Michigan-Detroit

House shopping questions - long

What should we be focusing on when shopping for a house? Besides the obvious stuff?

This is our first home and I feel like we are both really overwhelmed by the options and sheer number of houses available right now. We don't really know what we want and don't want. And our location is pretty wide. Any tips of things that you've liked/hated in homes?

And if we find a house we like, is there any tips you guys have for the whole offer, inspections, closing process?

Our realtor is a bit of a spazz and I'm tempted to get rid of her (FI doesn't like her either) but I feel kinda guilty because she's shown us about 20 houses over the past few months. But there's stuff that bugs me, like I feel like she's steering us towards houses she wants us to buy and she was trying to tell us that you have to spend $100K to get the house credit which isn't true and it bugs me because I wonder what else she doesn't know or is just pulling out of her a$$. Should we kick her to the curb?

Argh! This whole process is very overwhelming and makes me want to stay in an apartment forever.
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Re: House shopping questions - long

  • Julz629Julz629 member
    2500 Comments Combo Breaker
    edited December 2011
    If you don't like your realtor, kick her to the curb.  Definitely.  She will make a lot of money, regardless of the purchase price, and you want to make sure she is showing you houses for the right reasons.

    First off all, decide your priorities.  Do you want a complete fixer-upper for a great deal where you're going to have to immediately make some improvements?  Or do you want a move in ready house?  Or maybe something in between -- something that will need updates, but you can move in and live as is for a while.

    Then there's the obvious like number of bedrooms, baths, square footage, garage, etc.

    But I would decide on a list of "must haves" between you and your FI.  Decide what you can't live without and what you want, but you could potentially live without.

    FI bought his house when we first started dating and while I've grown to love it and am slowly making it "our house," I would have never bought it if we had been house shopping together.  My priorities were updated kitchen and bath.  His priorities were that it had a 4-seasons room and a basement that he finished to be his "man room."
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  • mink492mink492 member
    Sixth Anniversary 1000 Comments Combo Breaker
    edited December 2011
    Def get rid of her. "Steering" is illegal. There's plenty of agents that want to work right now & are probably way better.

    Location is huge first. Once you get that down, it will be a little easier. Number of beds/baths. For me, in my next house, a bsmt will be important, along with storage/cupboard space. Bigger yard... all the things I don't have now.
  • catstoy73catstoy73 member
    100 Comments
    edited December 2011
    When I was looking for a house my req were: 2-3 bds, full basement (didn't have to be finished), 2-2.5 garage, fenced in yard. I also checked to see how old the electrical, furnace, water heater, roof and pipes were. I also checked to see if there was any leaking in the basement, checked the ceilings and walls for obvious signs of cracks, meaning were these recent or from a while ago and how many times were they patched. If the cracks had been patched numerous times that was a definite no-no in our book (my parents own the house with me since when I bought it I was single).

    I didn't care if the house needed paint or some cosmetic work because I knew I could do that on my own or I knew I had some family and friends that could help me do it.

    The offer that was out there was pretty good considering that it was a buyers market and at that time things hadn't gone downhill yet. We countered and they accepted and we went with an inspector my realtor recommended. He was thorough and gave us a written and an audio tape of the inspection. We got lucky that we didn't have to ask for anything reagrding the house. The only thing we asked for was a 1 year home warrenty on appliances.

    If you don't like your realtor, get rid of her asap! I went with someone in the beginning of the selling process and I eventually got rid of her because she wasn't doing what she was asked. I went with my DH's cousin's SIL who was so helpful and patient with me and she actually did do what she said she would do and within 2 months, she had my house rented (the other one didn't do anything for us for 5 months). I would definitely use my realtor again and I may be using her sooner than I want to because my renters are getting divorced and the wife doesn't know if she can pay rent until May.

    If you want my realtors contact info, please let me know. I would recommend her to anyone. She will listen to what you and your FI want in a house and will help you find what your looking for.
  • edited December 2011
    I can only speak from my own experience so here are some things I regret doing, outside of the obvious things (this could get long!):

    - Our house is just big enough for us but the way the space is distributed doesn't make sense for us. We have a livingroom and a family room...we never use the livingroom and we still need to furnish it! I wish that space could be distributed among the bedrooms instead.

    - If you want a privacy fence and the house doesn't have one look into why and how much they cost. This is true for anything you want but in my case, I messed up on the fence issue. We wanted a privacy fence and the house didn't have one. We figured it's a small yard, no biggie. Well in Garden City you can't have a privacy fence that extends farther than the back of your house. Well our house has an addition on the back but the regular chain link fence does go past the addition but a privacy couldn't due to some stupid regulation. So now we are stuck looking at our neighbors forever.

    - Even if it is winter, look at the neighbors grass...is it long and matted down even under the snow? Don't move there because they obviously are the people on the block that dont take care of their lawn and I personally hate that and hate living next to it.

    - If you see hints of water leaks/damage don't ignore it when the inspector says, "well nothing is wet, they may have fixed whatever the problem was". Just assume you'll have the same problem and ask yourself if you want to fix it.

    - If you are going to be miserable in a fixerupper really ask yourself how long it will take to get it into the shape you want. Our house was pretty much amazing when we moved in but now that I've been there for a while, things bother me...but not enough to fix them!

    Good luck!
  • edited December 2011
    Thanks for the advice ladies. I think once we make a list of priorities it will help but its good to hear about other people's experiences too.

    Mink - I don't if she's actually steering us per se it just seems like she voices her opinion a lot. And I appreciate it to a point, she mentions things like look at the surrounding houses, points out things I overlooked, etc but other times I feel like she's my mom telling me what to do (if that makes any sense). It doesn't help that FI doesn't like her, he thinks she's too pushy as well.

