We're buying our FIRST HOUSE! Bombard me with advice!

[Jacksmommy2b]

We are finally going to buy a home!

DH is a HGTV junkie and my mom is a realtor (albeit a new one) so I *think* we have the basics covered, but better safe than sorry!

What do you wish you knew then? What are you glad to have done?

[ohiomom1121]

Seems so basic but REALLY look at the neighborhood. We were young and naive and went for the house we wanted. The neighborhood has been a huge problem with selling our house.

[elektra]

Congrats! Where are you at in the process? I want to filter any of my BTDT advice for anything too late to redo. ;)

[randomkid]

Unless you definitely plan on private school, be sure you know about the schools in your district. We bought a house in a nice neighborhood, but some of the neighboring areas are not so nice and they are zoned for the same schools we are. I think if we had to do it over and were buying now, we would take more time to find something in a different area.

Don't compromise if you plan to be in the house for a long time. I wanted certain things in a house, but we bought when the market was going up. We had looked for a year and knew we had to buy or we wouldn't be able to. I absolutely had to compromise and I'm glad I did because at the time we had to move and a year later we would not have been able to afford it. Now, because of the market, you have more time, so be sure you like everything about the house and that you won't have any regrets later. I wish I had a larger laundry room and an extra bedroom/den/closed in porch, something to serve as a playroom. I also hate my kitchen. It was a big improvement over what we had, but I really never liked it and now I still don't like it. I can live with these things, but they have me wanting a new house and we just can't do it right now.

Lastly, if you find a house you love, but it needs work done on it or you want to change/update certain things, try to do as much as you can before you move in and within the first year. We did some things that first year, but after that we have just let things go. I guess you just get used to it. I wish we had done more in the first year because it is all just too overwhelming now. See, things start needing to be repaired, updated, etc and you just never get to the stuff you wanted to do before you moved in. Get it all done right away!

You said you have the basics covered, so I'm assuming you know the importance of a good home inspection, etc. I'm trying to give advice on things you may not think of otherwise.

Good luck and happy house hunting!

[Jacksmommy2b]

We just got approved for our mortgage and have 1 Saturday of house hunting under our belts. :)

[Jacksmommy2b]

You said you have the basics covered, so I'm assuming you know the importance of a good home inspection, etc. I'm trying to give advice on things you may not think of otherwise.

Good luck and happy house hunting!

That is what I was hoping for exactly! Thank you so much!

[AnnieW625]

My advice is don't rush into anything and don't feel like you have to max out the amount of the mortgage that you have been approved for. Definitely agree on the school district thing. Buy the biggest house on the best street that you can afford.

[Fairy]

Do not under any circumstances look for a bargain on the inspection or skip the radon test. Do. Not. Period. You want a top notch inspection, and no matter what the radon tests cost, pay for it. Now the hard part. If the radon test comes back as a fail, pass the house by. Or mitigate it (it's called Radon Mitigation), if possible. But don't settle, radon is serious. Our dream house came back with a score of 10. Passing is a 4, and even nuclear installations don't allow anything above a 2. That's parts per TRILLION. So, that should tell you something.

[JBaxter]

Yes! The home inspection is a HUGE thing. Electrical, plumbing, foundation, water leakage, roof mold etc are all HUGE expenses. Check out the schools. Not knowing your area but finished basements are really nice ;) I SO wish we had a mud / laundry room.

[mom2binsd]

I second the idea of really getting to know the neighborhood,check it out on a Saturday, afterschool, etc...and don't take a realtors word about the makeup, look for yourself, a friend really wanted a home with lots of kids nearby, their agent assured them there were lots, there are none....just lots of older empty nesters....not what she wanted but she was limited in when she could view the house (was from out of town).

If you have small children I would never buy on a busy street, even a main street in a subdivision, we live on a culdesac and it's HEAVEN!!!!!!!!!! If there are lots of options remember locations can't be changed! Really look at the houses nearby, behind the house etc.

Figure out if the layout will work for your lifestyle. For us, I really like the bedrooms upstairs away from the main floor (our first home was a bungalow/rambler and the bedrooms were too close to the kitchen, esp now that the kids go to bed for school and we're still up etc.

[alexmommy]

Neighborhood is super important. Come to find out ours has several "section 8" houses. section 8 is subsidized housing, and, while I understand that everyone needs a place to leave, these people do not do yardwork, do not do home maintenance as per HOA rules, do talk loudly at all hours and do let their children (of all ages!) run wild at all hours. Oh, and they yell loudly/have catfights with each other late and night, sometimes resulting in police visits. Wish I had known this before we bought. Not sure where you'd find this out.

