Looking for a house

[vonfirmath]

We are FINALLY in a position to buy a house! Get pre-approved, etc. I've been looking at houses FOREVER and have a short list to go see. We're set up with a realtor, have a date to go look at houses on Tuesday.

What do we need to look at while in the house?
What else can I be doing while I wait?

Tuesday feels a LONG way away!

[WatchingThemGrow]

Oh how fun! We've been looking for ages (like 4 years) and we hope our offer will get submitted tomorrow for a new construction home. So exciting.

Take a camera to help you remember things. Search zillow, your county's tax website, google the street name, the neighborhood, check with the school district to see which school zones, read on the district site to see if redistricting is looming, research the "era" of the homes to know what types of issues come with each decade. For example: mid 80's houses may have (is it pex?) plumbing issues and siding that had a class action lawsuit. Check flood zones, tax rates, crime reports, family watchdog for sex offenders near the homes.

Yeah, I spend WAY too much time researching houses. Have a great time.

[ourbabygirl]

Fun! Congrats; it is an exciting time!

WTG gave you a great list already; other things I like to look at are the views from each of the rooms, especially where you'll spend the most time (kitchen/ dining room- wherever you eat meals the most, whatever room you hang out in, etc.). Is it noisy when you're outside & inside? (Street traffic, lots of airplanes in sky above, etc.) Is there any way to meet the immediate neighbors and/or get more of a feel for the neighborhood?
How's the landscaping? Will you have to redo it or put it all in yourself? (We're currently in the process of this & wish the previous owners would've done a better job.) Are there many trees to give you some shade to hang out in the yard at different times of day, or will it be too sunny or too shady? What sort of light do you get inside, and which direction do the main rooms face?
Flat yard, enough space for kids and pets to play?

How's curb appeal? Do you like the look of the place, and if you're not crazy about it, can you do much to improve it so you're happier with it? Our last house, we rushed into too much because we felt like houses were selling so quickly & we were worried about being priced out, so we pretty much settled. It had a depressing bluish-greyish-green metal siding and was just dingy and not a happy or fun looking house. I always kind of sighed when I drove up to it and wish we would have spent more time looking before purchasing.

Look at the school district, including how close schools will be to the house(s). How about parks and other things nearby? Grocery stores, library, gas stations, restaurants, other places you make frequent trips to and would want nearby.

Good luck with your house search, and have fun! :)

[mom2akm]

While you're waiting, I suggest sitting down with DH and work out a list of your requirements and prioritize them, e.g. what is the maximum amount you can afford? how many bedrooms? What is the size of house you're looking for? How many garages? School district? etc etc. This can be fun, because you can each talk about your dream and then the reality.

[crl]

I am, ummm, slightly obsessive. When house hunting, I make a template of all the things that are important to me to know about a house (bathroom on the first floor, flooring type, near a park, schools, etc). I fill in as much of the template as I can before we go look and then fill in the rest while there along with comments. I find this helpful in comparing properties because ir means we have the same information about every property in the same format.

We also always calculate price per square foot for comparative purposes.

I also agree with taking pics while there. If you have some crucial piece of furniture, etc, you might take a measuring tape along to measure rooms, hallways, etc.

We also do a bunch of open houses and try to track what places actually sell for to get a feel for how pricing is working in a given market.

Have fun!
Catherine

[twowhat?]

Yup, you need a list of

1) Must-haves/must-not-haves - things that are absolute deal-breakers, such as: must have 2-car garage. Must have master on same level as kids' rooms. Must not be on busy road. Must not back to creek. Must be in X school district. Etc. No need to prioritize this list - use it to narrow down the homes you even look at (though you will probably still need to see some homes if the description doesn't address all of your items on this list).

2) Nice-to-haves. Such as: Island kitchen. Extra half bath. Large bedrooms. Walk to school. Things that are not deal-breakers but that would be nice to have. Prioritize this list in order of Would-Be-Super-Duper-Nice to Would-Be-Somewhat-Nice.

The house that meets all of 1) and more of 2) than all the other houses you looked at gets priority:)

Make these lists with your SO ahead of time!!! You want to be in agreement with all items. Our agent says a lot of time is wasted standing in a home while a couple argues about whether that sloped backyard is a dealbreaker. Go in being on the same page. When you have your short-list and on second viewing, walk through the house as if you were going about a normal day. Start in the master. Wake up, walk to bathroom. Walk to kitchen to start coffee, then go to kids rooms to get them up and back to kitchen for breakfast, etc. Think about how the floorplan would work for your family.

