buying a house what to look for?

[0TransAm0]

well me and the girlfriend are looking at houses.. we got preapproved and all that jazz.
just wondering if thier is anything special to look for especially with the forclosed homes as they are being sold "as is". my parents and hers have gone with us for every house we have looked at...i figure the more eye's the better...

if you have had a good or bad experiance lets hear it. and what are the commen things overlooked if anything?

i know when im looking i look at the garage first then the yard and outside of the house and i walk the inside every room at least 2-3 times and ask a lot of questions...

[michelle]

I recently heard about double checking the square footage that the village/town/whatever says the house is. If a person finished the basement by themselves and the town doesn't know, then they may not be paying taxes on it. As soon as you buy it, your taxes may go up because the village/town/whatever will call that livable space.

So if you find a house with a finished basement, verify that it is included in the square footage and what they pay for property taxes.

[0TransAm0]

^does the basement have to have an egress window or entry/exit way (not the little tiny windows) to be determind "liveing space"


on a side note taxes are crazy high in mt pleasant/sturtavent area

[That_Guy]

I recently heard about double checking the square footage that the village/town/whatever says the house is. If a person finished the basement by themselves and the town doesn't know, then they may not be paying taxes on it. As soon as you buy it, your taxes may go up because the village/town/whatever will call that livable space.

So if you find a house with a finished basement, verify that it is included in the square footage and what they pay for property taxes.


also a good heads up for home buyers /seller/ owners is if your taxes are "high" and you want them to drop have them come in and reassess your house. with the market being down that will force them to give you a lower assessment thus giving you lower taxes

[michelle]

^does the basement have to have an egress window or entry/exit way (not the little tiny windows) to be determind "liveing space"


on a side note taxes are crazy high in mt pleasant/sturtavent area

I thought it has to have a window and has to have a dropped ceiling to consider it "living space". There might be different building codes depending on the town or county you are looking in. I would check those ordinances for building codes, but also other things - pet restrictions, building restrictions (adding another garage, for example), etc.

[PureSound15]

also a good heads up for home buyers /seller/ owners is if your taxes are "high" and you want them to drop have them come in and reassess your house. with the market being down that will force them to give you a lower assessment thus giving you lower taxes


Right... and then they go to refinance their home at the crazy low rates right now and are fvcked sideways by their new home value. :rolleyes:

[u_say_go]

egress windows are normally required if there is a bedroom in the basement. One thing I got screwed on when I bought my current house was the wall in the shower was rotted and nobody (not even the home inspector) caught it. The wall tiles in the shower covered the wall obviously, but my first night in the home I leaned against the wall and almost fell thru. Next day I spent $600 and 8 hours on a new tub surround!
Check all the phone jacks too. There are 8 phone jacks in my house, 3 of them didnt work at all, and 2 were wired phucked up. If they have cable/satelite TV, inspect the wiring there too. Previous owner of my house had two satelites AND cable tv wires- TOTAL rats nest of wiring in the basement. I had them rip all that shit out completely before I bought the house.

[ND4SPD]

Make sure you look for foundation damage... be wary of any home that appears to have things situated in a way to hide this damage. For example when my wife bought her house (now our house) the previous owners had the storm windows hung in such a way that it hid cracks in the foundation. By the time she realized that she could sue them for hiding it... it was too late. You also may want to look for signs of water damage or for the possibility that the basement could flood (even if only from rainwater). Make sure you flush toilets, try the water faucets, etc... (if the water is on) to make sure there's adequate water pressure. Find out about any easements that might be an issue.

Foreclosed and fixer-ups can be attractive, but make sure you're willing and able to follow through on the work that needs to be done to get them "fixed up". You may also want to try to get some ballpark estimates for repairing various things... in case something happens. My wife and her then fiance' bought a fixer-upper, and got it for a great price thinking her fiance' would be able to repair remodel it. They weren't counting on him dying a few years later... and never finishing the work.

Once you have it narrowed down, hire a home inspector to look at the place. He will give you opinions on things that could be an issue.

[That_Guy]

Right... and then they go to refinance their home at the crazy low rates right now and are fvcked sideways by their new home value. :rolleyes:

wo wo wo.. i never said refinance. you are right though.. it would be a moronic thing to do.

[Exitspeed]

Your job isn't to look for this stuff. Your job and your Realtors job is to find a house. Once you find a home and you have an accepted offer you NEED to have a home inspection. Even if it is being sold "as is".

Like ND4SPD, be careful of foreclosures. Usually they are a ton of work. If you have the experience and time to put into a major fixer-upper, then cool. But if you are looking for a move in ready home foreclosures usually will not be the home for you.

It's a buyers market out there of course and great deals are to be had. But keep in mind a home that is priced right, even in this market, will sell fast. So if you fall in love with something and the price is right you may not get the home for $20,000 under the asking price.

