Basics of Property Management: Screening Potential Tenants

What You Should Know Before Buying Your First Home

14 August 2015

Jesse Obrien

Buying your first home can be invigorating, but it can also be confusing and stressful. Too many people fall in love with the first house they look at and they do not realize that the building has problems until after they buy it. To prevent this from happening to you, it is best to know how to know if the potential home has issues.

Know the Average Price

The first aspect to consider is the average price of the homes in the neighborhoods you are considering. The price will tell you a lot about a property and it can give you clues as to why the price is different.

For example, houses that are slightly below the average price are probably meant to help bring in more potential buyers. However, if the price is lower than every house in that neighborhood, then the building may have several issues. With these homes, you will probably find older appliances or damage to the floors or walls.

In some situations, the bank is selling the home, so the price is lower, but that also means you buy the house as is. These are known as "short sales" and the bank will not fix items in the home, they just want to sell it.

Hire a Home Inspector

If the house is listed at a reasonable price and looks good, you still need to make sure nothing major is wrong with the structure. In some cases, people use paint, spackle and new flooring to distract buyers.

With this in mind, you want to have a home inspector look through every portion of the home. The inspector will determine if some items are in place to hide issues such as water or structural damage.

If anything is found, you and the buyer will get a detailed list of these problems from the inspector. Many inspectors will add in everything that is needs to be repaired, no matter how minor the issues are. If the issues are minor, you can choose to fix them yourself or ask the owner to handle the problems for you.

However, you can protect yourself from losing a lot of money by placing a clause in your offer on the house. This clause should state that if needed repairs go over a specific amount, you have the right to back out of the deal without monetary loss. Many realtors advise their clients to add this clause to their bid that they make on a home, because it gives the buyer the ability to walk away from a home that has several hidden issues.

When you start looking for your new home, you want to avoid places that require a lot of work. To do this, you need to look at the price and hire a home inspector, so you can purchase a home knowing that it will not cost you a lot of money to repair. In addition, work with a realtor, like the ones at Realty Executives, to help making the process of buying your new home easier. 

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