Re: House Buying HELP !!!!!!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
zina10
Price. This is where your agent should be working her tail off right now. She needs to give you a few comparables in the area. Figure out the price per sqf for that area and type of house. This will help you greatly when you prepare to make an offer.
So put your agent to work. Have her find out about the history of the house. Find the fair market value. Consider the market in the area, is it strong , weak? How long has the house been on the market ? All those things should be considered when going in with an offer. Start on the low end with an offer, but do not low ball or be insulting. Make SURE you make the offer contingent on a home inspection. Good luck :)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
j_h_smith
Spend some money and have a house inspection done on the house. $175k could be a good deal, or you could be stuck with a $175k white elephant.
Talk to neighbors, look in your town's tax records. Look at comps, to see what houses have sold for in the past 6 months. But most importantly, get a house inspection done from a non-interested third party inspection company. Don't use your real estate agent's inspector.
Jim Smith
Comps are super super super important to look at. I will tell you a story to show you how important it is!!!
We bought our house before the crash, it was brand new. Since it was pre-order by someone else we were able to negoitate the price. $450K down to $350K basically we got our upgrades for free. Now keep in mind....we did our homework. We live in one of the top planned communities in the US. Our neighbors are Dr., lawyers, business owners. Since the crash all but 4 houses on our street have foreclosed and resold for 1/3 of their original price. The exact same house on our street that originally went for $450- is now going for $120-$150K. Our loss all together if we count the money originally given off the house...300K if you count direct money....200k. So I just say be dilligent with how much the house is REALLY worth, the neighborhood, etc. Not to scare you....but to just assist you in making a fiscally smart decision. And as someone else stated this is YOUR market as a buyer!!!!
Re: House Buying HELP !!!!!!!!
While the house itself is VERY important and the size here might be an issue remember that this is likely a long term investment that when you get in you do not know if or when you might or can get out of it, especially in this economy so a lot of things are to take into consideration beside the looks of the house.
Neighborhood, don't just go around when you visit the house which will be a week day most likely when everyone is at work, go around the neighborhood several times different days different times talk to the neighbors get a feel for them remember that neighbors can make your life HELL and that to me is very important when committing to something like buying a house.
Find out about school system, law enforcement, firefighters all those are very important too.
Check the tax records to give you an idea of the value of the homes in the neighborhood, if houses in the neighborhood sale for a lower price (not saying they do) you could find yourself upside down and stuck from day 1, so make sure you do some research on that.
Think about how long you think you will live there 5, 10 , 15 years more, do you plan to start a family in this home?
Don't rush it there are tons of homes for sells everywhere some sitting on the market for 6 months or more.