Another thing about foreclosures is that you (mostly your realtor) will be dealing with the banks. You have to come to terms with them and don't expect to close quickly. It can sometimes take weeks, and even up to 3 MONTHS to get everything approved and ready to go from the bank so you can close. Wells Fargo is really bad right now among others.

I have a lot of experience witht he market. I worked for Shorewest for years and my wife is a Shorewest Realtor and is in the top 5% of realtors in the state. She actually works with a LOT of first time home buyers and knows what you guys are going to be going through.

I hope you have a good realtor. You really need one in this market right now.

[0TransAm0]

^ we got pre approved with wells fargo.. and we have a shorwest agent... she is really helpfull and very nice.. compared to the others we have talked to.

[Exitspeed]

^ we got pre approved with wells fargo.. and we have a shorwest agent... she is really helpfull and very nice.. compared to the others we have talked to.

Who's your agent? I know a lot of them.

[PureSound15]

^ we got pre approved with wells fargo.. and we have a shorwest agent... she is really helpfull and very nice.. compared to the others we have talked to.

Go to a credit union, too. Mortgage rates are close between banks and credit unions compared to other consumer loans, but a large CU like landmark might save you some cash (and pay it bi-weekly!).

[jbiscuit]

Your job isn't to look for this stuff. Your job and your Realtors job is to find a house. Once you find a home and you have an accepted offer you NEED to have a home inspection. Even if it is being sold "as is".

I don't agree totally with this statement. You are going to bat for YOURSELF and YOUR money. You best be sure I am going to look at EVERYTHING in the house I'm looking at buying. If you just "assume" someone else will point out potential problems, that is a real poor way to go about buying your house.

One other thing....why are you and your GF buying the house together? Not saying its a bad idea but just be prepared to have all sorts of financial mess to sort out should you break up. I would really consider having one of you buy the house in the off chance something happens. It can get really ugly if she decides she wants half the house etc if you part ways.

[0TransAm0]

I don't agree totally with this statement. You are going to bat for YOURSELF and YOUR money. You best be sure I am going to look at EVERYTHING in the house I'm looking at. If you just "assume" someone else will point out potential problems, that is a real poor way to go about buying your house.

One other thing....why are you and your GF buying the house together? Not saying its a bad idea but just be prepared to have all sorts of financial mess to sort out should you break up. I would really consider having one of you buy the house in the off chance something happens. It can get really ugly if she decides she wants half the house etc if you part ways.


i will be asking her to marry me the day we close on a house... its all good.

thats the plan at least :)

[0TransAm0]

Who's your agent? I know a lot of them.

christie graham she is very very nice and by far the best that we have talked to.

[Nix]

I would make sure that you are going to get married and everyhting works out before you go and buy a house. Just my 2cenrs cause that shit can get messy. Not trying to tell you how to run you life man but just looking out for you. Good luck and get a home inspector for sure. It dosent hurt to have the house you are looking at getting it looked over by several different people, one thing that someone dosent notice someone else may notice it. :)

[awsomeears]

well me and the girlfriend are looking at houses.. we got preapproved and all that jazz.
just wondering if thier is anything special to look for especially with the forclosed homes as they are being sold "as is". my parents and hers have gone with us for every house we have looked at...i figure the more eye's the better...

if you have had a good or bad experiance lets hear it. and what are the commen things overlooked if anything?

i know when im looking i look at the garage first then the yard and outside of the house and i walk the inside every room at least 2-3 times and ask a lot of questions...

I just had conversation with Pork and here it is, if you need any help meeting up at a home PM me.



There's no reason a potential home buyer needs to purchase a home walking in Blindly and crossing his or hers fingers.

With all of the tech's out there in each field you can really pick a house apart.

One thing that I tell EVERYONEthat who is interested in buying a home, Do not hire a FUCKING INSPECTOR !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Inspectors are just way to general, by no means do I think there stupid or incompetent its just there experience is focused on everything. There is no way in hell one inspector knows everything about everything.

I'm talking about actually doing the work and tearing stuff out, having 3AM service calls, re-doing rehab homes, building stuff from the ground up aka from scratch.

What I would do is get together a good group of guys that have been doing one specific field for a few years. So if you have me check out your boiler I'm only looking at you boiler because that's MY AREA and that what pay's my bill and that's why I'm so much better then a Inspector. Most plumbers, electrical, structure, roofers, heating and cooling guys will come out to a come for $75 - $125 for a hour or and give you some real answers. Of course this would be not on the SIDE because everything has to have paper work with whats wrong on the house.

Again nobody I know listens to me, and I have seen so many customers Crash and burn when I'm there for a furnace tune up or A/C

Me " sir your furnace is from 1978 and has cracks you need a new furnace "

Customer " Whaaaaaat, my inspector told me my furnace looked decent but I should still have a tune up "

I have heard this about 12-20 times * no joke *



Inspectors are around $300 I think, if you were to have a bunch of techs come out it may run you $500-ish. Then again the $200 difference could save your ass !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[WhatsADSM]

Right... and then they go to refinance their home at the crazy low rates right now and are fvcked sideways by their new home value. :rolleyes:

village assessment does not equate into market value. Its fine.

