Buying Home Checklist

Lifestyle Bazaar Talk
1

I keep on frogetting what my essentials are in being interested in a property when I go to have a look.

Most of the times, i’d like the kitchen and completely forget that the place doesnt have gas and then come back and realize the fact

So gonna make a check list of the things are are my essential criteria and you guys can add what Im missing.

  1. Must have Gas for heating and Water
  2. I want a foyer at the entrance, i hate places where you walk into the door straight into the living room
  3. Must be close to public transport

Will come back later
Feel free to add yours and give pointers.

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Re: Buying Home Checklist

Depending on where you live, search the local govt home-owner tips for starter,
Do get an home inspection, it may cost you but its worth it, (you must have time for this; call few ppl, search from the internert and surely ask questions and references).

as for the house, must see, the electrical, A/c- heat is working fine, paint job (to the eyes) is ok not a patch work, drive around the neighbour hood few times (different hours evening, morning and afternoon) keep a check how the rest of the house are build next to it...etc, since your interest is in kitchen do get a good look at the appliances as well (how old are they etc...).
Owners; why are they planning to leave.....

well the rest will be covered by the tips from the local govt...website (home owner)

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Re: Buying Home Checklist

I just want a home similar to what tom hanks had in the movie "Road to perdition"...wake up in the morning to the calm of the ocean, just relaxxx. I have my eyez on a similar penthouse here. Breeze just flow thru ur hair, & make u fly on top of the world.

I miss my days when I lived near the beach. It was the most relaxing time.

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Re: Buying Home Checklist

this might limit you to not so great neighborhoods.. try

must not be too far from a park and ride..

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Re: Buying Home Checklist

my husband and i are looking for a home right now, and its hard cause we're not really sure what we want, but acrobi is right, make sure you get the house inspected, and then drive around the neighbourhood a few times. i don't know if they have this where your at, but we looked at a house and the agent mentioned a home owners asscociation in the area that will tell you about the specifics of living in the area.
good luck

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Re: Buying Home Checklist

My suggestion would be (specially if you're a first time buyer) is to look at as many homes as you can (with the other half of the relationship preferably). This would give you an idea as to what you're looking for.

Plus depending on how handy you are you can look for not-perfect condition houses, which may require painting, or some repair work (not including roof) etc, which would drive down the price. Proximity to transport is good but not a necessity (specially if you drive). And lastly the point of affordability.

Ask yourself the question, do we see ourselves living there in 10 yrs still.

In the end it really doesn't matter as you can always sell and move to another house in a few yrs. :)

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Re: Buying Home Checklist

Like PA said, if you get something thats tooo close to public transportation, the skankier/less peaceful the area tends to be (at least thas the case in Bronx :()

Blindhope's Birthday!
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Re: Buying Home Checklist

make sure you have plenty of storage space, not just in the rooms but in common areas. in kitchen, a good linen closet will prevent the need of stuffing extra bedding and towels etc in your own closet.

laundry room, in the part of house where you spend most time. some ppl prefer the laundry room to be on the second floor of a 2 floor house, because thats where they change so its easy to go from hamper to laundry. Others like the laundry downstairs as they can do laundry while watchig tv, cooking or just .

an entryway is a must, make sure the enry way has wall space to put something against as a catchall for mail, keys whatever as you come in.

Look at what direction is the house facing in, which rooms get sunlight at what times of the day and how much.

many other things that depend on a person's own preferences, what ppl are giving you are checklists such as home inspection, which you must do, but i thinku were looking at preferences.

a few more

close to a good hospital
close to grocery, pharmacy (no one wanst to drive 15 mins to get cold medicine when they are feeling sick)
you want commercial area close nuff that u can get there quickly but not right by you and thus subject you to traffic etc of commercial traffic.
close to good schools

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Re: Buying Home Checklist

great tips guys

I'll come and update when I have some spare time..

Im not long term buying...

Thinking of getting a townhouse, staying in it for 5 years and then take a mortgage out on it and move to a bigger place

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Re: Buying Home Checklist

LB

check local crime stats for the area
look at offenders registry to understand if there are any in the vicinity
most inspections do not check for radon or for mold, make sure you get that done also.
drive by the area during diff times of the day to see what the area is like. sometimes and area which is very nice looking at noon is full of louts at night time.

The smiley stories
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Re: Buying Home Checklist

Fraudia, im not really looking into buying a used house.

It'll be brand new in a new suburb and the new suburbs are expensive so dont have to worry bout bad neighbourhood cause i dont think crooks can afford the areas im talking bout.

My main concern is what are some of the things people have come across as desis that they have totally neglected or are unware of when it comes to buying a house.

all the legal issues i'll leave to the lawyer

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Re: Buying Home Checklist

LB...We just bought our house and it is new...
Here are some things to consider:

We got the builder to move the laundry room to the basement (we didn't want the entire floor shaking whenever the washer is on!) But some ppl like the convenience of having everything on the ground floor.

We got the builder to move the fireplace to the smallest wall in the room...so there is more space to put sofas against the walls.

Consider getting the front entrance widened to 2 doors. Right now we have one door entrance and I don't think that our old sofas will fit through there. It makes it easier to move stuff in and out - even with groceries and stuff.

Consider at least one bedroom having an adjoining bath...for those relatives who visit...

Check out if all windows open and have handles...(here, we just found out that half the windows don't open - I guess they are there just to provide light!!!)

