good advice.
We are going to look at some more homes in some other neighborhoods, I hope we find the one we just can’t live without. In the meantime we are just trying to enjoy the experience and learn as much as possible. As always, if you have some crucial advice I missed or an experience you had, please enlighten other Newly Corporate readers in our comment section. Thanks.
This article is part of The Dream Home series.
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Tags: Home, Investing, The Dream Home
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November 6th, 2007 at 1:55 pm
I got a good tip once, and it was to understand the home’s relative value. Is it the nicest house on the block? The advice I got was to never buy the nicest house on the block. Its value will be dragged down by those around it. It is always better to have the crappiest house in a nice neighborhood. Of course, you never want to own a money-pit … just remember that it is all relative.
November 6th, 2007 at 2:14 pm
I think thats good advice but, what happens when you want to sell it then and your house pales in comparison to the rest on the block?
June 3rd, 2008 at 9:51 am
[...] ago, the pursuit of the dream home. He started out with the basics of home buying and even detailed questions you should ask when buying a home. I have had similar experiences throughout the initial search and financing [...]
June 3rd, 2008 at 11:28 am
@Brandon:
Hopefully you will fix it up while you are living there, so it will be more in line with the rest of the neighborhood.
June 8th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
[...] move, be sure to check out how the area would effect your insurance(this is definitely one of the questions you should ask when considering a house or condo). Also, although I wouldn’t do it due to the inconvenience, I have a friend who used to [...]