[SLOWC5]

$8000.00 tax credit for first time buyers right now also!!

[PureSound15]

village assessment does not equate into market value. Its fine.


We look at tax assessments all the time for lending purposes whether it's a mortgage or LOC... so does every other financial. I guess it's fine if you have no interest in being financially sound.

[HRSEPLA]

I strongly agree with Awesomeears, My HVAC division manager and myself go on a ton of pre-purchase inspections for Plumbing and HVAC systems. We work with City Inspectors and realtors all the time, even for home inspectors, we do more extensive mechanical reports, from just visual inspections to checking out the sewers with our Sewer Camera equipment and leave the customer a DVD of our findings good or bad.
There are some competent Home Inspectors out there, but you definately need Professionals in the trades for in depth views.

PM me if you need some additional help,

Sam
Master Plumber
18yrs in the biz.:thumbsup

[0TransAm0]

Any pro's/con's of buying a house without a realestate agent? lots of houses for sale "buy owner"

[Exitspeed]

Any pro's/con's of buying a house without a realestate agent? lots of houses for sale "buy owner"

Pro's are you don't have to hire a lawyer to draft up paperwork. You don't pay that agent out of your pocket so why not use an agent? Plus your agent should be working in your best interest. The seller is working in theirs.

[WhatsADSM]

We look at tax assessments all the time for lending purposes whether it's a mortgage or LOC... so does every other financial. I guess it's fine if you have no interest in being financially sound.

Your really trying to say I am not financially sound? Do you even know me?:rolf

Every place right now should be going off an appraisal since the tax assessments are so old in many cases (just as being described here). My home was over assessed (per village assessment) by 125k when I first bought it, and now looks under assessed (per village assessment) by ~20-30k. My financing the first time went though no problem, and now my refinance is days from closing. I am not worried one bit about what the village assessment says, my home is financially sound. Your home is worth what the market value is, that's it. And village tax assessments are less accurate than an ordered appraisal.

Wells Fargo both times (who was a better deal than the local CUs BTW), and both times they are using the appraisal value... If they didn't care to evaluate based on the real appraisal value, then they wouldn't pay for it.

[PureSound15]

Your really trying to say I am not financially sound? Do you even know me?:rolf

Every place right now should be going off an appraisal since the tax assessments are so old in many cases (just as being described here). My home was over assessed (per village assessment) by 125k when I first bought it, and now looks under assessed (per village assessment) by ~20-30k. My financing the first time went though no problem, and now my refinance is days from closing. I am not worried one bit about what the village assessment says, my home is financially sound. Your home is worth what the market value is, that's it. And village tax assessments are less accurate than an ordered appraisal.

Wells Fargo both times (who was lower than the local CUs BTW), and both times they are using the appraisal value... If they didn't care to evaluate based on the real appraisal value, then they wouldn't pay for it.

Congratulations? And no... I don't need to know you. But to tell someone that "it's fine" or mislead someone because of one certain case (i.e. the one that pertains to you) is completely moronic.

Unfortunately, for you, the main source for HELOC loans IS the tax assessment unless it is old (which depends on where it is) - it's up to the financial to determine what value they're going to use. So - go ahead and have it re-assessed so that you save money on taxes, but don't bitch and moan when you're denied some kind of financing because all of a sudden you're at 90% LTV and your new appriasel doesn't support your cause.





With our Home Equity Loans/Lines, you can get what you want, when you want it.

It's convenient!
Once the line of credit is paid down, those funds are again available. It's up to you how the money is used. The interest on this type of loan is usually tax deductible*.

Does my home need to be financed through the Credit Union?
Your first mortgage does not have to be financed at Fox Communities Credit Union for a Home Equity Line of Credit to be established here.

How much money can I borrow?


First, we need your latest property tax bill or an appraisal, which was completed within the year, to arrive at the value of your home.
Once the value is established, we multiply that figure by 80% to come up with the maximum lendable amount for a line of credit.
If there are any outstanding liens on the home, we would subtract them (including a first mortgage, second mortgage, etc.).
This would leave us with a potential line of credit amount.


Example:
$100,000 (a)
x 80% (b)

$80,000
-$50,000 (c)

$30,000 (d) Potential Credit Line

Example based on a $100,000 home value with $50,000 in outstanding lien balance.

Items needed when applying.

Latest property tax bill or appraisal if done within the year.
1st Mortgage balance & balances of any other liens on home.
Copy of home owners insurance.


Closing Requirements
There is a minimal fee to cover the charges of the following:

Title Search
Flood Certification
Recording Fee


Minimum disbursement = $500, Minimum Line = $5,000. Minimum Payment = 1-1/2% of your outstanding balance or $50 (whichever is greater). For Non-Homestead (non-owner occupied) add .50% to the quoted rate. 90% loan-to-value ratio also available (rates may vary). Other introductory rates available. Rates subject to change.