Find out from the builder if they have contracts with certain furniture/appliance companies...they can get you coupons for discounts on furniture/appliances if you buy from them.

If you are buying from a builder, go around to the neighbourhood and knock on people's doors and ask about their experiences. We did this...we drove around one saturday...most people were working on their lawns or watching their kids play and they told us about their problems (ie not enough light in the stairs, garage too tight, builders not providing house on time, etc)

You may also want to check the type of ground the house is on...ie. the builder we bought from is building in 6 different areas in the city. In two places, they built near swamp land so some of the houses sank a few feet 2 years later! The area we bought in has solid rock underneath...someone was saying that if there was an earthquake, there wouldn't be much movement.

And get a good inspector for the new house...(get recommendations from friends). Hubby just found the first one on the internet and the guy just came, looked, filled out a couple of forms and left. He didn't explain anything to us at all and charged us a lot.

Good luck.

What are the fundamental beliefs of Ahmadis?
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Re: Buying Home Checklist

LB,

1- the suburbs may be expensive, but what is teh surrounding area like. do you have to go through some bad area to get to the burb. In Chicago the gold coast area downtown had the same grocery store as Cabrini green..the projects. You had to be careful

#2- As far as crooks being able to afford the areas. There are crooks of many types, I am not talking about some car jackers ro dope dealers in the area, but convicted child predators. Thats why you want to look at the registeries. Would you be comfortable in a nice house in a nice burb kowing that a known molestor lives next door? if not, check the registries.

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Re: Buying Home Checklist

as far as other things go ruiner has given a good list. additional factors are, what type of zoning areas are immideiately adjacentto your development. in new burbs you can get into situations that it is right next to an indusrtrail zone so you can have chemical plants, asphlat plants, factories etc etc which then have an impact on quality of air.

what was this piece of land previously, if it is a former industrial site.. what is in your soil.

what is going to be the level of traffic in your area. e.g. are the roads equipped to handle the amount of increased traffic, it would suck to sit in your car because the area right by your house is congested.

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Re: Buying Home Checklist

My goodness, pir sahib. If had to do the things that you (and some others) keep adding to the list i'd probably give up on the idea of buying a home. Geez! lol

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Re: Buying Home Checklist

tofi

if you look at case studies of house values once a factory popped up in the neighbourhood, you would be very careful.
Much if this information is easily available.

its a huge investment, better be careful.

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Re: Buying Home Checklist

I wrote up a home buying guide for incoming residents for my wife's hospital, it's focused towards Rochester and US home buying but you might find something useful, who knows:

Chances are that this is the first house you are buying. If that be the case, here are a few things to think about when buying a house:

Are you a handy person? Do you work well with tools? Are you going to have the time to work on your newly purchased home? If you answered 'Yes' to all these questions, you could get away with buying a 'fixer upper'. Note, as a resident you will NOT have the time to work on your house, however, if you're a resident's spouse or significant other, you might be able to pull it off. Remember, there is no shame in admitting that you're no good with tools and as such you should look for a house with everything in relatively good condition.

When looking at various houses, learn to look past the current owner's decor, choice of paint/wallpaper, and choice of carpet. People have some bizarre tastes and you might be thrown off by some poor choices made by the current residents. When looking at the house, look at the structure, how big the rooms are, how well the walls/ceilings/tile/counters are holding up. Remember, you can always paint, you can always replace carpet, and you can always redecorate.

When your house is inspected, try your very best to be physically present at the time of inspection. Your home inspector can offer valuable insights into the condition of your potential home. The home inspector is trained to spot things that you would never dream of. Pay special attention to the roof, potential leaks, plumbing, air conditioning, furnace, and appliances.

If someone tells you that you don't need an air conditioner in Rochester because the summers aren't all that warm, tell that someone to go jump in a lake. In 2005, there were more than 3 weeks of over 90 degree days. Suit yourself. Also, an attached car garage is a very welcome sight come winter time, trudging in the snow to your car, scraping off ice or brushing off snow is not a lot of fun when you have to go to work at 5:00 AM. A fireplace is also a very welcome sight in winter. The warm glow and the crackling of wood offers some cheer during a predominantly dreary and drab winter.

It can take up to 60 days to close on your house in NY state. Be prepared for that time frame. Also, in NY state, the person buying the house physically has to be in town for the closing, it cannot be done via mail/faxes. Finally, in NY state you have to have an attorney for closing, your real estate agent should be able to recommend a good attorney.

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Re: Buying Home Checklist

I don't know whats the concept of public schools in Canada or Europe but in US if you want to send your kids to the good public schools, you have to live in the neighbourhood where those schools are. You can't live in one district and send your kids to another district's public schools. Well, you can but its a hassle and not a guarantee.

In suburbia US, good school districts usually mean more $$ for the house but it also means your house will sell quicker. So sometimes people who do not have school going children still buy houses in good school districts.

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Re: Buying Home Checklist

Oh and I agree with aahmed that if you are not a handy person try buying newer houses or at least houses that have been recently remodeled. Also having a back yard is nice, especially with younger kids but if you can't mow the lawn yourself its better to go for a townhouse/condo.

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Re: Buying Home Checklist

aahmed, thanks :)

Im pretty handy with tools and all plus i wanto spend weekends making the house more the way i like it.

as for the lawn goes ahmedjee, what do you think James is for :o