Also, check for:
crime rates--call local police dept
sex offender registry--online
environmental hazards--there was a recent thread on this, but a short list is you want to be far from: power lines, major highways, superfund sites, gas stations, etc
see if the house has settled and how much
read HOA covenants, try to get a feel for how effective the HOA is--middle is best, avoid micromanaging ones and weak, ineffective ones
heating/cooling costs
parking room for guests if you like to have people over
proximity to kid-friendly things (sidewalk to walk/run, park, tot lot) and shopping--nice if you can avoid the carseat/sleeping in car issues
if possible, meet prospective neighbors

agreed that do as much remodeling/fixing up before moving in. In a month, DH painted almost the entire place and put in a tile floor (after work hours and on weekends). Since then his the progress on his to-do list has been miniscule.

Good Luck!

[elizabethkott]

When you get to the point of getting ready to move in, before all your stuff is in the house, DO THE FLOORS if you have hardwood. It is SUCH a PITAAAAAAAAA to go through that process... emptying out rooms full of furniture, dealing with the dust that gets e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e. despite any best efforts with plastic sheeting, the smell of the stain and the poly.... what. a. nightmare. Same thing goes for paint. And contrary to popular belief, floors FIRST, then paint. Just because of the sheer amount of dust that is kicked up by sanding the floors. And in my experience, painters are more careful about not mucking up the new floors than floor guys are about mucking up the new paint.

[maylips]

Small things, but when comparing houses, look at things like blinds/curtains already on, closet organization already set up, etc. Some new houses don't even have knobs on the kitchen cabinets (I know, b/c we saw one the other day). You can easily spend another $1,500-2,000 on stuff like that you have to purchase and if another house already has those things, it can save you money.

Also, make a list of things you want/need and prioritize them. That way, you won't compromise on something you *really* want and then kick yourself for the next 10 years while you're in the house.

[smiles33]

Great advice so far. Mine is to visit your prospective home at various times of day. At our first house, we didn't realize how crowded street parking was at night when people came home from work. Plus a friend of ours didn't know there were hundreds of people playing soccer games at the 3 fields across the street from their house every weekend morning all day.

[BabyMine]

Talk to the people that live in the area. Find out if there are future plans for any construction or new roads they want to build that might impact your area.

How many homes in that area are in forclosure? A lot of times when there are an abundance of forclosed homes they aren't kept up and the home values go down.

HOA rules? CDD?

[SnuggleBuggles]

I look for good bones. There are so many changes that you can make to a house simply- new paint, new flooring, new light fixtures...that you shouldn't get hung up on how other people decorate their homes. Look at the layout, look at the potential. Think of things that are relatively cheap, easy fixes that you could do almost immediately, think about things you would need to save up for and things that you would love to do if you stayed there forever. if it has potential then carefully consider it. Those HGTV shows tick me off when people get all hung up on minor cosmetic details. Layout, neighborhood, comps, schools- those are the thing that matter more at the end of the day, imo.

Usable outdoor space or, again, the potential to improve it is something to consider too. That is the one bummer right now for us. Sure our kitchen could be better and there isn't really much we will be able to do on the size or layout of it but I can live with that. The fact that our backyard is hard to access is a big problem nowadays though and will be very hard and expensive to change.

Beth

[momof2girls]

Find out age of windows and roof...those are big ticket items to replace. Check out the neighbors if possible. We have new neighbors across the street who are feuding in a major way with their next door neighbor. They are so new to the block that it would not be financially smart for them to move just yet so they are miserable and stuck with a neighbor that abhor.
Check out where you'll do all your errands such as food shopping, library, post office, parks.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Oh, and drive by the houses you really like at all times of the day to get a sense of what it is like day and night.

Beth

[wellyes]

Layout is more important than size. Seriously.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Layout is more important than size. Seriously.

Absolutely.

Also, think about what your family really would use and how they would use it. Like, if you had to choose between a 4th bedroom or a larger area down on the main floor but only 3 bedrooms, think about what would be most valuable to your family's happiness and enjoyment of the space?

Beth

[gobadgers]

One little thing that's gotten me in the first year in our new house - notice what direction the house is facing and where sunlight comes in. One side of our house has zero windows, and it is the side that faces south. What I wouldn't do for a little sunlight in the kitchen in the mornings! It's a little thing, but nothing can change it.

Also in terms of the yard - think about how much work you want to do (or pay for). Some modest size yards still have a lot of work if there is landscaping. Our house has a lot of (overgrown) landscaping, and while I was looking forward to gardening it is overwhelming at times.

Good luck in your search!!

