Choosing The Right Home
A homeowner’s dream is to purchase a perfect home to build memories in. A home is where generations of your mini me’s grow up, where endless holidays are spent, and a place that echoes the saying, “There is no place like home.” In order to find a perfect home, a person must delve deeper and dig for information about the place they want to call home.
Noise Pollution
You are looking for a neighborhood that is quiet, where you can hear the birds chirping in the morning and crickets creaking at night. A place where on a hot summery day, you can fall back on your favorite chair, drink cool lemonade, and lose yourself in a good book.
However, your dreams of serenity are shattered when instead of the sounds of birds and crickets; you hear the sounds of frustrated people honking their cars during a rush hour on a highway-feeder street. The heavy rush hour will only make your journey to work difficult, but traveling onto a feeder street in the morning is sure to give you an everlasting headache.
Having a school nearby your home is usually a plus, but did you take in account all the yelling, screaming, and crying you will hear when trying to take a nap. The traffic will increase and so will the children in the neighborhood who come to play on the playground not so far from your home.
Get Your Facts Straight
If the neighborhood appeals to the eyes, then the next step is to dig a little deeper. Get in touch with the city or county officials and ask them about any up and coming projects like implementing a high-voltage power line slated to come through your neighborhood or any other projects to be implemented in the future.
Go online or to the neighborhood’s local library and look through any newspaper articles concerning your neighborhood. You have to be sure about things like contaminated water line or any other trouble your potential new neighborhood has been in over the years.
Rented or Owned
It is also a good idea to ask your neighbors about whether they have ownership of their homes or pay rent. This way you will get the idea if the neighborhood is rent or ownership based. In rent based homes people often move in and out, while in owned home people and generations of their family often stay longer.
Get to Know Your Neighbors
Go and introduce yourself to your neighbors who are at close proximity of the house you want to purchase. Ask them questions relating to the neighborhood. Ask how often they all meet each other and how well all know each other. Maybe, the neighbors plan an annual block party that brings all the neighbors together or if a newsletter is distributed to inform each other about the happenings of the neighborhood.
A close-knit neighborhood is a good sign of an excellent neighborhood. The neighbors show care for each other and each other’s children. If you happen to be going for vacation, you don’t have to worry about your house because the neighbors will keep an eye on it.
Grill the Retailers
When you buy a used car, you ask the previous owner about any repairs that have been done on the car and how many accidents the car has been in. Just like with a used car, you ask the same questions about your new home. Some common queries people have is about how susceptible the house is to flooding and if flooding has occurred in the past then ask if any measures to solve the problem have taken place.
Also, you should ask the retailer if any repair has taken place on the house in the past. If you are aware of the problems beforehand then you can take appropriate measures to prevent them from occurring in the future.
Call in the Experts
Before making any final decisions about purchasing the house, you should hire people to inspect the house for lead paint, radon, wood-eating pests, and anything that might need fixing. Each thing that the expert finds amiss and needs fixing will lower your purchase cost. This way you will at least know about the repairs you would have to do in the future.
Your Home’s Past Life
You can request your retailer or the past owner of the house to give you detailed records of any repairs or renovating done on the house. The retailer or past owner will provide you with a receipt that will list all the house’s past improvements. Maybe, the receipt will give you insight on what type of repainting has been done and the brand of paint used. If a brand is unknown, you will at least know that you might need to lather another coat of paint sooner than you thought.
Remodeling Takes Time
If you plan to remodel the house, then let the retailer know beforehand. He might know some things about the house that you don’t. Maybe, the past owner ran into some problems when they were trying to remodel. Like a pricey structural barrier when they tried installing a shower in a place it made more sense.
Look Around You
Inspect the houses that closely surround the house you plan to buy. Are there any houses that might need to be bulldozed? Is there any house that might become a candidate in the long run to get bulldozed? The beautiful view that surrounds your possible new home might get demolished in a few years and in place you might find tall buildings and structures.
Check Your Pockets
After buying your brand new home, you find out that the monthly winter, cooling, and water bills might drain all your resources. Request the previous homeowner to provide you with receipts or inform you about the cost of the utility bills.
Get Your Taxes Done
Property tax can send you to the doctor if the increase rate increases year after year. Don’t invest in a house where property taxes keep increasing and where schools are funded through property taxes which results in the property tax increasing regularly. You should acquire information about how taxes are billed in the area from your retailer and look through newspapers.
Visit City Hall
Ask your city hall representative if the property you wish to acquire has any restrictions, liens, and easements associated with it. Your retailer or buyer’s agent should provide you with these facts, but it doesn’t hurt to go to city hall and find them yourself. It is better to be safe than sorry.
Re-Evaluate Your Decision
There is no such thing as a perfect person therefore, there is no such thing as a perfect house. You won’t find everything you are looking for in a house. There would be some features of the house you thought you could live, but can you really live with them?
On-street parking, one-car garage or a detached garage seems fine now, but will it bother you in the future? What about a swimming pool? Sure, in the hot summers it will keep you cool, but will you be able to keep up with its costly maintenance?
Become an Explorer
Discover what lies three blocks away from your neighborhood. You want to avoid being in an area where the hustle and bustle of vehicles can become a nuisance. Avoid being near an airport, hospital, fire and police station, and near railroad tracks because with the amount of noise these areas garner they will disrupt your sleep and peace.