So I'm looking to buy a house within the next six monthes and need some pointers... First time buyer! What should I look out for? Any tips/suggestions are appreciated!
The Following User Says Thank You to khoanguyen1983 For This Useful Post:
Yup. On the house we just bought it was determined to be a beautifully maintained older home. They had a prior sale fall through after the home inspection.
When we stepped in after the other buyers backed out we bought in a second Home Inspector who was recommended to us by a friend. He proceeded to find that there was a crack in the heat exchanger in the furnace and that it was 37 years old and not 25 years old like the owners put on the disclosure (Missed in the prior home inspection and missed by the HVAC guy who serviced the furnace less than a year prior). He also found that the breaker box had a few more fuses in it than it was rated for and one of the wires in the electrical system was not the right gauge for the load it was expected to handle. (Missed in the prior home inspection and missed by the township zoning inspector who checked the wiring work and rated it all A-OK.) Even alot of credentialed professionals will cash your check and then miss stuff they are supposed to find all the time. We still bought the house because it was otherwise a good by, but because this guy found things that were previously missed we were able to get money back to handle things we otherwise wouldn't have even found until after we closed.
Otherwise, one other thing I have learned as a first time buyer is you have to look at every aspect of every deal. Don't get tunnel vision and just worry about the price of the house. Everything has its pros and cons. I know around us New construction is expected to be trouble free and not require any updates for years but the taxes are twice as much. It is harder to find an older home in good shape but if you do you get more for your money and the taxes are alot lower. Pay attention to location. Again, in my area it is common to find two very similar homes a mile apart but because one is 'Blue-Colllar-Township' and the next one over is 'Snob-Ville' the same thing costs 100K more and 2-3 times as much in taxes. The best way to learn is to jump in and start checking out houses. The more you look the more you get a feel for how your local market works.
__________________ Slow drivers and people who nap at green lights steal precious time from my life that I never get back. They should pay extra registration feels and sales taxes on their vehicles and the government should cut me a check out of that pot based on my hourly wage. If they do this I would gladly sit at the green light behind the lady checking her hair, adjusting the radio, applying makeup, talking on the phone, or daydreaming all day without a complaint.
Last edited by eharri3; 11-15-2012 at 04:05 PM.
The Following User Says Thank You to eharri3 For This Useful Post:
All 3 are really nice areas. Only part I don't like is that 121 is a toll road North of Grapevine. I think Grapevine will have lower property taxes of the 3. You might consider Flower Mound for a nice area with a little lower taxes.
Oh, and avoid Lake Lewisville during all major holidays. There's always someone who dies on that lake in a boating accident on a holiday.
Do not mention his name here. He spits on us and talks crap and you're directing people to him from our site? I don't think so. I know you're neutral and that's fine, but please do not mention him here.
The Following User Says Thank You to Toxarch For This Useful Post:
Thanks for the advice! I'm going to start looking this weekend, narrow down what I like and dont like, and figure out which areas I really want to be in... traffic sucks around all 3 of those places right now though... I know that much... Lol
The Following User Says Thank You to khoanguyen1983 For This Useful Post:
The Colony, Carrollton, Coppell, Colleyville, Southlake, and Trophy Club are all expensive places to live. Best thing to do is to get a house really close, but not actually in those cities.
Do not mention his name here. He spits on us and talks crap and you're directing people to him from our site? I don't think so. I know you're neutral and that's fine, but please do not mention him here.
The Following User Says Thank You to Toxarch For This Useful Post:
Talk to the Neighbors they know everything about what has been done and the owners, if I would have done that I would not have bought my first house. Also the home inspector don't go cheap it will save you money in the long run.
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The Following User Says Thank You to DDRaptor For This Useful Post:
What is the average cost of having a home inspector go through your house? And when you say a place is expensive to live in, that means a more expensive house? Or higher property tax?
The Following User Says Thank You to khoanguyen1983 For This Useful Post:
I remember reading how bad the drought in that area has been the last two years and that they had a really bad problem with foundations cracking. They also found an indian burial ground when lake lewis or whatever it is named dried up.
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The Following User Says Thank You to OkSlim For This Useful Post:
What is the average cost of having a home inspector go through your house? And when you say a place is expensive to live in, that means a more expensive house? Or higher property tax?
In Texas, home inspection prices are capped by the state. I believe a house up to 5000sf is $425.
The house will cost more because of the city it is in and the property taxes will be higher. Colleyville and Grapevine are right next to each other. People would rather say they live in Colleyville than Grapevine. The average income in Colleyville will be higher than Grapevine. Can you tell the difference? The city limit sign is the only way I can tell. I know people in Colleyville and I know people in Grapevine. They are separated by one highway exit less that a mile apart. The houses are about the same size, but the yard in Grapevine is 3x larger and the house costs a lot less.
Do not mention his name here. He spits on us and talks crap and you're directing people to him from our site? I don't think so. I know you're neutral and that's fine, but please do not mention him here.
The house will cost more because of the city it is in and the property taxes will be higher. Colleyville and Grapevine are right next to each other. People would rather say they live in Colleyville than Grapevine. The average income in Colleyville will be higher than Grapevine. Can you tell the difference? The city limit sign is the only way I can tell. I know people in Colleyville and I know people in Grapevine. They are separated by one highway exit less that a mile apart. The houses are about the same size, but the yard in Grapevine is 3x larger and the house costs a lot less.
We have a very similar situation here in my area of Pa. There are like 6 or 8 different tiny boroughs and a few larger townships. In alot of areas you drive through and would not know the difference except you see the "Welcome to..." signs every 2 minutes. Mostly decent middle class neighborhoods. Nothing ghetto, but nothing super high-class. But they are attached to different school districts and have their own little niche markets. You can find a 3 bedroom 2 bath for 320K with 12K per year in taxes, then 5 minutes away you can find a 3 bedroom 2 bath for 250K with 6K in taxes. In the area that is more expensive I have been seeing a long row of for sale signs lining the street that have stayed up for a very long time. In the other areas, not so much. If they weren't so close together it would probably not be as bad. But because they are right on top of eachother it seems like a no-brainer to most buyers.
__________________ Slow drivers and people who nap at green lights steal precious time from my life that I never get back. They should pay extra registration feels and sales taxes on their vehicles and the government should cut me a check out of that pot based on my hourly wage. If they do this I would gladly sit at the green light behind the lady checking her hair, adjusting the radio, applying makeup, talking on the phone, or daydreaming all day without a complaint.
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