ETA: If you have time, hang out at a couple neighborhood parks to meet people and ask about the area.

[baymom]

How exciting--congrats! You have lots of really great advice already and I just wanted to add two things. One, we took our camera with us when we were house hunting and it was helpful to be able to recall the details of houses when we were discussing them later. After a certain point (if you end up looking for months, like we did) a lot of places sort of run together in your head. Also, when we were searching for our 1st house, we never expected to live there for more then a couple of years...well, it's been 8 years and we are still here. In retrospect, I wish we would have looked more into the school situation and for a larger yard. So, two--while you don't want to stretch yourself too thin, do consider the long term. Even though it's your 1st/starter house, you may be there for longer then you originally planned....you just never know.

[MommyAllison]

We bought our first house just over a year ago. :) Congrats! Off the top of my head, and things I didn't see mentioned already...

- Paint before you move in, if at all possible. We did, though I hated waiting the extra week to move in, and afterwards I was so glad we did. So much easier to paint an empty house!

- When it looks like you'll get mutual acceptance, knock on the neighbors doors and politely ask a few questions about the neighborhood. You get to see who your neighbors will be, and get neighborhood opinions from people who don't have any financial reason to not tell the truth ;) We did this (after checking with our realtor to make sure it was ok) and discovered we have fantastic neighbors with kids our age on one side, and renters on the other side. Really helped with the questions we had, and they all were really happy to talk to us and offered other helpful info (like that our seller was "anal" about keeping the house and yard well kept & nice, etc).

- Even though others have said it, really, really do drivebys at different times. Drive by on Friday night after dark, Saturday morning, Sunday afternoon, weekdays at rush hour, etc. We came and sat in our car in the driveway during rush hour to see how busy it got.

- If you have any concern about water/basement issues, and the weather cooperates with a good rainy day, or snow melt (depending on your weather) try to go see the house that day to check the basement.

- Every home improvement project will cost more than you think, every time. :) Estimate the cost, then add a little extra.

- When you get in the car after a showing, write down everything you both think about the house right on the sales flier. They all run together after a couple houses.

Good luck!

[WatchingThemGrow]

Did anyone mention going for a walk/run in the new neighborhood, at different times of the day/week? Just being on the ground, not in your car, can give you a little more info - like can you hear a highway from there when you aren't talking to a realtor or whatever.

[TwinFoxes]

Lots of good advice here that I wish I had thought of when we bought our first house which I really liked, but in the end had some issues. Namely, whacky neighbors. They were sweethearts, really good people. But they did things like starting to build an ugly cement volcano fountain in their front yard...to make it worse, they never finished it. Several people were interested in our house when we were selling, and they told our realtors flat out they weren't going to buy across from them. Their driveway was kind of a mess, and their old boat was parked on the street. When we moved in they had an older, but could be deemed classic car in the driveway. I wish we had known that they just liked to keep a lot of junk. So really check out your neighbors! (Our realtor wrote them a letter and asked them to clean up, and they did! But nothing could be done about the volcano).

Try to see the house outside of an open house. In open houses you can feel rushed. Also, if it's not an open house you can do things like talk loudly in one room, and see if it's easily heard in another room. Some people recommend taking a radio, and playing it in one room to see if you can hear it in another.

When you're looking at houses, if a fenced yard is important, don't let that be a determining factor. We had to have our yard fenced before we moved into this house, and it was MUCH cheaper than I thought it would be. And compared to how much the house cost, it was a tiny fraction.

Enjoy the process! It's actually kind of fun to house hunt (my DH would NOT agree!!)

[Melaine]

Congratulations! Take your time home shopping, don't get frustrated if it takes awhile and wait for something you are really really happy with. Great time to be buying a home, so good luck and hope you enjoy the hunt!

[ThreeofUs]

Buy the very best roofing, electrical and plumbing you can find in a brick house (if possible). Do everything you want to do to the house first, before you move in.

Cracks in the foundation? The least hint of water in the basement? Run the other way!

Make sure it's a place that makes your heart glow!

GL!

[lil_acorn]

Paint the rooms before you move in! And if the carpets need replacing or you hate them, change them before you move and have all that furniture in there! (Assuming you've got the $). If you live in the NE, invest in a snowthrower!

[JTsMom]

Everyone has said almost everything I can think of already, but just thought I'd add not to forget to budget for homeowner's insurance, increased utility bills, an emergency fund, all of the little expenses like new trash cans, lawn care equipment, etc, HOA fees, and taxes. With taxes, keep in mind that depending on your area, they may re-assess every year, or when someone new buys, or when a major change happens, so make sure you know what YOU'LL be paying, not what the previous owners paid.

