Searching For The Right Home

Buying a home is an exciting event, but the process of finding the right one can be daunting.  It is a major investment.  It is an emotional time, full of lasting lifestyle decisions to make.  It is not like buying a pair of pants from the department store that are a bit snug, because you cannot just return the house if you are not satisfied.  Once you buy, you are in for the long haul.

To avoid costly mistakes that could haunt you for years, you need to make sure that you do your homework properly when house-hunting.

Once you have decided on your criteria and are pre-approved for a mortgage, call your real estate agent.  Let him or her know what you are looking for and what your price range is.

He or she will work on your behalf, short-listing the properties that meet your criteria, so you can start viewing from there.  Then you can finally get to the fun part, finding that perfect home you have been dreaming of.

Schedule Adequate Time

When going to view homes, make sure you have plenty of time to really view the home from a critical perspective.  Schedule enough time to do a proper viewing.  Look into all closets and crawl spaces.  It is possible you will be living there for years to come, so five minutes strolling around is not going to cut it.

Be Thorough

Part and parcel with scheduling adequate time to view the home is using that time well.  Be thorough when checking it out.  Open drawers, cabinets, and cupboards.  Look behind furniture, and even under it to find stains or signs of wear not readily evident.  Lift up rugs if necessary.  While this may seem rude, it is not.  You are about to make a substantial investment and you need to know exactly what you are getting.

Sellers have no obligation to inform you of or show you every single defect in the home, so you need to find them yourself.  An artfully positioned chair could be hiding something, so feel free to look where you need to.

Of course, if you have dismissed the home from the start, do only a minimal walk-through or do not bother with the viewing at all.  If the property has potential and is something you like, open every door, look in every closet, and shine a light in every shadow.

What Comes With The Property

Make sure you know exactly what, aside from the house itself, you are paying for.  Confirm what does or does not come with the home.  Are appliances such as refrigerator and washer/dryer included in the sale?  Make sure you get confirmation in writing if you decide that you like to buy the property.

Do Not Be Fooled By Staging

Sellers use clever tricks to make a home more appealing.  They can strategically light a room to draw attention away from a problem or apply fresh coats of paint to cover water damage or a mold issue.  While you are viewing the house, look beyond the immediate aesthetics of the interior decor.  Focus your attention on what you will get when the furniture and interior decor are stripped away.

Keep Emotions At Bay

When viewing the home initially, try not to get attached immediately.  Keep emotions out of consideration and only consider the potential property as a building you need to inspect and assess for others.  Rapid emotional attachment may cloud your decision making or allow you to overlook failings in the house you might see differently without an emotional lens.  If you get attached from the beginning, you might make an emotional decision and overlook major problems.  An emotional attachment will affect your ability to calmly and dispassionately negotiate.

View Multiple Times

If you have found the likely prospect in which you have serious interest, view it multiple times.  You are more likely to identify potential problems if you view it several times at different times of the day.  You will also glean knowledge of the neighborhood at various times.  Is a street that is not busy in the late morning a commuter route in the early morning and mid-afternoon?  This way, you will know what traffic is like in the area and the noise levels that occur at different times.  Getting a good sense for the environment can be just as valuable a benefit of viewing a prospective home as what you find inside the house itself.

Consider The Overall Context

When viewing, do not just consider a property on its own, view it in the context of its location.  What is the area like?  Is the property adjacent to a train track or noisy intersection?  Is there a pub or bar close by that gets noisy at night?  How close are you to the things you might need, such as schools, public transit, a grocery store, or hospital?  These are important questions to consider when viewing properties, as they can add or subtract from the overall enjoyment of your home.

Let Your Agent Do The Job

If you come across a property that interests you, but your agent has not told you about it, it may not meet all your criteria.  If you think you want to view it anyway, contact your real estate agent with the address.  Your agent can arrange a proper viewing for you and provide an emotionally-uninvolved perspective to balance out the rosy tint of excitement.

The Condition Of The Property

When assessing a home for potential purchase, there are important items to be on the lookout for, the primary one being the condition of the property.

• Is the home structurally sound?
• Look (and smell) closely for evidence of mold.
• Ensure heating, air-conditioning, and electricity are in good working order.
• Inspect attics.
• Look at pipes, turn on taps.
• Is the exterior of the home in good shape and well maintained?

Property History

It is good practice to know all that you can about the sales history of the property you have under consideration.  Do not simply settle for the information contained in the customer copy of the listings.  Ask your agent for detailed information.  Find answers to how long the property has been on the market and if it was previously listed, withdrawn, and relisted for a lower price.  These kinds of questions can help you decide how much to offer.

You also need detailed information on the property, most of which will be available from public records.  A bit of research online in the records will disclose the name of the owner, original age of the home, parcel number, previous sales of the property, and property deeds.  Information about how much the property taxes are will also be available in the records.

Making The Choice

Once you have done all your homework, you need to decide whether to buy the house.  It is important that you step back and evaluate all the information available to you from viewing the house, inspecting its condition, and researching public records.

Keep in mind:

• You may, and likely will, need to compromise on some of your priorities.  No home is completely perfect, and a first home is often a "starter" on the way to a dream home.  However well it fits your needs, desires and lifestyle, there will be things you wish you could change.  If only it was facing that lovely park you saw on the way there, or if only the house you preferred was in that other neighborhood, or if only this cost a little bit less.  At the end of the day, you will need to decide on which factors are most important to you.  If you prefer the neighborhood over the house, you may decide to look for a different type of property within the same community.  A condo for instance, instead of a house.
• If finances are teh issue, you may want to discuss with your lender if they would be willing to increase your mortgage.  This is only if you can afford it.  There is no point getting into financial trouble just to get a particular property when more affordable ones could do just as well.
• Lower your expectations on the condition of the home.  If your inspection revealed a few small problems, you could still buy the property and do the repairs yourself.  Use the problems as a bargaining chip to get a reduced price from the seller after getting a quote from a professional for the cost of repairs.  Do not estimate based on your judgement and do not let the seller decide how much he thinks it will cost.  Also, do not let the seller get the quote.
• Be prepared to walk away.  This goes to our earlier point about not getting emotionally attached until you have bought it and moved in.  If at the end of the day you find out the compromise required is more than one you are prepared to make, walk away.