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Get a buyer's agent. Get a home inspection. Get a survey.
The first will not cost you anything. The other two can be considered to be cheap insurance. A lot can go wrong, especially with an older home. (Get a new home inspected and surveyed, too!)
Just do it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bilirubin
Help me, help you.
For God's sake, get a realtor (it costs you $0). Actually go with the realtor to look at the house for an hour. It could be the place is a dump, or you hate it for some other reason, in which case this is a moot point.
Regardless, if you want to buy a house from the 70's, here is my rec:
1. Get the best inspector money can buy.
2. Hire a roofer to go up on the roof and look at the roof and inspect it.
3. If HVAC is old, hire a licensed HVAC person (~$90) to tear the HVAC system apart and inspect it. Unless the home inspector is licensed in HVAC, they can't open it up, they just check whether or not it is working. The coils could be 95% blocked, or have a leak that the sellers just "re-filled" 10 minutes before you showed up. If it is an original system, it may be easier to get money from them to replace the whole system. R-22 is being phased out and will be harder to get, and parts on old systems can be hard to get, too.
4. Have an arborist come and inspect the trees for any problems. Have sellers remove any problem trees.
5. Have an pest/termite inspector do a thourough evaluation, including places in the foundation/walls where bugs can get it. Find out how to fill them.
The bottom line is, as a buyer in today's market, you have the leverage. Don't let the seller's pawn off their problems on you. Have them repair everything you can think of. Make sure there are permits in place for any additions or finished basements.
You may end up spending $400 for all this, but you will save yourself thousands in unforeseen problems.
As for a lien, if you do buy the house, that gets paid from the seller's money at closing, and the lawyer should handle all of that. I don't think that's a concern for you, but I'm sure there are exceptions.
I Really appreciate all the helps from this forum . I don't know if my first post were clear or not, The house that im talking about is For Sale By Owner and If i were to get an Buyer Agent wouldn't i have to pay them instead of the Seller? that's why I was asking if anyone knew a realtor that would be my agent to help with with the paperworks that willing to charge a Fix Rate since I already found the house myself.
I Really appreciate all the helps from this forum . I don't know if my first post were clear or not, The house that im talking about is For Sale By Owner and If i were to get an Buyer Agent wouldn't i have to pay them instead of the Seller? that's why I was asking if anyone knew a realtor that would be my agent to help with with the paperworks that willing to charge a Fix Rate since I already found the house myself.
Do you think an agent is mostly for finding and showing houses? Holy Moses, you probably do need someone in your corner. Find yourself a Realtor.
I Really appreciate all the helps from this forum . I don't know if my first post were clear or not, The house that im talking about is For Sale By Owner and If i were to get an Buyer Agent wouldn't i have to pay them instead of the Seller? that's why I was asking if anyone knew a realtor that would be my agent to help with with the paperworks that willing to charge a Fix Rate since I already found the house myself.
Everything is negotiable. If you are serious about buying the house, talk to the sellers.
It's an old house - expect issues. Codes are only an issue when repairs are made which require permits -and most every repair/replacement requires a permit (even a ceiling fan needs a $30+ permit in Cary). I used "Home Check" for a basic inspection, mostly to give me leverage on the selling price. Of course you can negotiate for anything: new floors, new siding, new furnace -you might not get everything but no harm in trying.
Do you think an agent is mostly for finding and showing houses? Holy Moses, you probably do need someone in your corner. Find yourself a Realtor.
Lana
Being that the house is for sale by owner and there are no realtors involved I don't see why you would want one. Your first step is to get a qualified home inspector. If he says "good house" and you're happy with the price then get a good attorney to do the paper work. Enjoy!
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. I don't know if my first post were clear or not, The house that im talking about is For Sale By Owner and If i were to get an Buyer Agent wouldn't i have to pay them instead of the Seller? that's why I was asking if anyone knew a realtor that would be my agent to help with with the paperworks that willing to charge a Fix Rate since I already found the house myself.