And don't forget to think about re-sale value. Watch out for anything that will make the house hard to sell, especially if you ever had to do it quickly for any reason. Schools, location, road/airplane noise, location within the neighborhood, neighbors, water run-off, how up to date the house is, proximity to things like rr tracks, roads, gas stations, schools, bars, etc. are all going to come into play.

Since your mom is new to the business (I'm guessing you're using her for your deal), consider hiring a real-estate attorney to review the paperwork unless you are 110% confident that she knows her stuff inside and out. This is the biggest investment you've made, and you don't want to make any preventable mistakes- especially when you might come to resent your mom b/c of them, kwim?

[KrisM]

Really think about the layout. My friend has a bigger main floor than we do. But, her kitchen is layed out so that there are walls blocking it from much of the rest of the house. My kitchen opens right to the family room and there is a door to the dining room and from the dining room, I can see the playroom. So, if I'm in my kitchen, I can see nearly all the first floor and where the kids are. She's more cut off.

If you have any large pieces of furniture that you will keep, measure it and bring measurements when looking at houses. Make sure it fits.

Yes to doing everything you can before moving in!

Once you're in, start saving for big improvements. Many years, you'll only have small amounts of maintenence, but eventually, you'll need a new roof or somethingar big. Saving some each year will make it so much easier to be ready. Our roof will be around $6k this year :(.

[Hawkeyewife]

We are getting ready to buy our first house as well in another state (military move over the summer.) Lot's of good advice. We made an offer on a place yesterday, hope it is accepted.

[ThreeofUs]

When you get to the point of getting ready to move in, before all your stuff is in the house, DO THE FLOORS if you have hardwood. It is SUCH a PITAAAAAAAAA to go through that process... emptying out rooms full of furniture, dealing with the dust that gets e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e. despite any best efforts with plastic sheeting, the smell of the stain and the poly.... what. a. nightmare. Same thing goes for paint. And contrary to popular belief, floors FIRST, then paint. Just because of the sheer amount of dust that is kicked up by sanding the floors. And in my experience, painters are more careful about not mucking up the new floors than floor guys are about mucking up the new paint.


:yeahthat::yeahthat: So very very "yeah that"! Also, paint will come off the poly better than poly will come off the paint.

[ourbabygirl]

Same advice as what's been given already. :)
Again, really check out the FOUNDATION. We bought our house in '07, and though it was only built in '99, DH has noticed vertical & horizontal cracks in some walls lately (particularly after the winter), which he says points to foundation problems, which means PRICEY. We either get it checked out and have it fixed if that's what needs to happen (PRICEY!!!), or don't have it checked and try to get out of here (not likely to happen given how much money we'd lose and how bad the housing market is right now). Bad case either way.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. And I mean within the city, near schools & stores and stuff, but also near RELATIVES! I'm kicking myself every day that we decided to move farther out to get a bigger, newer, kid-friendly house with a huge dog-friendly yard. We moved even further out to be able to afford more house, but ended up moving further from our parents, and I sooooo wish we were closer now that we have a child. Know what you're in for as far as a drive from your parents/ friends/ whomever, and if you're willing to do that drive over and over and over.

Be careful not to buy more house than you need. Our house is big and beautiful, but we bought it when we were thinking we'd have 4 kids. We have one now, and one on the way, and may very well be done after this. It's already a ton to clean with just one toddler, and we don't even have the basement finished. I'm not looking forward to cleaning such a big house from now on!

Make sure you don't get too much/ too little yard to enjoy and take care of. Our last house had almost no back yard, so we went a bit overboard on this one. Now it's kind of the bain of DH's existence each spring, summer, and fall... takes him sooooo long to mow, plus we have to maintain the sprinkler system, plant trees (no privacy back there), and redo the flower bed, etc. I'd much rather have DH hanging out with us in the summer than spending half his Saturday tending to the yard. :)

You are really lucky to be looking at such a good time- buyer's market. :) We offered full asking price for ours because we loved it so much and didn't want someone else to snatch it up. Really, we should have offered less, esp. considering the imperfections with the house (their dogs had chewed on some wood molding pieces, etc., which we didn't notice on each walk-through, carpet looks fine but is really cheap and matted-down in some areas, we had to repaint a TON because they had such wacky color taste, etc., etc.). Wish we wouldn't have been so eager and quick to fall in love with the house.
I envy you that you get to be looking at houses now! Best of luck, and I hope you get just what you're looking for! :thumbsup:

ETA: I would also say not to buy the best house in the neighborhood! I'm afraid we kind of did that the last two times, and then when we remodel certain things (upgrade kitchen countertops, etc.), it can really price you out of the neighborhood. I'd much rather be the cheapest house on the block of a really nice neighborhood!

