Anyone here who knows a lot about houses that could give me some tips? For example, things to look out for, things to avoid etc. Avoid houses with basements? Avoid houses without basements? EtcI would ask my realtor but since they're trying to get my money I suspect they'll just fluff my balls and tell me everything is great
>>58432996Hire an independent inspector. Look up the racial demographics of the area (as simple as searching "[NEIGHBORHOOD NAME] racial demographics").
>>58433000Thanks anon. Way ahead of you on the demographics thing. Let's just say 3 years of LNB has been more than I can tolerate and is a big reason why I'm moving
Try to look at it with an inspector right after a heavy rain storm. Make sure that basement/crawl space is dry. Look for pooling water outside along the foundation and make sure there’s adequate drainage. I bought two houses where I wish I had the opportunity to do this. A roof replacement is a huge expense get one with a newer roof, highly preferably metal. Also inspect the area for trees that are growing sideways. That means it’s windy as fuck there. High winds fucking suck for shit box houses, fences, and keeping anything around in the yard.
>>58432996Get a radon inspection, owner has to install a mitigation system to sell. Water test if it has a well. Look for large tree roots near the house, possible foundation damage. Look under the sinks to make sure there’s no DIY plumbing lmao. In general get a good eye at professional installation vs DIY. Un ironically watch a couple episodes of Scuffed Realtor.
>housethe propriety is the terrain, not the houseanything less than half an hectare is worthless, wouldn't give 10k for it
>>58432996don't sign the purchase agreement until you've had your lawyer look at it, it'll be legally binding even if you discover serious problems with the house and don't want to close. You'll just have to forfeit the deposit, which will be 10% of the house's value.
>>58433111So would the lawyer be ensuring that I could get out of the agreement if big problems with the house were discovered? Is that a possibility?
>>58432996Check the age of the mechanicals and roof. These are the most expensive repairs. Do not let the seller stick you with a shitty home warranty that won't cover anything in lieu of replacing old appliances/HVAC. Roof will be 20k, HVAC will be 10k.You can fix the property to suit your needs, but you can't fix shitty neighbors. Check property records to see who your potential neighbors would be if you are buying a re-sale. Take a look into their yards, look for annoyances like wind chimes, barking dogs. An easy way to figure out if they're going to be a good neighbor is by where they park their car. Garage = good, driveway = hoarder, street = piece of shit.Direction of house matters, I lived in Phoenix and had a west facing house and the sun would just make it stupidly hot in the summer afternoons. North/South facing homes are the way to go.Buy a neighborhood/amenities, not a house. Look for businesses like Lifetime Athletic, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's that are only in upper income parts of the metro area. Look for downtown shopping/bar districts. Look for large neighborhood parks and walking/biking trails. Hockey rinks and golf courses are indicators of a good neighborhood. You want to buy what people cannot duplicate in new construction.Be wary of buying around empty lots. Cities can and will get zoning variances to build "luxury apartments" or 50+ foot office buildings to block views. Whether you are pro/anti public school, it is still important to look at the demographics and ranking of the local schools as it is a reflection of the neighborhood.Don't buy on a busy street, backing to a busy street, or where you can hear the highway. Rent in the area that you want to buy in for a year.
>>58433113Just make sure that your offers are contingent on inspection and you are covered
>>58433114Great stuff, thank you, I'm saving everything
>>58432996In my city the soil is like 20 feet of clay before it hits rock below it. So basically every single house in the city gets foundation problems after long enough.Foundation problems can fuck up your entire house, so investigate soil types in the area where you are buying a house before you buy. You want a house that's on solid bedrock that isn't likely to sink. Also try not to buy a house on a hill, the soil will erode over the years and cause the foundation to shift.Also never max out your budget on buying more house. When you own a house, you'll have to deal with unexpected bills. Every single appliance is on a time limit and will break down. A water heater can cost $1200 to replace. Air condition can cost $7000 and higher (and up to $25,000 for the best units). New windows can cost $1000 each. Etc. You want to have a good budget for home repairs and improvements. Also property taxes and home owner's insurance will go up in cost over time, so budget for that.Also if you want to power wash your garage floor, the time to do it is before you move all your shit in.Another thing to do is put an anti-termite treatment around your home foundation. Do this early before termites show up and get inside. You can use a shovel and buy the liquid poison yourself for cheap. Contractors will rip you off.
