I have fortunately (or unfortunately at times) had a lot of experience in buying a house. I went through realtors most of the time but also bought FSBOs (for sale by owners). I only bought one in foreclosure and almost bought one as a “short” sale until I had it explained to me. I do not advise you to buy a “short” sale house as you could lose a lot of money. You could also make money but after the realtor explained the dangers, I was definitely scared of it. The one I bought in foreclosure turned out to be a real winner. So, I can advise this but you need to do a lot of homework on this, as well. I had a very good real estate attorney, and had the place inspected. I, also, had the cash to buy it. The one I bought that was a FSBO, also turned out to be a winner. But, so many renovations were needed (or wanted) that I didn’t make near the money I should have. Remember that I said that and I will explain later. So, moving right along.
There are so many things involved in buying a house. I suggest you make a list of things you absolutely wish to have. This will save you and your realtor a lot of time. The most obvious is location. The next is price range. The next would be number of bedrooms/baths. The next might be things you would like to have but might compromise on. For instance, you might want a sink in the garage. I actually had this once and loved it. I wanted it in the house I now have but there were enough other things that I liked that I gave up on that one. I do have a huge preference for my kitchen. At my age, I felt like I could be a bit picky on this. This requirement is that I always count the kitchen drawers. I read somewhere that a well designed kitchen would have ten or more drawers. I agree with that. But you are not going to find this in every house you look at and this may not be that important to you. The house I bought in foreclosure has only two drawers in the kitchen. Yikes. That would not suit me at all but suits the person living there just fine. Anyway, I think you get the idea. This is a huge decision and requires a lot of homework. Oh, by the way, if you plan on doing renovations like I did one time, make sure you get some estimates first. If your significant other can do a lot of this, great. But things can still cost so much more than you might think. That was the case in my FSBO venture. My significant other did a lot of the work but we still hired some workers that turned out to be disasters. Many mistakes were made. My advice here is again, do your homework before you hire anyone. And for goodness sakes, do not pay anyone in advance. And as mentioned earlier, have your house inspected before you buy. This can save you lots of time and money. Some states allow you to back out of a contract depending on some things that turn up in an inspection. Some states do not. So check this out. The other big advice here is that if you do wish to go with a realtor, and I’ve had some really good luck with knowledgeable realtors, then find the absolute most knowledgeable and experienced realtor you can possibly find. Do not think you have to go with a friend or relative. I made this mistake more than once (how stupid of me) and it cost me a lot of money.
I hope some of this helps you. Comments are welcome.
