Any advice that you could give to someone thinking of buying a new home?

Always buy on high ground. NEVER EVER buy at the bottom of a hill.

1. Make sure you can afford it. Payment with all taxes insurance HOA fees not greater than 35–40% of your take home income.
2. Research the area as much as possible.
3. Have it inspected more than once from different inspectors.
4. have a buyers agent, and have them pull past statistics on real estate in the area. www.zillow.com can help also.
5. depending on your situation renting may be a better option
6. A house is not really an investment, it’s a place to sleep.
7.Be prepared to put money back into a house, have at minimum 15% of the houses value in reserve cash after closing and everything is paid. You’ll be surprised how much it can take to maintain a place.

Visit the neighborhood in the late afternoon/evening hours and also during the weekend. Many people look at the home during the work day when most children and families are at work or school. You’ll notice the potential problem neighbors, noisy neighbors and pesky kids when you visit during these times.

Looking at homes during or right after a rain storm is a plus! You see any leaks or water puddling. Even if it isn’t raining, when you walk through a home, if you like it, take a moment to look up at ceilings for water marks.

Figure out what you can afford monthly if you are going to get a mortgage. Do not rely on a mortgage broker to tell you what you can afford, their job is to tell you what amount they can finance you for and how much it will all cost. In the US they must privide you with a “good faith estimate” that outlines all the expenses for closing on the mortgage and what the monthly payments will be. Remember that those estimates might be based in a closing on the 15th of the month, but if you close much earlier or much later in the month the amount changes, because some of it is simple math based on how many days into the month the closing is. So have extra money in your checking account for the closing date.

Ask to see utility bills. Double check the millage rate to estimate property taxes that may be reevaluated based on your sale price.

I agree visit the neighborhood at various times of day and different days unless you know the area well already.

Don’t buy the “Big Doll” in the neighborhood, a house in the middle size of the area will appreciate more than the largest house.
Buy one with energy efficient windows, doors and HVAC. Add-on set back thermostats can save hundreds of dollars a year in a large house
City water and sewer are great. So are underground utilities.

Get a home inspection before, even on a new house. Make sure you have a one year warranty for anything that was part of house at time of sale.

All very helpful. Thank-you!

Great suggestions above. I would add that location is absolutely critical for the long-term value of your home. Affordable homes in excellent school districts will always be in very high demand. Homes that are brand-new in new development projects on the outskirts of suburbia may look beautiful and new, but in 10–15 years they won’t be shiny anymore and they’ll be stuck in a less desirable area and will probably sell for much less than ones in better locations.

@gorillapaws It is down the road from the lake. Great neighbourhood. My partner has lived in that neighbourhood for 6 years.

Buy new or have one built. That warranty is hard to beat. It’s nice to have a year (or two or three) to enjoy your home without worrying about problems with the air conditioner or plumbing or whatever. You just call the builder and it’s covered. Plus, you don’t have to deal with the previous homeowner potentially changing their mind about moving a week before you close or trying to push your closing date back when you have nowhere else to stay. I’d much rather deal with the builder than a homeowner.

We bought new and I have no regrets. If there’s a stain on the carpet (or a section of the wall where the paint was chewed off by a canine), I know that it’s our stain. A year later, everything is still so clean and new and pretty. We plan on having our next (and final) home built. The only reason we’d ever want to leave this one is because it’s in a very tight subdivision and our plot of land is tiny.

My mom always said “Don’t be the nicest house in the neighborhood”.

What @jonsblond said about visiting at different times. Also, meet every one of your potential neighbors. Knock on their door and talk with them. Often, these conversations will tell you so much you need to know about your house, the neighborhood, and potential problems.

Inspect your property ALONE or in private before closing and inspection, and attend the inspection when possible to ask about concerns. A lot of times if you find something, the sellers will pay for it to be fixed, rather than you going through the hassle and paying for it.So many people have shoddy inspections and find too many problems afterwards.

When I say inspect, I mean all of it. And don’t get any kind of adjustable rate on your mortgage.

Never buy, only lease, spend extra money on travel. :D

@_Whitetigress What extra money are you referring to? These days, most mortgages are the same amount or lower than rent. And when you buy, the money isn’t going straight down the shitter.

