House buying can be a scary thing for any buyer, yet alone a couple of first time buyers out of their depth and pretty much on their own both financially and with regards to knowing what the hell goes on with trying to buy a house. Granted out first attempt was a bit of a fail we kind of learnt things the hard way, but we learnt a lot of things to take forward.
1 // Relationships
Whether it's your mortgage adviser or your relator/estate agent work with people you can get on with, that you can bounce ideas off, who are willing to give you their full attention and won't mind you ringing them with a random question at 9.30PM. It's their job to work for you. You don't need to be best friends but it certainly pays off to have people that you get on with that's for sure.
2// Home Inspections
You might remember my post about our home inspection - but they are key in giving that extra insight into a home you've stuck your bid on. Skipping a house inspection may risk you buying a money pit that leaks money rather than enjoyment and can get you in a better position for adjusting the buying price.
3 // Conditional offers
Make sure all your offers are condition - conditional upon the mortgage being approved, conditional on the home inspection and upon the appraisal. Unconditional offers can put you in a tricky corner if things don't work out and luckily helped us get out of our contract.
4 // Buy an electrical ground tester
If you're planning at looking and buying an older home, often electric switches aren't grounded which for some can be a deal breaker (it won't fail a house/FHA inspection it's more down to preferences especially if you have a lot of high end appliances). Joe spotted our home inspector using one and for our second and third round of looking for a house we decided to purchase one - they cost like $11 from Home Depot. While it's not a deal breaker for us, it's nice knowing which rooms are/aren't grounded.
5 // Pay attention
It's a bit of a novel feeling looking around houses but I admit to not paying enough attention on the houses we were looking at, like not noticing the lack of gutters, or there being a hole in the ceiling of the garage to how messy the hardwood flooring was on the first floor. Print off your house viewing scheduling, take notes, take photographs to write your first impressions, the pros and cons.
What would be your house buying tips?
yes you have to be so careful and you dont knwo what to look for at first, i must have viewed 50 places!! http://thewanderlusthasgotme.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/food-glorious-food.html
ReplyDeleteYeah, we're up to about 40 or so house viewings now!
DeleteGreat tips! Things work a lot different in the UK but the fundamentals ideas are the same! :)
ReplyDeleteStephanie
http://missstephanieusher.blogspot.co.uk/
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From what I know about my friends buying houses in the UK there seem to be more protection for the buyer in the US even with regards to mortgages, schemes to help buyers and so on. That and we could never afford to buy in the UK that's for sure.
DeleteThese are really brilliant tips, thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteMeg | Meghan Silva's Blog
These are indeed really good tips, especially when you're first learning the ropes of home buying. Taking photos and notes is super helpful for keeping different houses' pros and cons straight in your head after seeing so many of them. That's what I did for my most recent house purchase even though I looked at very few homes before putting in a bid. The houses I bought before my current one were back in the days before I had a camera cell phone! ; ) I hope your bid gets accepted soon!
ReplyDeleteI haven't bought a house but I did work in conveyancing for a while and my tips would be - don't expect to exchange quickly (despite what the estate agent may promise) as searches can take up to 6 weeks to get back and unless you're buying without a mortgage then they are required. Also, be nice to your conveyancer (as per your first tip), if you're nice to them then they will be nice to you and remember, you aren't their only client. Also, never ring them on a Friday as that's when a lot of completions happen and when things start to go wrong, so given them a call earlier in the week instead.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with it all.
Thanks - luckily both our realtor and mortgage advisor pretty much don't mind us ringing or emailing whenever we have questions.
DeleteTitles are often sorted by the mortgage industry in the US - at least it is in our case and without first home that fell through it was going to only take three weeks for the paperwork to go through. In fact in many cases, you don't even need a lawyer for house buying here. It's a lot stricter with regards to closing dates, either side can get fined if it's over run so there's a tendency for the whole thing to move a lot quicker - the realtor sticks in the closing date you want - 4/5 weeks ahead and it pretty much falls into place.
Have to admit, Kris and I were pretty rubbish at deciding our first place to rent. It was student housing though and it was crappy, really really crappy. We managed to get most of the problems fixed in the first 6 months but it was always a little dodge.
ReplyDeleteWe put more effort in this time around, we knew we'd have to stick the place out 3 years or more so we actually paid attention to the houses and asked questions as much as possible.
Definitely paying attention is a good idea :)
Urgh student housing. Nightmares.
DeleteThe first house I was living in after halls had a leaky roof and water and therefore mold growing on the inside walls by the stairs and pretty much every room. What didn't help was living with one of the housemates who refused turn the heating on because he didn't want high heating bills, so we all froze.
But yeah, asking questions is the biggie, that and being nosey - opening cabinets, doors, turning on switches. I like a good nosey - I was going to say poke but that sounded very rude!
I always been very over critical when it comes to looking for places and there are always things people forget along the way so this is a really good list of things to keep in mind. I wish we had a good relationship with ours but we just don't sadly and it all seems to be very unclear or only half a story we get. x
ReplyDeleteThat's such a shame - have you tried looking for another? We're actually onto our third - the first we just didn't have any connection with. It's been worth it with getting to the realtor we have now, she's spot on with helping us out. Plus at the end of the day, you're paying for their service so it's worth getting someone that's clear and helpful too!
DeleteGreat tips! We have decided to buy than to keep renting, and are starting out as brand new house buyers. It's easy enough to see a house you like but then to actually get it!
ReplyDeleteYou're in the same position as us!
DeleteThe viewings are the easy part of house buying that's for sure.
I am an avid House Hunters watcher, and so it makes me cringe when people can't find a house because they are being too picky, thinking that they will get everything that they want in one house and they aren't billionaires. So, I'd say that you can't have every single thing on your wish list, especially if you are on a budget and it's your first house; you have to decide on what your priorities are. Also, if you really want a house, do not wait to bid on it, unless your gut is really telling you not to. But I've seen people lose houses that they really want because they waited or didn't bid right away. I also really agree with the home inspection- I don't know why someone wouldn't have one? -Jess L
ReplyDeleteOkay, so I think I commented on this post before, but I don't see it. It's possible it didn't go through because my computer was getting weird popups since I wouldn't update a few things....Anyhow, if I did, ignore the one I just sent!
ReplyDelete