Buying & Selling A House Tips

[AndersonGal]

What are your tips or thoughts on buying / selling a house?

I know when I look at houses:

I like to see them empty if possible.
I hate to see other peoples family photos taking up a whole wall for example.
One house I looked at was completely decorated in "Disney".
All I could think was how could I get all that wallpaper off the walls?

What do you like to see or not like to see?
You would overlook imperfections for what reason?

[eldo]

Hi AG! I don't visit this forum often, so I just saw this. It would get lots of attention in GCC.

I haven't moved in 8 years, so I have to stop and think about this one.

For buyers --
Most importantly, the house has to be clean.
No strange odors.
No dead houseplants.
Neat closets (buyers always open them).

[momof3girls]

First time I've been here...

But, we just went through this whole process. Very aggrivating too.

First and foremost, no smoking inside houses, the smell never leaves.

I always had everything perfect looking and even packed a lot of stuff up in advance so there wouldn't be so much in the house.

Always tried to make the house look bigger by having less in it.

When looking it never bothered me to see pictures or what not on the walls. I just had to like the house and could envision what it would look like after I was living in it.

We are now in the perfect house for us with everything we wanted.

Oh yeah, you need to be PATIENT with the selling and buying. Don't rush or you might not get exactly what you want.

[Twinplets]

Originally Posted by momof3girls

Oh yeah, you need to be PATIENT with the selling and buying. Don't rush or you might not get exactly what you want.

I wish we'd had more time when we looked for our current house. But hubby was starting his new job, staying with friends during the week and coming back on the weekends to help pack. This left me and the kids (3 kids under age 2) home by ourselves during the week (although I did have someone come in a few hours a day to help out). Also, it didn't take very long to discover that "exactly what we wanted" was out of our price range. What we should have done was to not bother listing our old house until we moved out. My parents advanced us the money to cover the down payment on the new house, so we could have managed. It was next to impossible to get the kids out of the house when people came to look at the house, and most of the time one or more kids were napping. And there was more clutter and "stuff" in the house than a house on the market should probably have. When I was looking at houses, though, it didn't bother me to see kids' toys and stuff all over the place, since I was planning on moving 3 little kids into it. But I can see how other people would be turned off by it.

[AndersonGal]

I agree.
You don't always have the luxury of time.
Espec if your moving out of the area (as in across country).

Today the Real Estate agent that was such "a find" when we moved here is coming over. (that was a nervous BTW)

[GR8GIRLS]

Even though this is a few months old, someone might come across this and find it useful. ALWAYS take a notebook with you and look for hidden faults. Are there water marks on the ceiling or under windows? Is there a musty smell in the basement? Are the walls/ceilings sagging anywhere (older homes)? What appliances stay? WHO PAYS CLOSING COSTS, and will the seller assist with the costs? (make sure your bank allows seller concessions)? Are the rugs stained by pets? If so, the moisture of these stains will have gone through to the floor underneath. Look for little chew marks in the corners of walls....evidence of rodents. Check for the stability of decks....is the deck pulled away from the house anywhere?
Just a few things to check for...always carry a notebook and write your observations in it. You can use this info as a bargaining tool for bidding.

[Siotha]

WEll don't be a sucker like us. We were so desperate to sell our mobile home that the "agent" we listed with, turned our dreams into a NIGHTMARE. 1. never sell your home for a contract for title and dead, that is the new tenants pay off your morgage by paying you a monthly check 2.make sure your agent is liscensed in the state you are in 3. have a freakin lawyer review and approve your contract.

or you could end up like me, with 2 house payments, a trashed house, a near ruined pool, 2 electricity and water bills, 2 yard work bills and gas costs from driving back and forth showing the home afterwards. And people who are holding my house for ransom, with bad checks all over the town.

<going to cry now>

[GR8GIRLS]

I am so sorry you are having such a bad experience. I am currently selling a home under a land contract, and everything is going smoothly. I hope things turn around for you.
(((Siotha)))

[yamini]

i have followed all my real estate agents tips but i think about things im looking for when walking through a house....what are some things you look for when buying a house...??...besides the number of bedrooms, baths, and square ft.....

[ted07]

We are currently house shopping. As a matter of fact, I went out and saw six houses today. We already know that we will have to either replace carpets or clean them, and that we will probably have to paint.

If the condition of the house is just too damaged, dirty, and smelly, we won't even consider it. We don't have the time to fix it up

Some of the things we look for -- (besides bedrooms, sq. ft..)

-- walls -- cleanliness, color, and condition
Even though we know we can scrub the walls, if they're just too disgustingly dirty, it's a major turn off and hard to get past. We just want to be able to put a coat or two of paint without having to do any repairs

-- condition of all doors, baseboards and trim
if these are too damaged (splintered, holes, cracks) then we take into account how much we have to spend to replace them

-- cracks, chips & holes on walls & flooring
Carpetting that is too dirty/greasy tells us that repairs might be needed when replacing it. Tile and woodfloors with chips and cracks are taken into account.


-- smell
Pet odor (urine) or cigarette smell is very difficult to get rid of. We won't consider a house with these smells.

-- outdoor fencing
we look to see if it's leaning, broken, or if there are major holes

-- central air/heat
Our summers are very HOT so a/c is a must

-- condition of roof

-- condition of windows

-- plumbing & water heater (my hubby is a plumber, so this is a must)

-- foundation

-- trees
cracks in pavement caused by roots or roots sticking/bulging out in the yards. Roots are bad for plumbing!

-- wiring
any wiring hanging out and condition of sockets, etc
We are not paying too much attention if the home has upgrades. What we care about is if it's CLEAN and undamaged. We are realistic and know that we're not going to find a house in our price range that is in "like new" condition. But we've seen so many houses that are so filthy and damaged, it's difficult to imagine what it would be like fixed up. If people can't afford to paint, then scrubbing walls down goes a long way. Simple repairs, like replacing baseboards and trim also make a huge difference.

If the house is occupied, declutter, put the stuff in boxes in the garage or rent a storage unit. We look in closets and cabinets. If they're too full, it's hard to imagine if our stuff will fit in it. Too much stuff on the walls or counters also is distracting.

[chikycin]

I think the location is the first thing that you should look at. After that, the neighbours and the locality otherwise, nearby markets etc are very important before even seeing the house from inside.

[chikycin]

I think the location is the first thing that you should look at. After that, the neighbours and the locality otherwise, nearby markets etc are very important before even seeing the house from inside.