Category — Home Buying Tips

If you work in a metro area, or even if you just enjoy city life, buying a place in the city can be a dream come true. By buying near your work, you drastically reduce your commuting time. You may be able to employ public transit in many metro areas, saving yourself the hassle of driving and parking. If you enjoy city life, living in the city can give you convenient access to nightlife, restaurants and other convenient amenities. However, one thing that many people don’t consider when they buy a place in the city is metro-area microclimates. Be careful about where you buy; you could find yourself buying into heat, excessive rain or other atypical weather conditions.

After weeks or months of searching, you’ve found a great home in a good community. The price is good for the home itself, and your ongoing costs are good because property taxes in the community are low. It’s got brand new schools and a shiny new police department, so the community feels like a wonderful place to live. Think you’ve gotten the deal of a lifetime? Think again. If your community isn’t solvent, you could quickly find yourself paying more for less as costs come back to haunt your community.

If you’re like most buyers who are shopping for a home, no home is perfect. If you do find an ideal home, chances are good that it could use some work. Even if you find a home that doesn’t require any improvements, decorating and other small costs can turn out to be more substantial than you anticipate. Paint, curtains, lights, plants for the yard; all of these seem like small expenses when you buy. A few $1,000 projects can become a nightmare that costs you more than $10,000. Lots of little expenses can add up to a big expense, so don’t assume that a home that requires some minor changes will be cheaper.

Making a decision about what home to buy involves a lot of factors. First, a home has to meet a basic set of criteria that you’ve established. It typically has to be in a certain area, have a certain number of bedrooms or baths, and maybe some particular amenities that are important to you. However, buying is also a gut decision. Some intangible factors about a home may tell you “this one!” when you view it, and it’s easy to get carried away by that feeling. Before you buy, it’s important to understand the intangible factors and really think about the livability of the home.

Recent remodeling or repairs can be a very tempting thing when you’re looking for a home. It’s easy to think that a home that has been recently repaired is kept well up-to-date, or that a home with a new remodeling project is a well-loved home with great amenities. Unfortunately, in many cases, this might not be true. Recent repairs, redecorating or remodeling can actually be a sign that the home you’re considering has serious problems. Remodeling or redecorating can hide things like a leaky roof, mold or mildew or other serious structural problems.  

It used to be that when you bought a house, you were on your own to determine whether the property had any undesirable attributes or defects. If the house had inadequate wiring or a crumbling foundation, the buyer could be stuck with a home that required thousands or tens of thousands of dollars in repair, and no recourse against the seller who neglected to mention these problems. Today, disclosure laws have come a long way. Most states require sellers to disclose certain conditions that could cause problems for buyers. Disclosure laws do vary from state to state, though, so make sure you know your rights, and beware of misleading or incomplete disclosures.

When you’re selecting a home, one thing that real estate agents may say is that you’re getting “a lot of house for the money.” This is one of the classic real estate agent “hooks” that tell you you’re getting a great deal or bargain. However, in some cases, the bargain you get isn’t a bargain you need. A lot of house for the money may be too much house for you – which really just means you’re paying a lot of money for a house. Particularly if it’s a house you don’t need.  

Millions of homes throughout the United States are located in flood plains. For most people, this is never a problem. The presence of a flood plain is simply based on historical data that shows flooding is possible in this area. It doesn’t mean that flooding is likely or guaranteed. However, homeowners who are considering buying in a flood plain should know the risk of flooding, and the costs of the potential risk before they buy. Thousands of homeowners lose money on their homes every year due to floods, so making an informed decision can save your life savings and your home.

Depending on your locale and the home you’re considering, weather conditions can play a big role in your ability to access your home. What seems like a bucolic home on a hill with a beautiful view can turn into a nightmare to access in deep winter snows. Or even a seemingly-ordinary urban or suburban home can become impossible to reach if roads flood in every little downpour. When you’re shopping for homes on a bright sunshine-filled day, don’t forget to think about how you’ll access your home when the weather isn’t so pleasant.

The local economy in a neighborhood, small town or community can tell you a lot about how the community is doing. If the local economy is poor, property values may be on the downswing, services may be in decline, unemployment may be up and you may see an increase in crime. When the local economy is good, on the other hand, your community may experience growth, property value appreciation and improved services and amenities. How can you tell whether the economy is good or bad before you buy?