Homeowners
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- mayo0
make sure you check any walls, floor, grout, etc. that comes into contact with water on a daily basis. On the house we just got, the previous owners put in a new soap dish and didn't seal it very well. We didn't see that the beam behind the shower wall was rotted all the way through.
- mayo0
go to open houses and compare what you can get for how much in which area you want to live in. Take a camera when touring houses with your realtor, too. It helped us to remember quite a few things that helped us make our decision.
- designerror0
Camera is a good idea, did that too
- mayo0
Plus, if you're touring a really cool old house and the rooms are empty, you can get some neat photos. just make sure MrMayo doesn't erase them
- nosaj0
Buy a place you can afford.
- ddefenba0
Talk to the neighbors.
Hang out in the neighborhood for a bit in the evening and week days to see how it is different.
Check under the carpet for wood floors.
- _lp0
On my side, took a few months to look out into buying a house..
After good research, found out that, being young (25), the best thing for me was to buy a condo.
Wy....
Going into an apartement, would cost me, for something that would never be mine, or give money back... thats renting, simple facts, i'm spending money for a service, witch is a roof (room, ...).If i buy a house... well, i get the same service, & i get to give that money to... myself, just there, you would be a winner. But, then again, repair fees, maintaining the lawn, painting, ... and many other things... i'm not quite ready for that...
So i look into buying a condo.
Putting a 5% cash down (because i have the 'intension' of going to live in it), & leasing it... So someone else would pay for MY condo, + maybe a profit over-it...That's what i did, simple because:
1- i get some more cash credit easy.
2- After 5 years, take (now value - lown) & put it back onto a Duplex...
3- this now duplex, you live in 1 apartment, the other one pays off mortage.
4- after 2 more year, you buy a nice house, witch you ONLY pay the cash down, & let your 3 apartment pay off the restquestion, send me mail
- chz0
if someone hasn't already mentioned it.. get an agent.
- chz0
oooh... an make sure you comfortable with the purchase... if fo any reason you feel uncomfortable don't follow through with the deal.
make sure you have plenty of subjects associated with the deal... that way if you need to bail out you can with no worries.
- Rand0
god bless- best of luck
- mayo0
bring a friend. they may catch something that you wouldn't have thought of or noticed. Two heads really are better than one in this case.
- _b_0
I'm guessing you'll be looking for a place that needs a bit of work, for budgetary reasons and if like me you want to put your creativity to work and make it 'your' house.
If so, if at all possible, leave yourself some renovation bucks aside from the purchase. Once you get into mortgage-land cash for DIY is hard to come by.
We left about $30k aside, in the process of doing kitchen/bathroom/lounge/a few windows/basement office-gallery/etc. fun fun fun! so cool being able to make it your own.
oh, and if you have a vision to renovate to your taste, make sure the home suits it. No point buying a colonial style place and trying to turn it into a modern masterpiece (I've seen it done well, I'm generalising a bit here).good luck.
- mayo0
if you think you like a place and tour it a second time to be sure, bring a measuring tape to make sure things will fit where you were thinking. it's not always a deal breaker, but it could be.
- mbr0
Check:
1. heater and a/c
2. all sinks and showers
3. all outlets
4. phone plugs (I bought a new place and they f'd up the plugs, so only 2 of 3 work)
5. all cable hookups (see #4 - same thing)
6. all switches
7. all appliances - try EVERYTHING
8. all cabinets - make sure they are working, solid, etc.
9. write all this downthis is all for a new place, I can only imagine how much bigger it'd be for a used one
oh, and get two brokers to compete for you, I got my interest rate down to 5.375%, or about half a point. People were shocked that I got one so low (I bought a loft here in Denver about 2 months ago).
Good luck.
Oh, good advice: "don't buy a soso place, get something nice". I stretched things, but am loving it and I will love it for a loooong time.
Cheers.
- blaw0
check to see if any of the banks offer a first time home buyers course. typcially it's couple of hours that gives high level view of things you want to research further.
when i was doing this i managed to get my hands on a sallie mae publication that covered everything. maybe contact them to see if you can find some resources.
here's a quick start from them:
http://www.smhl.com/loancenter/p…
- blaw0
and best of luck to you, sir!
- GrammaSeff0
cheers blaw!
check dis
http://www.convic.com/design.htm…
- blaw0
i'm putting one of those in my yard. perfect dividends... no mowing now, plus the neighborhood kids thinking i'm cool way into geezer-land.
- slappy0
do any renovations (painting, floors, rewiring etc) before you move in, otherwise you get complacent and just live with it.
dont buy a place that needs renovating if you can help it, Iv been working on my place for the last 3 years and am only halfway there...
- LouSeffer0
fucking eh
house hunting is a bitch