    My gut says to find someone new so I should probably listen to it!

    Cathleen - if you don't mind to pass along her info either PM me or email erins2508 at yahoo dot com. Thanks! 
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  • edited December 2011
    We just bought a house and first I fully recommend finding a new agent if you don't like the one you are working with.  We found a good one of the 3rd realtor we talked to.

    Once we figured out what we both were looking for and after we have been looking for a while we went out one day and just decided that we've seen pretty much everything in our price range so we should just pick one that fits the best.  We originally wanted a basement but we compromised that and was ok with it because we have a fairly large yard so if we need additional space we can build up or out.  But the house is about 3 times what we are used to so it works for now and will work for quite a while.

    With the offer I would make sure your realtor checks the comps in the area then maybe even go in a little under that number.  Homes are appraising a lot less these days.  Our house appraised for about 40,000 plus less than their original asking price.  So just be patient with that whole process.

    Good luck!!!
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  • katiebird1981katiebird1981 member
    500 Comments
    edited December 2011
    The great thing is that you are looking for a house at the best time ever!  You will get an awesome deal and hopefully if the economy picks up in a couple years, your equity will double.  However, I would look for a house that you can spend the next 10-20 years in. Just in case you can't sell it in the near future.  When I bought my condo 6 years ago, I assumed I would only live their for 3-4 years and then sell it.  Naturally not knowing that the economy would bottom out.  I had to do a short sale on my condo a couple months ago.  It has screwed up my 804 credit score that I worked so hard for.  The condo was listed for sale 2 1/2 years and I got nothing.  JMO and it really is an exciting time!  I loved having that feeling when you know when you finally found "your house".
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  • edited December 2011
    Along with all the things previously suggested, if you are thinking about having kids (or do already) you may want to look at the school district....

    I'd definitely get rid of the realtor.... Don't feel bad that she's shown you all those houses- this is a huge decision, and you should be with someone who makes you comfortable.
  • edited December 2011
    It's probably obvious, but I'd start with price.  You may have done this already, but talk to your bank and get a pre-approval before you do anything else.  They can break it down for you and show you exactly what your monthly payment will be at different price points to help you decide what you can comfortably afford.  Be sure to take into account taxes, what you'll be paying towards interest, utilities, maintenance costs, etc.

    IMO, the most important thing with a starter home is resale value.  You probably won't be in it forever, so you want to maximize what you'll get out of it when you go to sell it.  Resale value takes into account a lot of things, but I think location is the #1.  So not only what city/area, but also what neighborhood within a city.  Ideally, you want the crappiest house on the block.  If you're surrounded by good houses in a good neighborhood, your house is more likely to hold it's value. 

    As far as a fixer-upper vs. move-in ready, the fixer upper is tempting because it's cheap and potentially a good return on your investment.  BUT this requires having a significant amount of cash on hand to do the repairs.  You may get it back eventually, but this doesn't help if you have to go into debt to do it.  I think PP made a great point that a house that needs simple cosmetic updating is the best middle ground.  It will improve the resale value of your house without requiring a huge investment up front. 
  • edited December 2011
    You guys are awesome - great advice thanks so much!
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  • Sue-n-KevinSue-n-Kevin member
    Seventh Anniversary 5000 Comments 25 Love Its First Answer
    edited December 2011
    I'm coming at this from a different perspective: I'm probably old enough to be your Mom, and have owned 2 homes, the first a condo, the second the home I'm currently in.

    My ex and I were looking during the last buyer's market, in 1994. The things that were important to us were the following:

    - proximity to family (both of ours lived within 10 miles of each other). This becomes important if you plan to live there a while, as parents age, plus so they can see the grandkids :)

    - price. Think about how much you have to put down for a downpayment and what you can afford every month for a mortgage. The "going rate" is 25-30% of your take home pay. You may even want to reduce that if your jobs are at all "iffy" in this local Detroit economy. Sad, but true. Just my opinion, go for the 30 year mortgage, as rates are low and you can always refinance later. A locked in rate is your best friend. I also recommend having the taxes and home owner's insurance rolled into an escrow account, because big surprises twice a year for taxes means you have to be very good budgeters. If you can't put down at least 10% of the cost, there may be "mortgage insurance" tacked on to your monthly payment.

    -neighborhood & schools. If you stay there a while, what does the neighborhood look like? Are the families older or younger? What sort of neighbors do you want? If you plan on staying after you have kids, make sure the school district is a good one. The state is pulling back on a lot of financing for school districts. Try to find the Blue Ribbon winners, a designation the state gives schools. Also, with google maps, you can do a satellite view of the neighborhood, see what is in the neighbor's backyards...... pools? Big yards? Patios? Gives you an idea of how long the neighbors have lived there and how they've improved their homes. May seem creepy to do this, but hey, the more info you have, the better.

    - After we did all this, we must have looked at over 40 - 50 homes. We had decided what we wanted early on, # of bedrooms and bathrooms, back yard size, how much work would be required immediately and later. Somewhat early in the process, we saw the house we ultimately bought. They had rejected our offer, but their new home was ready, and they came back to us after about 2 months, then anxious to sell. It was the house we wanted all along. I still live here with our children, and am now planning the wedding I want with a much better guy who will move in here.

    You have to take into account how handy you both are, and what YOU want. It's a great time to be looking, and this market will probably continue up to 6 months. But don't worry about hurrying either. It has to be the right fit. My FI got out of the military, and bought a house he's now saddled with fixing up and selling. It's in a favorable suburb, but 2 blocks from an unfavorable one. Take your time and take into account all the info from all the posters.

    And I agree with everyone above......get thee to a new real estate agent pronto! Preferably get one in the area you are looking in.

    Good luck.
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