And get reliable, reputable insurance against something that was missed on the inspection. They used to offer this, anyway. In some states it was mandatory

Also, I forgot to mention to check out where the local sex offenders live – especially if you might have kids in the future.
And finally, it’s worth your time to check out other things that aren’t necessarily right in your neighborhood…
– My father bought a house that was down wind of a pig farm.
– Airports that aren’t right next to your neighborhood might present a problem if airplanes approach the airport over your house.
– Make sure the house isn’t on a street that is used as a common cut through. In other words, it might look like your house is tucked away in a quiet street, but it could get really busy if it’s part of people’s highway avoidance route.

The best advice I can give is to hire an experienced Realtor.
Realtors can show all the listings (even those listed by other offices.) Find someone that has been in the business for years and that you feel understands your needs. They will walk you through every step and calm your nerves through this stressful transaction.
A first home is a big deal. Answers on the Internet are great but an experienced local real estate professional is a much better resource than any of us are. (And I’m a retired Real Estate Broker. )

@tom_g – I lived on dead-end (cul-de-sac) streets the last three house I have owned. It is wonderful. Virtually no traffic.

Of course, it is fun to watch the 18-wheelers that come down by mistake have to back up…

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/home-buying-kit-for-dummies-cheat-sheet.html

Check out the details regarding water use (are you in a desert area where there is water rationing)? Get a copy of the HOA rules. Some of them can be downright irritating. Go to the Electric, gas, and water companies and find out what it cost last year for those utilities. Ask a few neighbors what it’s like to live there.

Check out the vicinity with Google Earth. Look for businesses in the neighborhood that may cause fumes, noise, high traffic, etc.

Use Zillow.com (a great real estate reference, as noted by at least one other poster above) to look at other homes for sale in the neighborhood. You can also check out recent trends in valuation (going back a few years) and you can research the “fluidity” of some properties. (For example, I’ve owned my current home for just over ten years now, and I’m in a neighborhood of nearest neighbors where I’m the newcomer. Yet just up the road from me is a house that has been sold and resold every year since I’ve been here, I think. I have no idea why that is, and if I were looking to buy that home it’s something I would consider a lot.

See if you can actually meet some of the neighbors socially before you commit. You’ll get a good idea of whether you want to stay or not.

In temperate areas where snow is a concern, check out the location of sidewalks, fire hydrants, and whether your street is on a “normal and expedited” plow route. Sometimes when it snows people in cul-de-sacs can wait a long time (a day or more in the case of a heavy snow) to be plowed out. Sidewalks running in front of one’s own house must be cleared by the homeowner (or his agent, of course).

Don’t get emotionally attached. Be willing to walk away.

If you’re thinking of living in this house the rest of your life, choose a one level house. What a disappointment it was when one of us could no longer climb the stairs with ease and we had to move after 36 years in the house we built.

Check the basement to see if there is any water lines anywhere then look at all the ceilings for brown spots that means water is leaking from somewhere. One think you don’t want is a water leak issue or water in a basement. Either is a bad situation to get into.

No basement! :)

If there are vines or bushes growing right up against the house, make sure you or your inspector checks that the foundation behind them is solid, no cracks.

Ask if anyone has died in the house.

@cheebdragon Hopefully it has this sign. :)

It’s definitely worth it to inquire about what kind of bugs & critters have been found in the house….my grandpa was hired to fix up a house that had been vacant for a few months, he went to go check it out and found literally hundreds of wind scorpions—(aka sun spiders & camel spiders)—on the ceiling.
Fuck that shit, scorpions, potato bugs, snakes, large spiders and centipedes, no thank you, next house!

Don’t buy bigger than you need.
All those nice windows and open spaces are beautiful but need to be heated – and heat costs a fortune where you live.
Expect to pay about $1.25 per square foot per year just for heat. Go ahead, do the math… I’ll wait…. Got it? A 2000 square ft (200 square meters) will cost you at least $2500 per year for heat. If you heat with oil it will be $4000! Check the utility bills. You will see I am not far off.

Make sure to include all the other charges and confirm that you can afford it.
Insurance will be $700 per year
Lawn maintenance will be $400 per year if you have a small lot and include everything. Also

Utilities: $1000,per year
Water: $300 per year
Garbage pick up: $350 per year
Taxes. $1000— 7000 depending upon where you live
Repairs: budget $1500 per year
.
It will change your life. Good luck!

If it’s an older house, check for lead paint (bad) and replacement windows (good) a regret we have from our “new” house.

Check to make sure your not in a low lying area if you are check the flood zones to see the likelihood of flooding, this is especially important in places where hurricanes are frequent.