Nolo's Essential Guide to Buying Your First Home by Ilona Bray, Alayna Schroeder, Marcia Stewart Page B
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selling for $300,000, then $400,000. I bought a tiny place soon after, which fortunately has since risen in value. But it kills me that I could have had it for much less a couple years earlier—or could have had a bigger house that would fit my, guess what, husband and new baby!”
Just Looking: The Open House Tour
Visiting open houses—where sellers throw the doors open to just about any interested party—is educational, free, and fun. For now, don’t look only at houses that are smack dab in your price range. By looking at too-expensive and too-cheap houses, you’ll get a feel for what various house features—like another bedroom or an updated kitchen—are worth. As you visit open houses, compare their features to your Dream List, to get a sense of which items will or won’t be easy to find. Now’s a good time to refine your list, too, if you realize that “a fenced yard would be great,” or “I can’t live next to an apartment complex.”
Remember, unless you’re ready to read the rest of the chapters and ramp up your activities in a hurry, don’t fall in love with a house yet. You’re still getting to know what’s out there. In later chapters, we’ll discuss how to take a hard look at a particular house—evaluate its physical condition, whether it’s priced appropriately, and whether it meets your long- and short-term needs—as well as how to prepare an appropriate offer.
If a house really does look perfect, and you can’t resist, at least heed this final warning: Don’t sign anything on the spot. You may meet an oh-so-friendly agent who says, “I can write up your offer, no problem!” That agent represents the seller, whose interests, including getting the highest price and the most advantageous terms, will be put first. Go home, take a deep breath, look at later chapters of this book, and do some quick shopping for a buyer’s agent—if you really want to buy that house.
Just start looking. Fiona was more convinced than her girlfriend that they could handle the financial commitment of a house. Fiona says, “Even after we’d done our research, had a mortgage broker evaluate our finances, and asked our parents to pitch in on a down payment, she resisted going to open houses. According to her stressed-out logic, we weren’t really ready, so it was a waste of everyone’s time. Finally I got her out looking, and it was great—seeing open houses suddenly made the process fun. Of course, it was also a reality check, since we realized we could afford less than we’d thought. But we ended up finding a wonderful house, with great neighbors.”
Nothing to Look at Yet? Finding Your Dream Development
If you’re thinking of buying a newly built home, your community-to-be may look like a large sandbox. But that doesn’t mean you can’t do advance research. Your most important task will be to choose the best-quality developer before you go any further. Why? Well, as with any other product, different house manufacturers make different quality products. You don’t even want to go near a house built by a developer at the low end of the quality spectrum, no matter how affordable it seems.
Figure out which developers are working in your area, which are worth buying from, and whether they offer the types of houses you want. To find developers, use the websites listed under “Got Houses? Finding Out What’s Locally Available,” above. Then use the following tips to research them:
• Talk to people. This includes others who have purchased from a particular developer, local contractors, real estate professionals, and city planning staff. Don’t stop until you’ve gathered information about each local builder’s reputation from a variety of sources.
• Ask tough questions of the developer and others. You’ll want to find out how long the developer has been in business; how well funded the business is; whether it’s ever been sued and for what; and the credentials of the
Just Looking: The Open House Tour
Visiting open houses—where sellers throw the doors open to just about any interested party—is educational, free, and fun. For now, don’t look only at houses that are smack dab in your price range. By looking at too-expensive and too-cheap houses, you’ll get a feel for what various house features—like another bedroom or an updated kitchen—are worth. As you visit open houses, compare their features to your Dream List, to get a sense of which items will or won’t be easy to find. Now’s a good time to refine your list, too, if you realize that “a fenced yard would be great,” or “I can’t live next to an apartment complex.”
Remember, unless you’re ready to read the rest of the chapters and ramp up your activities in a hurry, don’t fall in love with a house yet. You’re still getting to know what’s out there. In later chapters, we’ll discuss how to take a hard look at a particular house—evaluate its physical condition, whether it’s priced appropriately, and whether it meets your long- and short-term needs—as well as how to prepare an appropriate offer.
If a house really does look perfect, and you can’t resist, at least heed this final warning: Don’t sign anything on the spot. You may meet an oh-so-friendly agent who says, “I can write up your offer, no problem!” That agent represents the seller, whose interests, including getting the highest price and the most advantageous terms, will be put first. Go home, take a deep breath, look at later chapters of this book, and do some quick shopping for a buyer’s agent—if you really want to buy that house.
Just start looking. Fiona was more convinced than her girlfriend that they could handle the financial commitment of a house. Fiona says, “Even after we’d done our research, had a mortgage broker evaluate our finances, and asked our parents to pitch in on a down payment, she resisted going to open houses. According to her stressed-out logic, we weren’t really ready, so it was a waste of everyone’s time. Finally I got her out looking, and it was great—seeing open houses suddenly made the process fun. Of course, it was also a reality check, since we realized we could afford less than we’d thought. But we ended up finding a wonderful house, with great neighbors.”
Nothing to Look at Yet? Finding Your Dream Development
If you’re thinking of buying a newly built home, your community-to-be may look like a large sandbox. But that doesn’t mean you can’t do advance research. Your most important task will be to choose the best-quality developer before you go any further. Why? Well, as with any other product, different house manufacturers make different quality products. You don’t even want to go near a house built by a developer at the low end of the quality spectrum, no matter how affordable it seems.
Figure out which developers are working in your area, which are worth buying from, and whether they offer the types of houses you want. To find developers, use the websites listed under “Got Houses? Finding Out What’s Locally Available,” above. Then use the following tips to research them:
• Talk to people. This includes others who have purchased from a particular developer, local contractors, real estate professionals, and city planning staff. Don’t stop until you’ve gathered information about each local builder’s reputation from a variety of sources.
• Ask tough questions of the developer and others. You’ll want to find out how long the developer has been in business; how well funded the business is; whether it’s ever been sued and for what; and the credentials of the
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