Have fun! I love looking at houses! :)

eta: ignore paint color, carpet, drapery, decor. Try to look just at the "bones" of the home. Those things are easily and cheaply changed down the road if you should want to.

[curiousgeorge]

YAY! Congratulations! Very exciting!!

I think the weekend is a GREAT time to drive by the houses and see what is going on there. Are people working to maintain their yards? Playing outside with their kids? Throwing loud parties with way too many cars filling up your cul-de-sac? I would definitely at least drive by the houses to see if you like the way they look from outside in case there are any you want to rule out (or see others you like) before Tuesday.

On Monday/Tuesday I'd do the commute/reverse commute to see what traffic is like (if that is a factor) and understand what it would be like to get DC to/from school, get yourself to work, etc.

It might even be worth it to hit a few open houses this weekend in the same areas you are looking at to see what other options are available besides the ones you are scheduled to see. You can also use it as a "trial run" in how you evaluate a home so when you do look at the ones you have picked out on Tuesday you aren't overwhelmed.

The market in Austin seems to be pretty good and from what I've seen/heard homes are selling quickly (I'm here too :-)) so I'd be prepared to make an offer if you find one you like.



Good luck!

[vonfirmath]

I like the commute idea.

We're looking in Pflugerville ISD (mostly P and some RR)
Yes the market is hopping plus we want to be in before DS starts K in August

So far I'm finding the houses we like are 1 floor though I have not ruled 2 floorsr out.I've never lived in one though

Sloping hill is a negative but not necessarily a dealbreaker--one of our top picks has a somewhat sloping driveway

[marymoo86]

Be sure to check the high dollar areas - foundation/HVAC/roof and make sure they are in good working order

[Simon]

Inside a house, we check the 5 most expensive things: roof, electric/plumbing, windows, foundation and, um, that other one. Or maybe electric and plumbing are alone. Its been about 8 years.

Our list is the unexciting but key stuff about quality or condition.
Try to press into exposed beams in the basement with your fingernail. This will reveal dry rot.

Look for diagonal cracks in the basement or other walls. Diagonal lines are a bad thing. Lines going straight up and down come from settling. Diagonal are a warning of bad things to come.

Roof should be new OR have room to add more shingles. A complete tear off is much more expensive so check for how many layers are there.

Check for mold in the attic and damp spots in the basement. Attic is a problem with total home ventilation. Basement is an annoyance but you'll want to know.

Double check windows open, close and lock. Look at the sash and frame. If wood, do the fingernail test for dry rot again.

Look at the fuse box in the basement. Make sure nothing is overloaded. If an older home, has the wiring been updated.

A great resources to read while you wait is The Virgin Homeowners Guide. It covers a lot of great info in a straightforward way, IMO.

I know none of this is as exciting as layout, location or curb appeal. But you really don't want to buy another person's problems. You might find some good info. if Mike Holmes (from Holmes Inspection on tv) has a Web site, which I'm sure he does.

[crl]

I agree that you should be aware of the general condition of the house, but to me things like a needing a new roof are not deal breakers at all. They are negotiating points.

When we bought our last place we knew the roof and furnace were on the older side. The inspection revealed they were worse than we thought and we renogiated price. No problem and we got to put in a heating and cooling system that was excellent for allergies and pick shingle color and style that improved the look of the house quite a bit.

Now, we had the cash to do the work separate from the mortgage down payment. If you don't, that may complicate matters. Though you still may be able to structure the deal in a way that lets you take on work at the house.

I will say that needing foundation work or a musty smelling basement indicating water leaking issues are deal breakers for me. I don't want to mess with that. A new roof is a heck of a lot easier to live through than gutting a kitchen is though for example. Kind of just depends on what you are willing and able to take on.

Catherine

[Simon]

I would not consider anything I posted to be a deal breaker, maybe mold in the attic. However, I do think its important to know that a home listed with a "new roof" might just mean they added a third layer of new shingles.

Its mostly about knowing what potential costly fixes there could be in front of you. Buying with your eyes wide open. Our home had a damp wall in the basement and were able to have the repair priced even before we purchased. but

[crl]

I guess I just consider the basic layout of the house, location, schools, etc to be more key than whether the house needs a new roof. The roof is relatively easy to fix. The others are more difficult or impossible to change.

Catherine