The first house I looked at was wholly unsuitable for me and my, ahh, ever expanding hobbies. (Why yes, you can craft a twelve-seat dining room table out of eight treadle machines, why do you ask?)
Still to this day, I can remember the sound of the key scraping into the lock, the smell of the oil they'd washed the hardwood with, the sight and size of the rooms.
I think if I were to offer any recommendation at all, it would be to outline what precisely you absolutely cannot live without in a house, what you absolutely and wholly refuse to tolerate in a house, and what you are willing to fudge or compromise on.
Look next at (available) construction. Make sure, if the house has been vacant for more than a year, that you have washers for all faucets. (Trust me on this one, oh dear God trust me on this.)
Get a full termite panel done, especially now that they're active. I know someone who didn't (because it's "just an added expense that stuff never really happens"), and half their house fell in on them.
Decide on a cost early, see if you can get approval for that. If you're looking to buy within the next sixty days, try for an overall loan agreement, so you can lock in an interest rate.
Oh, and when you go in to sign the final papers? Do NOT look at the last figure in the Truth In Lending column, the one that tells you what you will be paying if you pay no more than the minimum requirement over the term of the loan.
Check the paperwork as you sign. Make sure you know what the terms on your loan actually mean, and that they are all present and accounted for.
Oh, and if they try to make you sign paperwork in a pub and offer you free drinks? Run away. No I'm not kidding. Run.
no subject
Still to this day, I can remember the sound of the key scraping into the lock, the smell of the oil they'd washed the hardwood with, the sight and size of the rooms.
I think if I were to offer any recommendation at all, it would be to outline what precisely you absolutely cannot live without in a house, what you absolutely and wholly refuse to tolerate in a house, and what you are willing to fudge or compromise on.
Look next at (available) construction. Make sure, if the house has been vacant for more than a year, that you have washers for all faucets. (Trust me on this one, oh dear God trust me on this.)
Get a full termite panel done, especially now that they're active. I know someone who didn't (because it's "just an added expense that stuff never really happens"), and half their house fell in on them.
Decide on a cost early, see if you can get approval for that. If you're looking to buy within the next sixty days, try for an overall loan agreement, so you can lock in an interest rate.
Oh, and when you go in to sign the final papers? Do NOT look at the last figure in the Truth In Lending column, the one that tells you what you will be paying if you pay no more than the minimum requirement over the term of the loan.
Check the paperwork as you sign. Make sure you know what the terms on your loan actually mean, and that they are all present and accounted for.
Oh, and if they try to make you sign paperwork in a pub and offer you free drinks? Run away. No I'm not kidding. Run.