*Consult your tax advisor for tax deductible opportunities.


http://foxcu.org/borrowing/equity_loc.html

Kthxbye

[0TransAm0]

Pro's are you don't have to hire a lawyer to draft up paperwork. You don't pay that agent out of your pocket so why not use an agent? Plus your agent should be working in your best interest. The seller is working in theirs.

i understand that they don't get paid out of pocket..and they do all the paperwork and such instead of highering a lawyer(out of pocket expense)

But if we find a house that that is forsale "by owner" and i want to purchase it can my agent do anything? would i hire her as my "buying agent" ....
you know what im mean? or is that not allowed because its not for sale with a realestate agency.

[Yooformula]

Your job isn't to look for this stuff. Your job and your Realtors job is to find a house. Once you find a home and you have an accepted offer you NEED to have a home inspection. Even if it is being sold "as is".


This is NOT TRUE. Yes you have to find the home within your range but once you do, it is YOUR responsibility to find anything wrong with it BEFORE you close. Home inspectors are nothing more than someone that walks through the home to show you basic stuff and check for obvious flaws. There had been so many issues with fraudulent inspectors its not even funny. Our home inspector was the head of some assoc of inspectors for wi and even they phucked us with their bullshit inspection.

A realtor's job is NOT to find whats wrong with the house:rolleyes: its to close the deal and negotiate your side should something be found wrong with it.

An egress btw, is needed if you want the space in the basement to be considered living space and actually help your assessment since you could count the area as an extra bedroom or such. A simple window does NOT count unless its removable and big enough for a person to get through it an walk out. I know Brad installed one, he would know EXACT details though.

phone jacks(some not working), basement walls(cracks, movement, water residue-sump pump) boiler(igniters, thermostats), hvac components(get an actual hvac inspection done), outlets(make sure they work and not too many on a single breaker), and illegally installed gas lines(some owners install gas fireplaces without proper equipment causing small leaks) are things that you can check for and should pay attention to. as sometimes they can slip through without being fully inspected.

my first night in my house I got evicted due to a gas leak that the so called inspector missed then my hot water heater died a weak later because it wasnt as good as the inspector told us, then had wiring under the bedroom light up because too many outlets were junked together, not to mention plumbing issues we had all within the first month or so. I agree with the plan of getting several pros to look the house over within their respective fields.. and yes SAM and BRAD are AWESOME at what they do!

[fly5150]

i love foreclosures. You have to know what you are looking at, like Sam and Awesomeears said, home insperctors are worthless. Bring in the professionals. I offered $40,000 less than asking on the last house, and I got it. It only took the bank 28 days to get all the paperwork done. I have never had to wait more than 3 days to hear back from the bank on a foreclosure.

[0TransAm0]

i love foreclosures. You have to know what you are looking at, like Sam and Awesomeears said, home insperctors are worthless. Bring in the professionals. I offered $40,000 less than asking on the last house, and I got it. It only took the bank 28 days to get all the paperwork done. I have never had to wait more than 3 days to hear back from the bank on a foreclosure.

40k LESS?? holy smokes batman... i thought that because the bank owns it that they wouldn't budge as much on a price...

[PureSound15]

40k LESS?? holy smokes batman... i thought that because the bank owns it that they wouldn't budge as much on a price...

Nah - write offs are a bitch for any financial. Same can be said for automotive repo's... although, I wouldn't want to drive half of the repo's that we get :durr

[0TransAm0]

so it would be safe to offer 20k less on a house that a bank owns... they are asking 183,900
its a nice house going to look at it again tomorrow. sitting on a nice .64 acer lot

[Exitspeed]

This is NOT TRUE. Yes you have to find the home within your range but once you do, it is YOUR responsibility to find anything wrong with it BEFORE you close. Home inspectors are nothing more than someone that walks through the home to show you basic stuff and check for obvious flaws. There had been so many issues with fraudulent inspectors its not even funny. Our home inspector was the head of some assoc of inspectors for wi and even they phucked us with their bullshit inspection.

A realtor's job is NOT to find whats wrong with the house:rolleyes: its to close the deal and negotiate your side should something be found wrong with it.

An egress btw, is needed if you want the space in the basement to be considered living space and actually help your assessment since you could count the area as an extra bedroom or such. A simple window does NOT count unless its removable and big enough for a person to get through it an walk out. I know Brad installed one, he would know EXACT details though.

phone jacks(some not working), basement walls(cracks, movement, water residue-sump pump) boiler(igniters, thermostats), hvac components(get an actual hvac inspection done), outlets(make sure they work and not too many on a single breaker), and illegally installed gas lines(some owners install gas fireplaces without proper equipment causing small leaks) are things that you can check for and should pay attention to. as sometimes they can slip through without being fully inspected.

my first night in my house I got evicted due to a gas leak that the so called inspector missed then my hot water heater died a weak later because it wasnt as good as the inspector told us, then had wiring under the bedroom light up because too many outlets were junked together, not to mention plumbing issues we had all within the first month or so. I agree with the plan of getting several pros to look the house over within their respective fields.. and yes SAM and BRAD are AWESOME at what they do!

