So we're taking the plunge and trying to buy a house. Picked one out, putting in an offer on Friday- very excited.
Would love to know- what's something you wish you would have known before buying a house/becoming a home owner?
Don't get emotionally invested until you have keys in hand!
Especially in this market, deals fall through, there are complications, etc. You are setting yourself up for heartbreak if you get attached to a house before it closes. It's hard, but try to remember that this is a BUSINESS transaction, not an emotional one...otherwise, you set yourself up for some serious emotional turmoil.
I was living in my little house in Seattle. It had snowed. Pipes froze, burst. Water everywhere. Had no idea how to turn off the water. Had no idea I needed a special tool called a "plumber's key." A lousy 30 minutes (that felt like FOREVER with water gushing everywhere in the laundry room) kneeling in the snow, trying to turn off the water with improvised tools.
Depending on the type of loan you are getting, it may be a requirement but get a home inspection!!! We only had minor things that needed fixing even though our place looked perfect but that in itself paid for the home inspection cost.
Be sure to put aside money for when things break/need fixing. Our first summer (hottest week of the summer), our AC broke and $6k later we had a new AC unit within a couple days.
This is true too. We had saved money for over a year for the downpayment and costs. We ended up needing a couple more thousand over our house savings fund amount.
Around here most sellers throw in a one year home warranty (worth around $500). I'd recommend keeping it for the first few years even if you have to pay out of pocket. Once you get comfortable paying your monthly mortgage and get your savings built back up you can always reevaluate whether the cost is worth it.
$60 for a service call through the home warranty is a heck of a lot better than thousands of dollars to a plumber, HVAC tech, electrician etc.
lizzie, my wife is going to a meeting for first time buyers on monday...she went to a general seminar a couple of weeks ago and now she has a meeting where she brings our financial info and they advise...its a nonprofit and costs nothing...im sure they have this in your area...its probably a good idea...good luck
I wish I had thought a bit more about someday having to sell the house I was buying. I bought a house that was perfect for me (a single person), but somewhat difficult to sell a 1 bathroom house when the time came. Since then I have always purchased homes with 2 bathrooms even though I don't need that second one.
School districts! My husband and I didn't have children, and had no plans to have them, so school districts weren't a concern. Life can throw you a loop. My little one just started Kindergarten, and I really don't like the school he's in. We really need to wait about 2 years to move. But I HATE sending him off to that school every day.
The costs of utilities is WAY MORE, the cost of property taxes, the cost of fixing ANYTHING and EVERYTHING that goes wrong. Making sure the lawn looks good, mowing, trimming, edging and raking. In the winter, you will have to shovel snow and ice. You will have neighbors, and that is another thing, meet your neighbors BEFORE moving in, cuz they could be really nasty folk. Find out if there is a rodent/rat problem in the area, they can eat through wires, wood, insulation... we lived by a creek and a park and on the other side of the park was a school and businesses, and apparently that attracts rats... also with the school being close, be prepared for youngsters being in your yard, climbing your trees, stomping your flower gardens and tearing up your Christmas lights off the house.
Also, make sure fences of neighbors are in good condition, nothing like having a neighbors dog try to attack you every time you go get the mail or go for a walk.
Also, we had a neighbor who was a prostitute and crack dealer...another neighbor who was severely depressed and lived with her elderly parents, the parents were nice but this lady was in her thirties, was a pothead, and would walk down to the bus stop in her underwear and a short tshirt and make comments to the boys. We had another neighbor who was nice, but the senile dad came to live with them and he was more than obscene with the boys and the girls and had a problem keeping his clothes on.
I hope I am not hindering your decision, but you will most likely be in that house a long time. We lived in a "nicer" neighborhood and still had these problems, not to mention loud drunken parties about once a month from our other neighbor and they were in the habit of parking their cars on the lawn and don't care if their guests park on your lawn or in your driveway or even blocking your drive way.
Now, I am in an apartment again, and hopefully will always do so. Someone to take care and pay for anything and everything that breaks, don't have to mow or shovel, and best of all free swimming pool and fitness center.
My husband went ot the inspection on the first house we put an offer on buying and came home and said, "sorry, this isn't our house". It can change everything, and finding out a house's dirty little secrets is the best money I ever spent!
I echo Amanda- don't get attached until keys are in hand (learned this the hard way).
Also, in this market, anything is negotiable. Look up comps in the area, find out how many showings it has had vs. offers, the listing costs (we found out our house had 25 showings and 0 offers- this gave us a leg up)- all of this will help you to know where you stand.
They also say, "don't be afraid to walk away", and I agree. However, we fought tooth and nail to get our house and we wouldn't have gotten it if we weren't determined to get it. I'm glad we did
Good luck on your hunt! I loved house hunting.
-Jen (homeowner for 70 days and counting...)
PS- walk the neighborhood of the house you want at all hours of the day. KNOW what kind of neighbors you'll be living next to. DH and I drove out late at night, on weekends, etc... and walked up and down the street to get a feel for things.
I have to agree about the home inspection. You want to make sure the bones of your house are secure: foundation, heating/air conditioning, hot water heater, plumbing, electrical (make sure it's up to date, safe, etc), outside structure (siding, fences, etc), roof, windows & insulation and check for any insect/rodent infestations. A good home inspector is usually an engineer that's licensed through the state (at least in NJ they are). It cost us $400 but it was well worth it. He checked all of that for us very thoroughly.
Also, Ryanne made some great comments about neighbors that I totally agree with. When we moved in 3 years ago (our 1st home), our neighbors next door were great, but ended up selling shortly after. Our new neighbors *sigh*... Let's put it this way, we spent $4000 on a new fence. Out of sight, kind of out of mind
Last edited by AbbySinthe; 09-10-2009 at 07:35 AM.
Reason: i can't spell
Make the offer contingent on a satisfactory inspection. And if the house has a well or septic system, make the offer contingent on a satisfactory inspection of those as well. We had a home inspection, but they didn't inspect the septic system or the well. I never even thought about the need for that, and neither did our realtor. We ended up spending $2000 or so within a year to replace a not-up-to-code pump on the septic system, and an inspection definitely would have found that problem. We spent $10,000 a couple of years ago to dig a new well, after we discovered the existing well was way too shallow. An inspection would have found that, too. So get a complete inspection. Definitely.
buying a house?
....more like 1/4....but it still sucked!
Oh ya!
