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10 Steps to House Hunting with a Well-Trained Eye
It sounds like a great listing – in your price range – in a good
neighborhood – with features you’re looking for. First impressions mean a
lot – but you find the bushes are overgrown, the front hallway is
covered with tacky foil wallpaper, the kitchen cabinets are painted dark
brown, the living room rug smells musty, and the hardwood floors have
black water marks on them.
Should you head back out the door? Maybe. But to fully determine
whether you should cross this house off of your list you’ll need to
gather more information, and perhaps look past the blemishes to get a
full picture of this house’s potential. How do you do that? Follow
these 10 steps.
When narrowing down your home search, consider the following:
- Start with emotion, but end with facts. Buying a
home is an emotional process. You often find yourself trying to
determine if this is where you want to spend the next 10, 20, or 30
years of your life (and perhaps raise a family). It’s OK if your initial
impression is an emotional one. But because the purchase can be the
largest you’ll ever make, it is essential that you gather all of the
facts necessary to make an educated decision.
- Look for good bones. Don’t get hooked on the decorating. You must learn to look past the furniture, wall colors, window treatments, and
other decorating, and just look at the home layout and flow. New cherry
cabinets and granite counters matter little if they are in the galley
kitchen and you have a family of five. At the same time a family room
with black walls featuring a mural of the moon on one side also matters
little if it is big enough for your needs. Aesthetics are relatively
inexpensive to fix – major construction is another matter.
- When looking at room layout, corners are key. Rooms
with doorways in the middle of walls flow better than rooms that open
in a corner. Remember that when looking for your dream home.
- Make sure the most expensive stuff works. The two
most expensive rooms in a home to renovate are kitchens and bathrooms.
If you’re stretching to be able to afford a home and still eat, make
sure these two rooms don’t need renovating anytime soon. Check the age of the HVAC as well as the roof. How much life are left in those expensive items? Are you going to have to replace them soon?
- Take an inventory of what needs fixing. Good news:
With more houses on the market than in the past several years, you’ll
likely be able to look at more houses before making a decision to put in
a bid. Bad news: That means it can get quite confusing to remember the
details of each. Develop a list of things you like in the house as you
walk through each, and also make a list of things that might need fixing
(see "Keep Them Straight", right).
- Is there room for expansion? You might not be
concerned with adding onto the home you’re viewing today, but what about
tomorrow? Don’t necessarily exclude those that don’t have the room and a
logical place to expand, but do understand that you will be limited in
your options down the road.
- Does the basement leak? If you’ve been lucky enough
to live in a house with a dry basement (or perhaps without a basement)
it’s hard to imagine the havoc a wet basement can bring to your life. If
you’ve ever lived in a house with a leaky basement or hate the thought
of a foot of water surrounding your furnace, you’ll likely be sure to
check that the basement doesn’t leak, or has a system that automatically
removes water from it.
- What’s the condition of the home’s exterior? Does
it need painting, or is it sided? Does it have painted brick that’s
peeling? Is the aluminum siding chalking? Improving the exterior can be
costly. Check the exterior walls carefully before putting in a bid.
- Landscaping: Does it look like a park or a landfill?
Landscaping not only includes the grass, bushes and any gardens, but
also the hardscape – the sidewalk, deck and/or patio. People are
spending more time than ever outdoors and you’re likely no different.
Landscaping improvements can be costly, but is one area in which
homeowners often tackle projects themselves. If you have the time,
energy, and expertise you can save money by doing some landscaping
improvements. But costs can add up here – be sure to factor that into
your decision and/or bid.
- Check the zoning, nobody likes surprises. Too
often homeowners are horrified to learn that their tranquil neighborhood
is being invaded by multi-family housing, a big commercial business, or
a 24-hour convenience store. Before you put a bid on a house, go to the
town hall, city hall, or county register of records and find out the
zoning of all contiguous properties. Check to see if it is in a flood zone. Research floods in that area. Get a quote for flood insurance BEFORE you make an offer. Flood insurance can be quite the month expense.
Keep them straight
Looking at a lot of houses? With digital photography making it easy
and inexpensive to record images, be sure to take a phone or digital camera
along, first taking a picture of the listing sheet so you can remember
which pictures go with which home, and then key elements of each home.
Also, make a checklist before you visit the first house so that you
can keep each of them straight. Here is a list of items you’ll want to
include (rank each as either excellent, good, fair, needs repair soon,
needs repair now).
- Kitchen
- Bathroom(s)
- Roof
- Windows
- Furnace
- Air conditioning
- Floors (rate by each level of home)
- Closet/storage space
- Plumbing
- Electrical (does it have 60, 100 or 200 amp service?)
- Basement
- Master bedroom
- Siding
- Garage
Then customize the list with your own “must haves,” for example,
fireplace, master bath, walk-in closet, two (or three) car garage,
dining room, open floor plan, eat-in kitchen, screened-in porch, large
(or small) yard
The following articles provide useful information and are a great place to start if you're considering buying a home.
How to choose a Neighborhood for Your Home Search
House Hunting 101
Why use a Realtor When Buying a Home?
Home Inspections Avert Future Headaches
The Basics of Making an Offer
What can I afford?
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