27 Pointers For First Time Home Buyers

Buying your first home is an exciting new chapter of your life.  Once all the finer points of preparation have been handled, such as hiring a buyer’s agent and getting pre-qualified, it’s time to start looking for your dream home.

As you’re looking at houses, it’s easy to get swept away with detail or room you love. However, for long-term satisfaction, you must be thorough in your inspection of the home before submitting an offer and during the closing process. All the new information you’ll be learning can become overwhelming so we’ve put together a list of 27 pointers for first time home buyers.

The Home

1. Look beyond the current owners furnishings and decorations. Ask yourself how the space would work with your furnishings and decorations. How do you like the shape of the house and each of its rooms? Will your furniture fit?
2. Does the home have any unusually shaped rooms? These may be hard to furnish so make sure you think carefully about how to furnish them.
3. Make sure the home has enough space to accommodate you and your family’s needs. If you like to garden, make sure the yard has enough space. If you have children or plan to, check for space to play both inside and outside.
4. Think about where your family spends the most time together. Is that room big enough?
5. Pay close attention to the kitchen and bathrooms. These rooms are the most costly to improve so the current quality and age of appliances, plumbing, and cupboards are very important.
6. Take measurements of the space for each appliance to make sure yours will fit, and make sure the oven and laundry hookups match your machines, whether electric or gas.
7. Check under all the sinks and bathroom ceilings and walls for signs of water leaks and mold or mildew. Check under carpets for signs of water damage that’s been left untreated. Neither of these problems is a deal breakers but both must be taken care of either by you or by the seller. The best way to ensure these problems are caught before purchase is to have thorough inspections.
8. Turn on each tap to check for water pressure, how fast it heats up and cools down, and how well the drains work. It doesn’t hurt to do a quick taste test from the faucet.
9. Ask the seller about all past damage to the house, even if it’s been fixed. It’s good to know if the yard is prone to flooding or if there has been fire or termite damage. Ask if the seller has done anything specific to prevent problems to make sure you don’t unwittingly remove the modifications.
10. Take each detail into consideration. Are you happy with the garage’s size and location, what about the street parking? Will you be willing and able to afford to maintain the pool, the jacuzzi, and the fruit trees?
11. Keep an eye out for the wiring in the house. What types of plugs is the home using, two pronged or three pronged? Are there outlets in the right places? Keep an eye out for loose wires.  Loose wires and wires that don’t appear to connect to anything are a major fire and safety hazard.
12. A good house is built on a strong foundation. To give a preliminary check of the foundation, look for cracks in the wall and for wood-burrowing bug damage. Ask about the home’s foundation and if you decide to put in an offer, make sure the home inspector takes a look at the foundation. A bad foundation could cost more than the house is worth to fix.
13. Check that all doors, windows, cabinets, and drawers open easily and without sticking.
14. Make sure the roof doesn’t have missing, curled, or cracked shingles or tiles.
15. Find out how long ago the hot water system was replaced. If it hasn’t been for a while, it might be due for a change soon. Regardless of when it was replaced, check the system for rust, damage, or leaks. Also, make sure that whichever system is in place produces enough hot water for you and your family. A big family will need more hot water than a couple.
16. If the house has been recently painted, make sure to ask about any problems with the walls such as mold, cracks, or something worse. Check that the wood is not rotting. If you press your finger into the wood and it’s soft, then it is rotten. Cracks in the paint can also be a visible sign of rot underneath.
17. Is there central heating and cooling in the house? Make sure that whatever system is in place works properly and won’t need to be replaced soon.18. How good is the insulation? It can make a big difference in the cost of heating and cooling the house.

The Rest

1. Keep an eye on the location and positioning of the homes. Is it too close to the street? Which direction does it face? North-south facing homes tend to be cooler than east-west facing ones. Is it near loud areas like a train track, airport, or fire station?
2. Because buying a home is a long term commitment, it’s important to think about how your future life will fit into the home you buy today. Will it be too small or even too big?
3. How long it takes to get to work is an important consideration. Make sure all the workers in the home are comfortable with the commute time. Living in Southern California, you also have to consider the time traffic will add. Be realistic about the stress a long commute will add to your daily life.
4. Look up your home for past issues and to see if the city has any plans for the area. Maybe there is a major construction project planned, or the water in that neighborhood has been having problems with contamination over the years. Regardless of the issue, make sure you know it before you purchase the home. Have your agent help you contact the city for the information you need.
5. Be open with your ideas for remodeling or renovations with the seller, the listing agent and your agent. The seller will be able to tell you if any of your dreams for the home will be costly or impossible.
6. Ask about utility payments to gauge how much you’ll spend each month. Make sure to ask for several months and for bills from different seasons. It’ll give you a better idea of the home’s fluctuating costs. It would be a nasty surprise in the summer if your cooling bill tips the utility bill to unaffordable.
7. Get to know the area before committing to the neighborhood. Some areas can become unsavory in just a few short blocks. Look at the parks and any alleyways in the area. Who hangs out there in the day? At night?
8. Under no circumstances should you forego inspections on a home. Professional inspectors will look for things that you never would have thought of. Problems that the seller doesn’t know about will be revealed in an inspection and save you the trouble of finding out major issues after purchase.
9. Check out the home at different times of day. Large windows seem great during the day, but at night they could show too much of living room or bedroom space. Freeway entrances and major streets have more traffic during rush hour, and schools playground or even marching bands, can become very noisy during the school year.

Is there a train nearby?

If so, can you hear it when it passes? If you’re comfortable doing so, ask the neighbors about pedestrian and car traffic patterns in the neighborhood.Always trust your instincts when you are looking for a home. If you walk in and you are immediately put off by something but can’t quite figure out what, trust that feeling and keep looking. The truly hard part of deciding on a home is looking critically at a property you love. Finding something majorly wrong with it may be hard to accept, but it is much better to know now and walk away than to find out after you purchase.When you finally find the home you want to make yours and get into contract on it, don’t cut corners or costs.  

Have the home thoroughly and professionally inspected. Remember, when you are buying a long term investment like a home, it’s always better to know about issues before your dream home becomes a nightmarish commitment.If you are just getting started and are looking for a First Team real estate agent to help you through the buying process, make sure you find one familiar with the areas you are searching. Here are a few ways a buyer’s agent will make your home buying experience enjoyable: 8 Reasons To Hire A Home Buyer’s Agent.