>>58433174Oh and also, if you have any interest in getting solar panels in the future, you should check your home's roof on one of those websites that check solar panel output. There are sites where you can input your address and the website will analyze your roof's size and direction and tell you how much electricity the solar panels would produce.For some homeowners in sunny states, solar panels can actually be a good deal once you count electric cost savings over the years. And the tech is getting better every single year. So roof size and direction is something to consider for that, if you're interested.Finally my last piece of advice, think about your future and how much house you really want. Every single extra square foot of house adds a higher cost to maintain: bigger roof size to replace, more energy bills to heat/cool, more property taxes, etc. And 2 story houses are extra expensive to fix things on, because they add complications.Finally I will say, we got extra insulation added to our attic when we moved in and it was a great decision. It instantly made the house hold temperate much better. It was totally worth the money. There's also federal tax credits for shit like energy efficient improvements to homes.
>>58432996get a contractor, not a friend, HIRE a contractor, pay him full time to check out any house you are interested, truflation predicted a violent increase in house prices, so its better for someone trained to check the house for damages and problems the untrained eye cant see.
>>58433254>violent price increase just like the last 5 years? no one is surprised.
From what I can gather in this thread is that I dont know shit about houses, yet alone buying one
>>58433254who's most likely to betray you and your money>a lifelong friend >a random ass contractor
>>58433114>Take a look into their yards, look for annoyances like wind chimes, barking dogs.and that's how you become a Karen
>>58433013hood ain't shi for wypipo huh
>>58433273It's literally safety and commodity assuring you fucking shithole living random ass nigga you surely live in some shit like this honestly
>>58433111>>58433027>>58433041>>58433015>>58433013>>58433114Where I'm from when you wanna buy a house you give the money to the person selling and that's it.No wonder in the usa you have this gen full of faggots who dont want to buy houses.where the fuck do they expect to live?
>>58432996just make sure there's a room specially made for your personal space, like an office. Even if you don't work from home, having one is essential for men, and you can even repurpose it for anything else later.
Homeowner here, get an inspection. DEFINITELY get an inspection. Let your real estate agent pick one out, and then go around and get a second opinion on top of that. Yeah if you do it for a couple houses before you settle on one, you're out a few hundred extra bucks. Maybe a thousand. But if you buy a house with problems and only discover them later, you'll be out TENS of thousands.I had an inspection done but it didn't cover the sewer line to the street, which was all fucked up by roots. Well it clogged and backed up into the basement, soaking the walls, which instantly started molding. Cost me fucking 10k to get the mold out and I never did go back and replace the drywall because that shit would have been another 10k. Now it's just, sitting there. Exposed studs. I dunno, I rent it out now and never get any complaints.The other thing is learn to do little things yourself. Like how to do caulking, that's HUGE. How to replace locks/doorknobs is pretty big. Stay away from electrical but anything else is fair game. Hell, even just how to install your own blinds. I saved a pretty penny doing that myself for the house.
>>58433288Definitely good to learn how to do shit yourself, unless you’re very well off and don’t mind coughing up a substantial amount for everything little thing that needs attention. Also you’ll need to get used to getting ripped off if you go this route. Tradies are lower than scum. I used to be one, but then was finally able to turn that blue collar white. I’d even say work construction for a while if you are looking for a career change anyways. I’ve saved $200k+ in the 7 years of owning my home by DIY and having tradey friends. That translates straight to paying off that cuckold’d mortgage quick.
Walk it with a general contractor and have him give estimates for all repairs you want. Total the cost of those repairs and request that be knocked off the purchase price.
I'm waiting for the housing bubble to burst to make my move because housing and property prices will drop like a stone in water.>Get inspections (If you are in a country setting, get the septic tank checked every 2-4 years)>Learn how to do small DIY, like caulking, or woodwork, and light repairs. Don't do electrical or piping, huge mistake. (My sister is currently experiencing severe plumbing problems because she tried to DIY)>Install Solar Panels if you can, if you want to have independent power to survive an outage get a Generac.>Figure budgets. (Windows and appliances can cost an arm and a leg.)>BEFORE buying a house get a Termite/infestation inspection. (Big issue, had a cousin buy a house and there was a Bed Bug infestation.)>DO NOT sign the purchase agreement until you have a lawyer inspect it, you'll be bound if you discover horrible issues with the house.(picrel, properties I'm looking at)
>>58433270Friend. They'll come up with some bullshit reason to act unprofessional. Or charge you less now and expect you to owe them some ambiguous favor later.
Do not buy a house. Keep your networth invested on stocks so you can rent and move anywhere once your neighbourhood becomes a shithole/your country becomes dogshit/you get fired and have to commute 2 hours etchaving your networth stuck in a house is a liability nowadays. i know you dont like this but it's the truth.
>>58433273>not wanting to live near annoying niggers = being a karenYeah I'm totally OK with being labeled that
>>58432996>House buying tips>implying that someday I will have enough to buy a houseI'm fine with living in an apartment all my life, and using my BIAO to pay off any debt I may haveplus the costs to make or repair makes it no longer worth it
>>58433114>>58433174>>58433193thanks for the info guys, good stuff
