Today... I made a list of homes from realtor.com to email to my realtor.
Each home included the pro's and con's and why we're interested.
As flexible as we are you'd think it would be a big list but I'm not trying to drag my poor boys around the Triad all day Saturday so I got down to the nitty gritty. Thanks to our pint sized budget, I was able to condense the list to 3-4 homes.
If you're not quite sure exactly what you're looking for in a home, Money Under 30 has made a nice checklist to help you get organized.
A few things to think about when making your "must haves" list:
This is mostly for those looking for lower cost housing and does not include the basics like foundations, roofing and siding.
* If you don't already have kids, does the mortgage payment allow one spouse to eventually stay at home? With children come expenses and many mothers, once having children choose to step down from their 9-5's in order to be more hands on parents. I've known a few moms who were so upset because they stuck working due to budgetary restraints and I've known a few who celebrated the idea of going back to work. Your decision. If the mortgage is low enough, great! Sure, maybe the spouse will eventually go back to work but that will make finances even better when their income is entirely surplus.
*The suggested amount of time to live in a home prior to selling is 3-5 years. Do you plan on having more kids in that time? Can they share a room? Sure that adorable two bedroom cottage is 45k and in awesome condition but when your three year old is middle of the night potty training and your infant is trying to sleep, will it really be enough?
*open space- do you entertain often? Is there anyway you can fit your entire book group in that 10x12 room? How about your kitchen? If it's just two of you and apartment style kitchen may be what you need. In our case, my extended family alone (grandparents, uncles aunts and cousins) totals over 30 people. If we had an apartment style kitchen, Thanksgiving at our place would definitely be a no go.
*bathrooms- We have found that many inexpensive homes have 1 bathroom. I have four kids and two have them have the tendency to be perfectly fine one moment and then someone is about to wet their pants the next. We need more than one bathroom. We'd like 2.5 baths but we'll settle for two toilets.
*heating and cooling- For those of you in Surry County, Central AC just isn't a way of life. Many of the rental homes don't include it here. Window units, ceiling fans and a wood stove may be enough for you. If not, you'll want to check for available ductwork. On average, homes without previously existing ductwork can cost upwards of 7-10k to add it and that's if you have attic/basement crawl spaces. We've been in homes that had neither. We were told it would cost almost 15k to install. Ouch.
*windows and doors- Even if you don't necessarily need central, keep an eye on the windows and doors. In our current home, we use special curtains to cover the windows specifically in the winter because if we didn't our heating bill would be $300. Insufficient windows don't have to make or break a home purchase. Caulking and other forms of insulation can be used for short term fixes but eventually you'll need to replace them. At 150$ each on average, you'll want to think about that when you're buying your home.
So I made my list. I also included my "must have"'s in my email to the realtor. Many realtors are a wealth of information. If you are a first time home buyer I suggest getting a realtor. They know a lot about the home buying process and many times the buyer needs someone to be on their side. A sellers realtor isn't allowed to disclose many things and having your own can help you avoid mishaps.
We're going to see the houses on Saturday. I can't wait!
In order to be as prepared as possible I went to my handy dandy Pinterest account and typed in things like "home buying" and I found a ton of different resources. A few that I found particularly interesting were these home buying checklists. If you're looking for a home, I suggest bringing one along. They help remind you to check for the important stuff.
Homes.com has a printable PDF
I love this kind of thing. If it were up to me, we'd buy the first house I thought was "preeettyyy".
Homesforsaleinlascruces.com has a much more detailed assessment.
It includes schools, zoning etc. Very helpful if you have a lot of different choices and appreciate hard copies for note taking purposes.
Each home included the pro's and con's and why we're interested.
As flexible as we are you'd think it would be a big list but I'm not trying to drag my poor boys around the Triad all day Saturday so I got down to the nitty gritty. Thanks to our pint sized budget, I was able to condense the list to 3-4 homes.
If you're not quite sure exactly what you're looking for in a home, Money Under 30 has made a nice checklist to help you get organized.
A few things to think about when making your "must haves" list:
This is mostly for those looking for lower cost housing and does not include the basics like foundations, roofing and siding.
* If you don't already have kids, does the mortgage payment allow one spouse to eventually stay at home? With children come expenses and many mothers, once having children choose to step down from their 9-5's in order to be more hands on parents. I've known a few moms who were so upset because they stuck working due to budgetary restraints and I've known a few who celebrated the idea of going back to work. Your decision. If the mortgage is low enough, great! Sure, maybe the spouse will eventually go back to work but that will make finances even better when their income is entirely surplus.
*open space- do you entertain often? Is there anyway you can fit your entire book group in that 10x12 room? How about your kitchen? If it's just two of you and apartment style kitchen may be what you need. In our case, my extended family alone (grandparents, uncles aunts and cousins) totals over 30 people. If we had an apartment style kitchen, Thanksgiving at our place would definitely be a no go.
*bathrooms- We have found that many inexpensive homes have 1 bathroom. I have four kids and two have them have the tendency to be perfectly fine one moment and then someone is about to wet their pants the next. We need more than one bathroom. We'd like 2.5 baths but we'll settle for two toilets.
*heating and cooling- For those of you in Surry County, Central AC just isn't a way of life. Many of the rental homes don't include it here. Window units, ceiling fans and a wood stove may be enough for you. If not, you'll want to check for available ductwork. On average, homes without previously existing ductwork can cost upwards of 7-10k to add it and that's if you have attic/basement crawl spaces. We've been in homes that had neither. We were told it would cost almost 15k to install. Ouch.
*windows and doors- Even if you don't necessarily need central, keep an eye on the windows and doors. In our current home, we use special curtains to cover the windows specifically in the winter because if we didn't our heating bill would be $300. Insufficient windows don't have to make or break a home purchase. Caulking and other forms of insulation can be used for short term fixes but eventually you'll need to replace them. At 150$ each on average, you'll want to think about that when you're buying your home.
So I made my list. I also included my "must have"'s in my email to the realtor. Many realtors are a wealth of information. If you are a first time home buyer I suggest getting a realtor. They know a lot about the home buying process and many times the buyer needs someone to be on their side. A sellers realtor isn't allowed to disclose many things and having your own can help you avoid mishaps.
We're going to see the houses on Saturday. I can't wait!
In order to be as prepared as possible I went to my handy dandy Pinterest account and typed in things like "home buying" and I found a ton of different resources. A few that I found particularly interesting were these home buying checklists. If you're looking for a home, I suggest bringing one along. They help remind you to check for the important stuff.
Homes.com has a printable PDF
I love this kind of thing. If it were up to me, we'd buy the first house I thought was "preeettyyy".
Homesforsaleinlascruces.com has a much more detailed assessment.
It includes schools, zoning etc. Very helpful if you have a lot of different choices and appreciate hard copies for note taking purposes.
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