[arivecchi]

My advice is don't rush into anything and don't feel like you have to max out the amount of the mortgage that you have been approved for. Definitely agree on the school district thing. Buy the biggest house on the best street that you can afford.:yeahthat: Be as conservative as you can. Plan on being able to afford your house even if your income is reduced in a drastic fashion. Maintaining home is also very expensive so plan on having a few extra thousand per year to afford all those expenses.

[mom2akm]

You have lots of good advise here. Good luck! To me, school is really important so that's on the top of my list. Also, if the house can be close to DH's work, that will be a plus.

[nov04]

The day of closing, make sure to check that all the appliances included in the purchase actually function. We got stuck with a dead dishwasher (full replacement) and oven (repaired). We're owed almost $1K from that alone. Our lawyer is ignoring our repeated requests for resolution.

The former owner also said that the condo corp would re-level our backyard if it needed it. We've found out now they only do that if the original tile layout exists, which we don't have. So if you're dealing with condo corp or HOA, I would check out their requirements too.

[sunnyside]

Those HGTV shows tick me off when people get all hung up on minor cosmetic details. Layout, neighborhood, comps, schools- those are the thing that matter more at the end of the day, imo.
Beth


LOL, You mean the woman saying "Ooooooh I like the crown molding! We should totally buy this house because it has such amazing crown molding!!!"?

[momof2girls]

LOL, You mean the woman saying "Ooooooh I like the crown molding! We should totally buy this house because it has such amazing crown molding!!!"?

or "I hate these purple walls. This will never work for us!"

[rlu]

FWIW, we prefer a house that does not have an in-house laundry. Our house in Texas flooded our second night there due to an improperly hooked up washing machine (movers hired a third party for that part, luckly for us it was a relo so my company paid for the cleanup and went after the third party of reimbursement) and MIL's house flooded at least once due to a faulty washing machine. Our laundry is in the garage. I suppose if you have a mud-room setup with central floor drain that would work.

Can't stress enough about the neighbors. We had a jerk of neighbor who do little things to purposely tick us off, plus he smoked in his backyard which made our backyard toxic.

Ask if the sellers are smokers - you'll need to practically tear down the walls to the studs and replace all carpet if they did (we just wouldn't buy from smokers, too much work for fix).

Flood plain, earthquake zone, whatever issues relating to natural disasters in your area. There are houses here that never repaired damage from Loma Prieta.

[elaineandmichaelsmommy]

as per the pp's comment-check the level of the yard. if it drains toward the house make sure proper drainage is set up. Having your property regraded is pricey.

Also-when you find the house that you really,really want. Have the pipes scoped. You can call a regular plumber for it and if they can't do it they'll give you a referral. They'll run a fiberoptic cable down all the pipes and see what condition they're in. So you would know if your sewer line was in bad condition (btw-it's a 5,000 dollar repair around here). Or if you had a tree root issue or blockage somewhere in the house or golly knows what else. It should cost around $150, which is really only $50 more than it costs to have your stack pipe cleaned and in my opinion is money VERY well spent.

You've gotten a lot of great advice-have fun shopping.

[citymama]

This is so incredibly helpful. JacksMommy2B, we are in the same shoes as you - except no realtor in the family! - and we've been seriously house-hunting since October. As in, open houses every weekend. We came close to bidding on 2, but one was right by a gas station/busy intersection (whole other thread on that) and the other turned out to have enormous and potentially very expensive drainage problems that were affecting the basement and foundation.

All this advice is great, and I am bookmarking this thread to refer to as we continue with our search. I am mulling over the comments about not moving further away from family, as that's what we'd be doing - just as we're about to have baby #2. We've been wondering whether to just stay put or maybe even move closer to family and make some other trade-offs so we can benefit from the extra help and of course the closer relationship for our kids and their grandparents/cousins.

The one thing I'm really happy about is that we're taking our time and not rushing into anything - my preferences and priorities seem to have changed in the 6 months since we started house-hunting, and places I would have settled for then in our haste to buy and move in pre-baby seem so much less attractive now. We're very unlikely to move in the 6 weeks before the baby us due, and not having this pressure is really helping us take a longer-range approach. Good luck!

[Jacksmommy2b]

This is so incredibly helpful. JacksMommy2B, we are in the same shoes as you - except no realtor in the family!

Good luck!

Count your blessings - my mother is driving me crazy! ;) Now she thinks she knows best on two counts!

Good Luck to you too!