Yeah listen to this dude and don't hire a home inspector. That'll do you real good. :durr It's just like any proffession. There are people that do their job well and the people that don't. Same goes for real estate agents. Odds are if you are having to even ask if you need an agent then they are doing their job right.

And it's not wrong. The average buyer knows jack shit about homes. How are they supposed to find out what is wrong without a home inspection? That's why you hire a home inspector and get one done. Sure he is only liable for certain things but that's why most are as thorough as they are.

it didn't say it was the realtors job to find out whats wrong with the home. I said that's why you have an inspection ie hiring a home inspector.

Don't put words in my mouth.

[VroomPshhTsi]

Hey Yoo who was was the home inspector that f'd u over? Just curious.

[awsomeears]

I strongly agree with Awesomeears, My HVAC division manager and myself go on a ton of pre-purchase inspections for Plumbing and HVAC systems. We work with City Inspectors and realtors all the time, even for home inspectors, we do more extensive mechanical reports, from just visual inspections to checking out the sewers with our Sewer Camera equipment and leave the customer a DVD of our findings good or bad.
There are some competent Home Inspectors out there, but you definately need Professionals in the trades for in depth views.

PM me if you need some additional help,

Sam
Master Plumber
18yrs in the biz.:thumbsup


Hell I have been doing HVAC for 4 years and I have seen some pretty hairy stuff that has been " Approved " I can only imagine having 18 years in like you and the story's :rolf

Its so sad that I have to bear the bad news about peoples homes when they " Think " everything is kosher :chair:

Here is a story of my own that just wowed me

A customer of many years sold his home and purchased a new one, 1st thing he did was have us over to Replace the whole HVAC system because it was Junk. As we all got to the job and walked down the stairs everyone looked at each other and thought " Boy do we seem tall or what "

Well time to get to work so we were draining the Hot Water heater and the drain wouldn't take the water :stare:stare

My buddy finds a plunger in the downstairs bath room and starts to plunge, what happened next was crazy. As rob was plunging away all of the small cracks in the floor started to shoot up water like a Fountain !!!!!

Had the customer come down stairs and show him whats going on, after looking at it for awhile we were all in shock. In the past years they poured and extra Slab of Concrete over the original one and never lined up the drains.

That's why everyone felt so Tall and mighty :stare were talking at least another 8 to 10 inches of extra concrete.

The customer was just in awe, not the smartest guy and replied with " Well is that bad " :durr

I asked did you have any type of home inspector out here, and he said yea and I shouldn't worry about the cracks in the basement because I just shouldn't

So here is a guy who bought a decent house and now has one hell of a bill ahead of him.

That's just one story

[Exitspeed]

Hey Yoo who was was the home inspector that f'd u over? Just curious.

Absolutely. Put his name out there so people don't use him. But to encourage someone to not use a reliable home inspector because you had a bad experience is retarded.

I can provide you with a few names of very reputable inspectors that my wife has been referring people to for years.

[WhatsADSM]

Congratulations? And no... I don't need to know you. But to tell someone that "it's fine" or mislead someone because of one certain case (i.e. the one that pertains to you) is completely moronic.

Unfortunately, for you, the main source for HELOC loans IS the tax assessment unless it is old (which depends on where it is) - it's up to the financial to determine what value they're going to use. So - go ahead and have it re-assessed so that you save money on taxes, but don't bitch and moan when you're denied some kind of financing because all of a sudden you're at 90% LTV and your new appriasel doesn't support your cause.





http://foxcu.org/borrowing/equity_loc.html

Kthxbye

Sigh...

We are talking about purchasing a home, not a home equity line of credit (note thread title).

And yes I agree it is up to the establishment to figure out value however they see fit. If foxcu wants to determine it from tax assessments (in some cases as you have pointed out) then that is up to them. But ironically your argument holds only as much water as your argument about my "one certain case". FoxCU is one certain case. All lenders are different, and when I was looking I specifically asked how they determine value and the answer I got form everyone was "If the home was purchased within the last X year(s), we use the sale price, otherwise it is based off of an ordered appraisal." And truth be told that makes the most sense since the markets are so volatile right now.

As a final note.
I'd bet if I told the city to reassess my property because I thought the tax assessment was too low, they would have no problem coming to my place and valuing it again to get more tax money out of me.

[Yooformula]

Yeah listen to this dude and don't hire a home inspector. That'll do you real good. :durr It's just like any proffession. There are people that do their job well and the people that don't. Same goes for real estate agents. Odds are if you are having to even ask if you need an agent then they are doing their job right.

