The coming financial crisis

[shorebird]

So how does this effect the future lending?

I do not own a house yet but I was hoping to buy one within the next two years. I've got a pretty good financial sense as far as credit goes and I know how to be smart with my money.

But I am not well versed on buying houses. I do not want to be taken advantage of nor do I want to pay extra because of irresponsible people and lenders.

You will get plenty of advice on the money side here. But....

If your buying a new home, or one that is less than 10 years old, KNOW YOUR BUILDER!! I kills me how many people who buy a house and don't know or could care less who built it. All builders are not reputable. Codes and inspectors only go so far as to insuring that a house is built within their guidelines. They are more concerned with plumbing and electric than the actual construction and materials used. Find out who the builder was and check with the states home improvement commission to see how many or if any complaints have been made and what they are about. Get references. Talk with people who live in homes built by your builder. Most are eager to give their opinions. What kind of structural guarantee does he offer? Is he reliable in taking care of anything that might go wrong later down the road? No house is ever built perfect. Things can and do go wrong, wether because of materials used or workmanship. Talk with the lumber company he deals with. Builders that work on shoestrings and have bad credit cut corners and do shoddy work. Get references on his subcontractors. Electricians, plumbers, and such.

GET A HOME INSPECTION!! And make sure the seller pays for it.

If your buying a house 10 years old or older, no one may know who the builder is, but if it has stood that long without any real structural problems, you are probably alright. Check the electric panel. If it looks neat and the breakers are clearly labeled, you are probably good. If you see wires hanging out and nothing is labeled, chances are someone didn't know what he was doing. Check the exterior doors and windows for a weather tight seal. Single pain wood windows=big time heat loss, even with storm windows. If there is vinyl windows, who is the manufacturer? Anderson is what I use. A good window at a good price with an excellent warranty. A lot of replacement windows are garbage. Get the u rating of the windows.


Check out the attic space. Wires everywere and junction boxes=shoddy electric work. Check to see if it's properly insulated. There should be at least 12" of insulation. Check for proper ventilation. Gable vents? Ridge vents? Check were the roof sits on the exterior wall. This is important. There should be a space there for ventilation from the outside soffit. Normally, Styrofoam baffles are used, but with older construction sometimes there is nothing. If your air handler is in the attic, make sure it has the proper drainage for the condensation.

Not having the proper ventilation can lead to the roof sheathing and the rafters rotting out. If that is already happening, you'll know by looking at it. Check for white growth, or water stains. Especially around vent pipes and chimneys.

Check out your crawl space! A home inspector will do this, to a certain extent. Your the one buying the house. Know what your getting without having to hear it second hand. Are there water stains on the block work? If there are, it could mean during a heavy rain, your crawl space turns into a lake. Does the insulation look good, or is it hanging down like it could have been wet? Do the floor joist look like they have been dry, or are there water stains on them? Either of these could mean lack of proper ventilation. There should be vents in the block work no more than 10 feet apart and two feet on either side of a corner. Without ventilation, your asking to have to replace your floors. Is there a working sump pump? Some crawl spaces are going to have water in them, no matter what. Make sure it doesn't just lay there and evaporate. If you see no evidence of water in the crawl space, you might not need one. Make sure your air handler and water tank are elevated off the ground. Make sure your drains look like they have the proper fall. Look to see that all wires are stapled up to the joist and not hanging all over the place. Make sure any duct work is tight and strapped good to the floor joist.

Check your bathroom/s around the tub, toilet and sink for leaks and rotting floors. If the toilet moves side to side, or the floor is spongey, it's been leaking and the floor could be rotted. Check the tub were it sits across the floor. Check under the cabinet at all sinks. Do you see signs of water damage? Check the hot water heater. Is it a newer energy efficient model or a older one? Other than heating and air conditioning, your water heater uses more electric than anything.

For an older or newer home, CHECK FOR SETTLEMENT CRACKS. Mostly at door opening and corners. If your told, oh, we can fill and paint that for you, don't believe it! You could possibly have to shore up walls from the crawl space, or install stronger headers. Either of which is a major cost and pain in the ass.

Don't just buy a house because it's pretty and your wife loves it. Check it out well so it doesn't start falling down around you after you move in, because it's too late then.

[ice grillin you]

no seller is paying for your home inspection

if im selling a house im not going to pay someone to find shtein wrong with it that i will have to come out of pocket to fix

[Cerevant]

More useless advice:

Be careful about the advice you get from a Real Estate Agent.  According to the law, they are supposed to represent your best interests, but they don't make any money if you don't buy a house.  Conflict of interest.

They probably have good knowledge of builders, who built what development and what is falling down.  If they have nothing negative to say about any property, you probably have an overpaid secretary.

Similarly, people tend to overreact to home inspection results.  As a result, less reputable agents will recommend inspectors who give glowing inspection reports.  No house older than 5 years should have a clean inspection report.

I've had the best luck with older agents - late 40's early 50's - who have been selling real estate for 15-20 years.  Too young and they don't have much knowledge about the area.  Too old and they don't understand how things have changed and how to use technology to make the best of the time spent searching.

[Father Demon]

I usually select the agents with the biggest tits.  They just might fall out at some point.

[General_Failure]

Do you make them run or something?

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

no seller is paying for your home inspection

Usually true, but sellers often pay for home warranties.

That said, the seller refusing to pay for the home warranty would just indirectly affect the buyer's offer in theory.  So, it doesn't really matter who pays for it.  The buyer would be a dumbass not to get one regardless.

[shorebird]

Bullcrap. Why pay for a home inspection when you might not buy the house? I've seen deals done both ways, sellers will and do pay for home inspections. Make sure your not out the money when you might not even buy the house. Thats stupid.

Actually, the homeowner doesn't have to fix a single thing that a inspector finds wrong. It is more or less a tool for the buyer to get info on what might be wrong.

I wouldn't pay much attention to anything any agent would say about a house or it's builder. They won't volunteer any info that will make the house less desirable.

Do your own research. I can't think of anything any dumber than to rely on a realtors advice on a builder or house.

[Seabiscuit36]

it depends on the realtor, use the Simpsons episode where Marge is a realtor as an example. 

[shorebird]

Yeah, only on a tv cartoon.

[Father Demon]

Do you make them run or something?

I'm not giving up my trade secrets. 

[shorebird]

Look, don't be lazy, DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH!!

Most builders are credible. Ones that have been in business a long while, it isn't hard to get feedback on their rep because they are well known. They don't have to advertise a lot because they are good and get a lot of work through word of mouth.

There are those few who want to make money and screw you. People will talk about a crappy job 10 times more than a good one, so it isn't hard to find out about a crappy builder. Just ask anyone he's worked for. It ain't that hard to do.

[Seabiscuit36]

just google a builder, the less you find, the better i would suppose.  My dad is a realtor, jumped out of the car business after 25 years last summer, decided he wanted to change, not exactly a great time for either business.  But the crap he's learned so far is amazing, and how many bad Agents there are astounds him.  He's surprised how half of them even get approval to drive a vehicle. 

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

By the way, most of the inspectors are in bed with agents and thus want to facilitate the sale of the house also.  If they're a constant pain in the ass, will agents ever recommend them?

[shorebird]

Inspectors are required by law to give an unbiased inspection. You don't have to use your realtors inspector. Just open up the yellow pages.

[shorebird]

Actually, "Required by Law", is a stretch. Still, there is a code of ethics.