14 Tips to buying the right house

September 8, 2009

Photo courtesy of Helga Kupcsik.

We celebrated 12 years of marriage in July. In that time we’ve moved 7 times (3 were across the country) and have owned 3 homes. This comes after having moved upwards of 20 times throughout my life.

Suffice it to say, I’ve got a good idea about what’s nice in a house and what’s not. (Besides that, I’m picky as all get out. Feel free to pray for my husband who has to put up with me.)

True, a house doesn’t make a home, but I can assure you, a well-chosen house does make a home more comfortable.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when buying  a home:

1. Don’t buy on a “T.” In other words, don’t be the house into which a road ends. Not only do you run the (slim) risk of a runaway car, but you’re also much more likely to get headlights in your windows constantly.
2. Take note of what’s adjacent to (or nearby) the property. In our area there are many new communities being built. Don’t be wowed by the glossy neighborhood maps in the sales office — they usually don’t indicate things like major thoroughfares, railroad tracks, monstrous power lines, the shady back alleys behind strip malls or other less-than-desirous properties that might be right next to yours. Same goes for established homes. I recommend checking out Google Maps too. Type in the address of the house you’re thinking about buying and take a look at what’s surrounding it. Be sure to look at both the street map view as well as the satellite imagery view too (find both links in the top right corner of the map). Maps show things like railroad tracks and that LOUD rock quarry 1/4 mile down the road.
3. Related to #2, look out the windows of your potential house to see what you see. If you can see into your neighbor’s windows, they can see into yours. Do you want to be this close?
4. Make sure the bulk of your windows face south, southeast or east, particularly if you live where it’s hot. You won’t get baked in the hot afternoon sun therefore saving cooling costs.
5. Buy on a street that isn’t a convenient pass-through road. These are the streets — all neighborhoods have them — everyone uses to get in and out of the neighborhood. Cul de sacs are ideal of course but short streets are second best. Avoid long, straight streets or you’ll have cars whizzing by constantly.
6. Beware the corner lot. Quite frankly I’ve never understood what’s so great about the corner lot. True, you may have a bigger property, but very often the extra space comes in the form of more side yard and is not very functional. As I see it, unless the extra space can be utilized, it only adds up to more lawn to mow, more hedges to trim, more property tax to pay and another traffic-producing street next door.
7. Visit your potential house at several different times during the day. You might just find out that your next door neighbor’s dog barks incessantly after dark or the house next door has 4 extremely LOUD children who all come out after 3pm. And maybe they fight a lot. (Ahem. Sorry neighbors.)
8. Always, always, always keep resale in mind…even if you plan on dying there. Even if you do die there, chances are someone in your family will be responsible for selling the thing eventually. Buy or build a house that has good bones and express your creativity through things that can be easily changed (like paint or maybe landscaping). You may love the idea of an ultra modern-looking house which sits in the middle of the country but to others it might look exactly like a prison.
9. Don’t buy the biggest/most expensive house in a neighborhood. Instead, go for a smaller/lower-valued home in a nicer neighborhood. The nicer homes are more likely to bring your home value up instead of the lower-priced homes bringing your home-value down.
10. Do a little research about the community. Are things being built up or torn down? Are people moving in or out? Does the town receive good press or bad press? All these things will give you a clue as to where things are headed in the future. The place may be booming now but is the trend likely to continue into the future?
11. Find out about the school district…even if you don’t plan on using the schools. In my experience, good school districts generally indicate a healthy community. SchoolMatters and GreatSchools are a few places to start.
12. Find out about your potential house’s history. Zillow has some useful information, particularly about past sales and surrounding home values. Find out if the seller is asking way too much (or if it’s an absolute steal). You can also check with your County Clerk about what the house sold for previously. (Many County Clerks now have this info available online.)
13. Don’t forget about furniture and stuff. As so many painfully realized in the last 10 years or so, sometimes it’s easy to get sucked into that “How much can we afford” mentality and push it to its limit. It costs A LOT of money to move into a new house and get settled — even if it’s brand new (as our last one was). The little stuff (a chair to go there, a new gas dryer because our electric one won’t work, a few landscaping updates, etc.) all add up quick.
14. Consider renting. No really. Owning a home isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. It’s a lot of time, money, maintenance and hassle. Sure there are benefits — that’s why people own them — but it really isn’t the pinnacle of American Dream-hood. But what do I know. If you want to hear someone who’s a whole lot smarter than me on this subject and makes a very convincing argument, you’ve gotta read Millionaire Mommy Next Door.

Get more tips from Works for Me Wednesday over at We Are That Family.

A personal note from me to you: Hi there! Do you know of someone who’s thinking about buying a house & could use this info? If so, click that little “Share This” green button at the end of this post and you can email it, tweet it, facebook it, save it — whatever! Cool, huh? And while you’re here, consider subscribing to my blog via RSS or email and let my posts come to you! (Still not sure what that means? Or wondering what RSS is anyway? No worries, I think this video from YouTube explains it well.)

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