Don't put words in my mouth.

Yeah just rely on the word of someone else and not inform yourself:durr Ftr, I didnt say not to hire an inspector but I was replying to this comment...

"Your job isn't to look for this stuff. Your job and your Realtors job is to find a house. Once you find a home and you have an accepted offer you NEED to have a home inspection. Even if it is being sold "as is"."

As a buyer you cant rely solely on the home inspector for your investment so yes it is YOUR job as well to look for this stuff. There's no telling what the condition is going to be and how much stuff could be wrong prior to the bank getting it back and sitting on it. Dont put words in my mouth.

[WhatsADSM]

Also throw a x8923712 for home inspector vote in there. Just make sure you do some research on who you pick. Don't pick solely based on price. Make sure they have been in business a while, as how many inspections they do, look for someone who specializes in that era home even.

[Yooformula]

Absolutely. Put his name out there so people don't use him. But to encourage someone to not use a reliable home inspector because you had a bad experience is retarded.

I can provide you with a few names of very reputable inspectors that my wife has been referring people to for years.

RETARDED? NICE. I didnt say anywhere in that post not to use an inspector did I moron? Sharing an experience could prevent someone else from getting blindsided. Even with the amazing people your wife refers, as a buyer, you should still know wtf is going on and what to look for.

point of the thread was to get some tips on buying a house.

[TraceDaddy]

There are a million details in buying a house. I know. I've bought a few. And renovated a few. And have seen first hand the hidden history behind some of them. For me there are 4 basic items to have covered. Location, solid foundation, soiid roof, and solid mechanicals. In that order.

You can find some steals on renovated homes in some bad areas and I wouldn't touch them with a 10 foot pole. I'd much rather buy a fixer upper in a great nieghborhood. Most houses aren't perfect. But aesthetics and minors repiars can make a world of difference. Make sure the house is not in some "fringe" area and make sure it has good bones.

You'll be fine after that.

[Lash]

Don't buy a house with you GIRLFRIEND.

[Burgandy85SS]

I would make sure that you are going to get married and everyhting works out before you go and buy a house. Just my 2cenrs cause that shit can get messy. Not trying to tell you how to run you life man but just looking out for you. :)

Agreed with 100% I bought a house with someone then she decided 2 or so years later to move on luckly for me she just signed it over but still had to pay quite a bit for the mortgage company to do all the paperwork and legal crap.

[Exitspeed]

Yeah just rely on the word of someone else and not inform yourself:durr Ftr, I didnt say not to hire an inspector but I was replying to this comment...

"Your job isn't to look for this stuff. Your job and your Realtors job is to find a house. Once you find a home and you have an accepted offer you NEED to have a home inspection. Even if it is being sold "as is"."

As a buyer you cant rely solely on the home inspector for your investment so yes it is YOUR job as well to look for this stuff. There's no telling what the condition is going to be and how much stuff could be wrong prior to the bank getting it back and sitting on it. Dont put words in my mouth.

Again, most buyers know jack shit about things like electrical, HVAC, foundation, etc etc. You expect people to go out and get certified int his stuff before shopping for a home? Again, this is the job of the home inspector. He points things out that could be possible problems and in some cases you then have to bring in a specialist to take a second look. If something is seriously wrong then it's your agents job to negotiate for you and either have them pay for the repair before your purchase or have funds set aside for you do have the repair done after you close. It all depends on the time frame you are all working with.


RETARDED? NICE. I didnt say anywhere in that post not to use an inspector did I moron? Sharing an experience could prevent someone else from getting blindsided. Even with the amazing people your wife refers, as a buyer, you should still know wtf is going on and what to look for.


Again, no you shouldn't. If you do, more power to you, but most people don't. THEY HIRE A PROFESSIONAL.

The way I was reading your replies it sounded like you were implying not to use an inspector. After re-reading it I admit I was wrong.

[awsomeears]

No body is telling people to get certified, were telling him to get Certified people in the field.

Holl HELL


ALL WERE SAYING DUMB ASSES :) IS THAT IF YOUR SERIOUS IN A HOUSE RELY ON YOURSELF TO GET A GOOD GROUP OF GUYS TOGETHER AND PICK THE HOME APART SO THERE ARE NO FUCKING SURPRISES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DEPEND ON KNOW ONE BUT YOUR SELF, YOUR DROPPING $150K WHY IN THE FUCK WOULD YOU DEPEND ON JUST ONE PERSON (INSPECTOR)

* HELLO McFLY *

[wrath]

I look for an unmolested house. For whatever reason, in Waukesha County an updated house sells for the same amount as an unmolested house... just a little faster. I look for a house that hasn't been do-it-yourselfed. I mean fscked up. I mean FudgePackerized. I mean do-it-yourselfed. I'm used to scary wiring and dumb plumbing in Michigan. But the shit I see here... it makes me very skeered.

