Things to Consider When Buying a House...???

More thoughts....if you have children you might want to check the sex offender registry. Even if you don't, you might want to check the register of deeds to get names of your neighbors, then do a litigation and/or criminal check on them. When I moved in the latter wasn't possible online. After the court clerk's records were online, I checked and found out that a neighbor who was problematic had drug charges filed against him all the way back to the early 1980s.

Building on what others have mentioned:

Remember that the seller's agent represents the seller's interest. For most buyers, getting an agent who represents their interest is advisable.

When figuring out what you can afford, my rule of thumb is that, in addition to mortgage payments, the annual cost of ownership will be approximately four to five percent of the purchase price -- (the total annual cost of maintenance and repairs; property taxes; utilities; homeowner's, mortgage, and other insurances; Home Owner Association fees, etc). Ask to see utility bills for the house. Check to see that you can obtain all the insurances you need and find out the cost. I have a friend who has been unable to sell a house because it is on a flood plain. His flood insurance rates are low but potential buyers have discovered their rates would be very high (over $5,000 per year) which has squelched all deals.

Find out all the limits on using the property -- restrictive covenants, HOA rules, zoning and other ordinances, etc. Whether they are good or bad depends upon one's perspective. But you don't want to discover later that you can't use the property in a way that is important to you.

Make sure there are no clouds on the title. If the address is covered by title insurance, the lender will probably require that you get it (and if not required, get it anyway). If title insurance is not available, hire a good real estate attorney to do a title search to make sure there are no liens, security interests, or other problems with the title.

Think about whose name(s) will be on your title and, if more than one name/owner, the type of estate (ownership) you want, e.g., joint tenancy, tenancy in common.

Read the purchase agreement and other documents you will be asked to sign. If you don't understand what they are saying, ask someone to explain it to you. At the closing, you'll be given one document after another in rapid succession and asked to sign them. If you haven't read them before, do so then and don't be pressured to just sign so you can get the closing over quickly. Once you sign, you are obligated by the terms of the document even if you didn't read or understand it.

Consider asking the seller to obtain (and pay for) for a home warranty. They typically cover major repairs for a period of one year.

There are so many variables... a lot of it has to do with one's own personality type, quality of the General Contractor, stability of the local labor market, overall scope and cost of the project. Building a simple home, with modest finishes, in a low cost area, with a stable labor market, in a stable materials market, in a community with modest restrictions is a snap. There is "custom" and there is "CUSTOM." Building in my area, at this point, is a real challenge. Ground costs, labor costs, materials costs, are all climbing steeply and rapidly. If I give a customer an estimate in December, and we break ground in April, costs could have gone up 2 or 3%!

Also, HGTV has hurt building as much as it has helped it... everyone around here building a 500K house really wants a house that costs 8000K, and so on upward...

So very true, unfortunately. HGTV has I think done more to hurt the real estate market than help it by creating totally unrealistic desires, enunciated by equally unrealistic buyers with standard complaints (not granite, not stainless steel, ONLY 1 BATH???!!!) - not everyone wants to be tied down to those high profile, sometimes high maintenance houses (especially the bath maintenance).

bradmacmt We haven't gotten where we are by being stupid. We don't refinance without doing homework. And refinancing from a 30 to 15 isn't a bad thing.

If you are patient, find a house that is cosmetically deficient but structurally sound. Cosmetic upgrades are generally easy, and you get to choose your finishes! Roof age and condition is key. Furnace and AC age very important. Are there thermal windows, or single paned rattling wooden sashes? On masonry, look for signs of moisture that leaves a chalky residue on exterior brick. Look for water damage on drywall under bathrooms.

I bought a new construction turnkey house last October. I was able to pick all the finishes, paints, brick, shingles, granite, etc without the headache of having plans drawn, getting a construction loan, etc. The best part is thatsince my closing date, the property has increased in value by almost 20%, so I suddenly have almost 40% equity.

As for the 15 yr / 30 yr argument, I'm in the 30 year camp. I got an interest rate less than 3.5% last year, and I hope to pay it off in 15 years or less, but I have the flexibility of the lower 30 yr note if I need it.

Also consider resale value: I would like to have gotten a 2BR house, but nobody builds them around here because there's no market for them.