Homebuyer Due Diligence Checklist

[TMOSteel]

Originally Posted by timothyjames14

All depends.

If you are getting a mortgage. A new survey is a requirement.

Not necessarily, it depends on when the last survey was completed. That being said, I would suggest getting a new survey anyway, and if possible be present when its done.

As far as due diligence, look out for rentals: whole house, two family, illegal apartments etc. Not sure if you're in moving into an area that's zoned for rentals and two family homes, but there are always illegal apartments to look out for. Tenants change all the time and don't necessarily show the same kind of respect for you that a homeowner would (or should).

We found out after we moved in that the house across from us is owned by a church and every few years a new pastor moves in. The current family is nice, but the one before it wasn't.

We've also got a two family rental near us that has nice tenants now, but that was not always the case.

[squishface]

Okay here's the updated list so far:

1. Per the late great Walter Greenspan, use the U.S. Census Bureau's Address Search function (scroll down a bit and look on the right half of the page to find it) to find out exactly what town, hamlet, school district the home is in.

2. Find accurate tax numbers (mynassauproperty.com is a great resource)

3. Is the house in a flood zone? Find a FEMA map, or go to floodsmart.gov. If you're even remotely concerned, call a local agent and get a rough quote for flood & homeowners insurance.

4. Read as much as you can about crime, income, demographics on city-data and elsewhere. Search the area name on Newsday, Google News, etc. See if there's a NYT "If You're Thinking of Living In..." on your new town. Search on YouTube (I watched someone jet ski down the street past a home I had put in an offer on during hurricane Irene), search on Facebook (who lives in this town? what do they say about it? are there groups created to address problems in the neighborhood?)

5. Call the school district you think you're in and confirm the schools you're zoned for. Read reviews of those schools (bearing in mind the tiny sample size) on GreatSchools.org.

6. After you've exhausted all the information on City-Data, use a tool like PropertyShark to get a ton of specific information about the home and neighborhood - owners, previous sales, square footage, additions/ improvements the government *knows* about, comps - the site is subscription-based but you can get a few free trial searches.

7. Walk the area, day & night. Chat with the neighbors. Use Google Maps.

8. Without panicking, look for potential environmental hazards (e.g. the Bethpage plume, incinerators, huge power lines etc) and localized health concerns (e.g. cancer clusters).

9. Time your commute.

10. Find out if there are flight patterns directly over your house. I used flightradar24.com to literally watch planes going around in the sky near my house.

11. Sex offender lookup: National Sex Offender Registry - Family Watchdog

12. These should be handled by your real estate "team," but you'll need a home inspection, a new survey of the property, and you should check to make sure there are no open permits on file.

13. Find out if neighboring homes are occupied by owners or tenants who come and go without the same kind of investment in the neighborhood an owner would have.

[lisalevine]

I always tell people if possible view the house when it rains to make sure there are no water issues.

[aimless35]

How about knocking on neighbors' doors and asking them about the neighborhood? Ask them about the house too. They might say "Fred didn't know which end of the pliers to use but he still insisted on rewiring the whole house himself. It's a wonder it hasn't burned down yet." Some things won't show up on an inspection - they can only see what is exposed, they can't see junction boxes that were buried or other hazards that are in the walls.

Don't leave it to your "real estate team" to handle the inspection. You want a rigorous inspection, one that could possibly kill the deal. You should be present for this. It is much better to see the issue than to read it in a report. Also, many recommend that you find a good inspector on your own, rather than using the one recommended by the realtor. I was happy with our inspector, who WAS recommended by the realtor, so it isn't always a problem.

I also like to use Google Earth to easily see what is near the home as the crow flies. Just because it isn't easily seen from the street or yard, it could still affect you.

Also, if the house doesn't have natural gas, I'd check on the availability of it to the home. You might want to convert, and it bites not being able to.