If it has cheap Pex in it, I won't touch it. If it's Wirsbo I'll look it over real well. No offense to any plumbers, but if a plumber is going to use Pex they're either cheap bastards or lazy. Or it's a do-it-yourselfer. I'll even take CPVC over Pex. Plumbing is pretty easy to fix in most newer houses (since the late 50s) because the people that built the houses were lazy and made it so the plumbing was easy to install.

If it's older than 2005, if there are any colored romex wires then I scrutinize the wiring super extra carefully. If I see anything hokey in the wiring, I scrutinize it everywhere.

I look for structural changes in the house. If there have been any, the house has a large mark against it.

I look for water management. If it doesn't have downspouts or working gutters... or proper grading I look really carefully in the basement for evidence of water problems. Mold/mildew grows in a lot of places and one of the places no one remembers to scrub it off is inside of the breaker panel. So look in there. You can look for rust marks on the floor, especially under furnaces since so many people just plop them down directly on the basement floor. And poor water management usually leads to foundation problems.

If it has a DIY finished basement, I'm skeered. There are a ton of hidden things above that fancy $.99/tile ceiling and the scabbed furring strip walls. Shit grows in drywall and enjoys it. Once it's in drywall it's not going away.

Write down anything that has someone's name or business name on it. A lot of the contractors put their sticker on the AC/Furnace/Water heater/osmosis/filter/purifier/gas fireplace. It makes it easier to track down fscking retarded later.



So, once I've decided I'm serious about a house I do recon on it. I look up all the past owners and see where they live now. I look into why they're selling it (klink, death, divorce, financial ruin, general moving, job loss). I go to the courthouse and pull all the permits on the house. If it's a newer house the courthouse will often have an energy assessment with it and building plans/survey. When it was built, it'll have all the permits from application until occupancy. Any permits pulled after that will also be on file. This is a good time to compare your notes of all the contractors that were kind enough to leave their info and see if they pulled a permit. If they didn't they're probably hacks. In my looking, only about 30% of contractors actually pull permits. Even Home Depot often fails to pull permits.

This is also a good time to check with the assessor and see if they know about everything (like a patio, finished basement [rec room], living space basement [egress window], et cetera).



Things that are difficult to know about if you're not a pro:

#1 Sewer system. Water system.
Got orangeburg pipe? Find out how old the house is to decide if you're going to have to deal with an expensive sewer system repair. Pray you have plastic coming to the house for a supply line.

#2 Chimney.
While we can all poke at the mortar and see if it has carbon monoxide damage no one but a professional knows how it was likely built when the house was built. And it's real difficult for a non-professional to tell how serviceable it is.

#3 Furnace and AC.
The furnace either works or it doesn't. They aren't really "upgradeable" anymore and replacing parts on them isn't cheap so it's either it works or you replace it. You can pick up a really nice 85% furnace for under $650 and install it in less than a day. AC is difficult to test yourself but the nice thing is that the manufacturers have made it easy to tell vintage and many of them provide self-test instructions under the lid. If it's R22 you're probably going to end up replacing it.

#4 Foundation.
The difficult part is telling if they built it to last when it was built. You need someone with the proper equipment to tell if they filled the concrete block walls with concrete when they built it if it has long or tall walls. Not a big deal if it's a two-story but just about all ranches here built in the 60s-80s were poorly backfilled with poor drain systems so those long walls usually end up in trouble. It doesn't take much hydrostatic pressure to ruin a wall. Cracks are normal. Deposits from leaching isn't.

[SLONOMA]

Look everything over at least twice. I purchased a home recently, and there was an endless list of problems the home inspector missed. All minor things that have been repaired, but it would have been nice to know going into it. Nearly 90% of the problems I found were from the idiots that owned it before half a$$ing lots of basic repairs, or just buying the cheapest parts available to complete the job.

If you're looking at foreclosed homes, be prepared to do a little plumbing. Myself and a friend had purchased foreclosed homes that were sitting for 8+ months and needed to repair or replace multiple faucets and shut off valves due to corrsosion from not being used at all. My home is 54 years old and his was only 10, but still needed around the same amount of attention.

+1 for Landmark CU. Out of pocket charges were the lowest out of the 3 banks that had pre approvedt g/f and I.

[0TransAm0]

i know it was fast. we was only looking for about a month looked at 15-20 houses some of them 2 or more times.. but WE FOUND A HOUSE AND PUT AN OFFER IN THIS MORNING :banana1::banana:headbang

its a nice 3 bedroom ranch fully finished basement 1 1/2 bath sitting on a .34 acre lot with a 4 car HEATED garage.... thats the best part...:) its very very nice the owner was very anal about the remodleing he did and did NOT cut any corners..
location is franksville..

oh yeah he's got a badass 67 i think its a 67 camaro fully restored with a built ls1 in it... i asked if it came with the house he said no :(

thanks for all the tips you guys gave me it helped alot i made sure i went over this house inside and out at least 3 times with mine and her parents..


just waiting to see what they do with our offer...



again THANK YOU BCM PEEPS :thumbsup

[HRSEPLA]

[QUOTE=awsomeears;523180]Hell I have been doing HVAC for 4 years and I have seen some pretty hairy stuff that has been " Approved " I can only imagine having 18 years in like you and the story's :rolf]



The Stories are definately endless, some funny, some scary, and some sad! I have loved construction all my life and I like to see more people getting into it these days!

