Buyer Tips
If
you will be
commuting by car between your new home and your job, be sure to drive
the route during both morning and evening rush hours before you make an
offer to purchase. Many times prospective buyers look at homes during
the late morning or early afternoon
when traffic is relatively light.
Make sure you know exactly what you are facing when you will be driving
the route every day.
When you find a home
you like, have your realtor run "comps" on recent sales in the area to
compare prices, sizes, and features of your prospective home with
others. Be aware that the raw data may not provide an accurate
comparison. Sometimes the sold price of a property includes other terms
and conditions - decorating allowances, money for a new roof, etc. If
that's the case with a home you are using as a basis for price
comparison, the information may not be accurate, and the house you like
may be overpriced. Be sure you are comparing apples to apples, not
apples to oranges.
Investigate, before
purchase, the original use of the land on which the house is built.
More than one buyer has run into trouble because of items not readily
apparent. For example, if an orchard was leveled to build your
subdivision, there may be a lot of wood under the soil. This wood can
be a haven for termites, which then are likely to migrate to the homes
in the area.
If the exact school
your child attends is important to you, verify that the address of your
proposed home is within the boundaries for that school. Don't assume
anything. School boundaries are sometimes drawn according to factors
other than geography.
You've found your
peaceful haven on a lovely, quiet lake. Make sure you visit on a summer
weekend before you buy. You may be unpleasantly surprised by the noisy
jet skis, absent on Wednesday, but zipping around on Saturday and
Sunday afternoon. They can seriously interfere with your dream of
serenity!
The home you want to
buy is a "For Sale By Owner". Be very careful before jumping into a
purchase without a real estate agent to guide you and manage the
transaction to closing. There are many, many pitfalls that can cause a
FSBO deal to fall apart. The home may be overpriced and consequently
not appraise for the mortgage you want. Various inspections may not be
completed in a timely fashion without an agent to oversee the timeline.
You may not receive full disclosure of past problems with the property
- leaky basements, buried oil tanks, etc. Consider asking your real
estate agent to find out whether the sellers will "cooperate" (pay your
agent a commission) to handle the details of the sale and thus insure
that everything possible is done to make the sale go through.
Helpful Links
Click on the italicized
words which will link you directly to the web site.
Utility
Companies and Others
Standard
Contract Samples Used to Purchase A Property -
Pennsylvania Association of Realtors
Miscellaneous
Buyer Resources
The links and
information on this page are provided for your convenience only. Never
take any
action based on advice at a web site without first checking with a
professional
in that field, especially your attorney and/or tax advisor when
financial
decisions are involved.
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