Are you tired of living in an apartment that is too small for your needs? Have you finally saved up enough money to put a down payment down on a house? When you’re buying your first home, you’ll likely find your friends and relatives flowing with advice that they think will be helpful. While some of their advice may help you when choosing from various homes for sale, here are some tips that you may find more useful:
Check the amount of storage space
An open modernistic bathroom plan with minimal shelving can look beautiful. But where do you put the towels, bathing products, and various cleaning supplies that you might normally keep in the bathroom? If the nearest linen closet is downstairs and a significant walk away, you may soon be wishing for a remodel. You should also make sure that the kitchen has enough storage space to hold both food and dishes.
Some people can fall so in love with a particular kitchen when they’re out looking at homes that they don’t realize until much later that they now have nowhere to store their favorite pots and pans. It may feel silly, but consider bringing along one of the largest pans you plan to keep in the kitchen. This can help you get a better feel for sizes and how things can fit than simply taking measurements.
Smell everything
Most of the realtor like to get to homes ahead of their clients to open them up and let them air out. This is usually done to simply get rid of the sometimes dusty un-lived in the smell that a home can acquire when vacant. However, this can also mask important situations. For example, if the bathroom has a light aroma of rotten eggs, it may be that the sewer line will need work in the near future.
If the kitchen has a faint smell of mildew, it might indicate a light leak in the pipes somewhere. Even if your real estate agent has aired out the house, you can still sniff the drains, underneath sinks, and anywhere else that there might be a potential issue. This may alert you to possible problems that might otherwise go unnoticed, allowing you to get them checked out by a professional to ascertain whether they are serious or minor.
Get one of the worst houses in the best neighborhood
Most people tend to want to buy the most beautiful house in the neighborhood. Unfortunately, this house usually comes with a much higher property value as a result of being so desirable. On the other hand, the “worst” house in the neighborhood can be significantly cheaper and may simply be lacking a coat of paint, need minor landscaping done, or have other low-cost projects completed to make its property value the same as other homes in the neighborhood.
If you buy the “best” house, there may be a few improvements to make that will raise the potential future selling price of the property, should you decide to sell. On the other hand, the value of the “worst” house is more in your control. While you may not want to resort to purchasing a drastic fixer-upper, you should certainly consider purchasing a home that could use just a little more love than the others in the area.