Glad to see you put an offer in on the house, good luck!

[awsomeears]

I made sure i went over this house inside and out at least 3 times with mine and her parents..THANKS BCM


I'm going to be a DICK here but what your saying is

THANK YOU BCM PEEPS for telling me what I should do and that I will do exactly the opposite and have mine and her Parents look over the home including myself that made a post of What to LOOK FOR ?

Dam man I wish people would just take it slow, 10 out of 10 times the homes you jump on faster then a drunk prom date are because everything LOOKS nice. Well thats the point of the SELLER !!!

When people remodel its for a reason !!!

So please tell me how many of the inspectors looked at the house :

Foundation
Plumbing
HVAC
Electrician
Structure
City Inspector
Barney

That garage has you all worked up and your probably not focusing on the little things that WILL bite you in the ass, I could be TOTALLY WRONG I realize it but I'm in a trade and I bet ya Sam might even agree or not.

I can just see in months to come " House is falling apart OMG "

:goof

Dude if you need a hand PM me I would be more then happy to stop by for a few bucks and drive time, offer is there :thumbsup

[0TransAm0]

I'm going to be a DICK here but what your saying is

THANK YOU BCM PEEPS for telling me what I should do and that I will do exactly the opposite and have mine and her Parents look over the home including myself that made a post of What to LOOK FOR ?

Dam man I wish people would just take it slow, 10 out of 10 times the homes you jump on faster then a drunk prom date are because everything LOOKS nice. Well thats the point of the SELLER !!!

When people remodel its for a reason !!!

So please tell me how many of the inspectors looked at the house :

Foundation
Plumbing
HVAC
Electrician
Structure
City Inspector
Barney

That garage has you all worked up and your probably not focusing on the little things that WILL bite you in the ass, I could be TOTALLY WRONG I realize it but I'm in a trade and I bet ya Sam might even agree or not.

I can just see in months to come " House is falling apart OMG "

:goof

Dude if you need a hand PM me I would be more then happy to stop by for a few bucks and drive time, offer is there :thumbsup



im going to be a DICK and say they have to accept our offer b4 ANY inspecter can go look

then i WILL be getting somebody from each section to "check" it out..


thank you :)

[awsomeears]

Ehhhhhhhhhhhhh

I'm just trying to save you time man, you don't ( unless I'm wrong ) have to make a offer and then inspect the house.

Unless I was special I looked at homes and had another visit back with a group of bud's, of course this was asked to the Home Owner or Realtor.

Of course it was not a problem because were potential buyers, they have no clue what we know or who we were. Maybe we were 5 guys living in a 3-bedroom house LOL.

Again if you need help PM me :thumbsup

[0TransAm0]

Ehhhhhhhhhhhhh

I'm just trying to save you time man, you don't ( unless I'm wrong ) have to make a offer and then look at the house.

When I looked at homes I had another visit back at the same home with a group of bud's, of course this was asked to the Home Owner.

Of course he said yes he's trying to sell the house, well we picked the home apart and I had a talk with the owner and just passed on it.

Again if you need help PM me :thumbsup

why would i pay somebody to come inspect it and spend the $$$ to have them not accept my offer? upon them accepting our offer i have 14 days to get what inspections done i want at my cost... IF something is wrong i can backout... thats how the offer was wrote up...

[Windsors 03 Cobra]

I was going to ask if it was on Hwy V but I'm guessing not as that ranch only had a 2 car I believe and probably had .625 acre. Yours sounds really nice, love that garage. :thumbsup

[0TransAm0]

I was going to ask if it was on Hwy V but I'm guessing not as that ranch only had a 2 car I believe and probably had .625 acre. Yours sounds really nice, love that garage. :thumbsup


its off of dunkalow rd...

[awsomeears]

why would i pay somebody to come inspect it and spend the $$$ to have them not accept my offer? upon them accepting our offer i have 14 days to get what inspections done i want at my cost... IF something is wrong i can backout... thats how the offer was wrote up...

Because you base your offer off the homes bill of health, its hard to say " hey I found all of this stuff wrong and we need to lower this offer that I offered you "

Most home owners will tell you to take a hike, I know what you mean I have been through this before with inspecting homes where potential buyers get antsy......

If you need any HVAC help let me know :thumbsup

[Yooformula]

good luck and congrats on finding your home. post some pics so we can drool too over the garage...lol