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So a lot of people are answering very generally about what they look for in terms of buying a house, but I thought the first couple of posts in the thread were more explanatory - I am asking specifically what you look at when you are in a house that you are viewing. Not location and price and all that, but physically where do you look? Do you open cabinets, do you run the hot water, do you flush the toilets? What else do you do as you are going through the house (or the yard, etc)
Things I can do online before even wasting anyone's time
Curb appeal and street view then aerial to make sure it doesn't back up to a landfill
Internet service speeds (spouse job depends on it)
Neighbors
Tax history
Crime stats
Yard upkeep
Junk in yard
Kitchen sink must be open to a window or a great room, can't face a wall
Clutter. If the house looks crowded and cluttered I pass it by assuming it's too much trouble for sellers to move out.
Must have garden tub for master..I'm a bubble bath girl.
Natural light and flow of rooms. Love Windows and like a view for morning coffee.
Mechanicals, roofs, AC, Water pressure and hardness
Once inside the "vibe" of the home...how does it feel and can I picture my family there?
So a lot of people are answering very generally about what they look for in terms of buying a house, but I thought the first couple of posts in the thread were more explanatory - I am asking specifically what you look at when you are in a house that you are viewing. Not location and price and all that, but physically where do you look? Do you open cabinets, do you run the hot water, do you flush the toilets? What else do you do as you are going through the house (or the yard, etc)
Well, I don't think of my list as "general."
It is determinate.
I don't open drawers, unless I open one to see if they are dovetailed, if they have good hardware.
I don't flush toilets or open and close doors.
If I like the layout and location and natural light, and floor plan, and it is not near high tension powerlines and the driveway is not a ski slope, that other stuff is minor.
CaligirlinNC's thread where the vandals sacked the place? That is extreme behavior, IMO, and totally unnecessary.
I look at age of water heater and furnaces, but in a home that satisfies my desires in the criteria, that stuff is minor details.
This is the important and most expensive to fix list, if indeed the items are fixable:
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeJaquish
Location.
Setting and orientation.
Floor plan, room sizes, natural light and flow.
Structure.
General maintenance and care.
I have never opened cabinets, run water, flushed toilets (well once I did because I absolutely had to go in the house, it was #1 I promise). I am looking more at general condition, have the owners done anything crazy that I don't like and would cost an arm and a leg to re-do...I am definitely paying attention to things like do the doors close properly, is trim "true", are the doorknobs on securely and things like this. If people have not paid attention to small things then they definitely did not pay attention to large things. Even things like pictures hanging off center make me think about what they may have done in the house that isn't ok.
Some people lose sight of the fundamentals and go all anal on opening cabinets or looking in closets.
I try to pull them back to reality:
"Tell me about the floor plan.
Are the bedrooms large enough?
Is this a 4 Pizza box kitchen or an 11 pizza box kitchen? Does it work for you?
How about the powder room being in the kitchen?"
If that stuff is broken, why look further?
Find the deal makers and deal breakers first, and then consider the minor details.
Some people lose sight of the fundamentals and go all anal on opening cabinets or looking in closets.
I try to pull them back to reality:
"Tell me about the floor plan.
Are the bedrooms large enough?
Is this a 4 Pizza box kitchen or an 11 pizza box kitchen? Does it work for you?
How about the powder room being in the kitchen?"
If that stuff is broken, why look further?
Find the deal makers and deal breakers first, and then consider the minor details.
Oh, you mean some people lose sight of YOUR fundamentals? Just because some people have things that matter to them that you personally consider minor details doesn't make you right and them wrong.
Oh, you mean some people lose sight of YOUR fundamentals? Just because some people have things that matter to them that you personally consider minor details doesn't make you right and them wrong.
You miss the point entirely.
So we drive up the 45 degree vertigo-inducing nosebleed deal breaker driveway, and people forget that when they get inside.
They decide they need to open the 5th bedroom closet to see if it is large enough.
And, I say, "Remember the driveway?"
"Oh, yeah. Let's go."
That is from personal experience with multiple clients, and an example of an agent doing a good job for clients.
Oh, you mean some people lose sight of YOUR fundamentals? Just because some people have things that matter to them that you personally consider minor details doesn't make you right and them wrong.
After you've been doing a job - any job - long enough, you learn what matters to which people.
If Mike is lucky enough to get the "I want a flat driveway" people into a house in the first place he probably knows what he's doing. I'd say "keep driving" (so yeah, I guess I should add that the exterior matters to me too).
I open cabinets and closets because it will be important if I'm going to be living there. I check out sink space in the bathroom.
After getting burned on a previous house, I go around looking for imperfections in the walls around windows, etc., and check for cracking.
We walk the size of the rooms. I will sit down on the furniture... not that I'm interested in your furniture, but how does the room feel when I do that? Where am I going to put the tv and is there any craziness going on that I should know about.
I look for outlets. I'm not running extension cords everywhere. You better not be either because I will notice.
I walk the yard and peek into the neighbor's yards. I want to make sure the neighbors at least appear to be upstanding people. I'm also checking for drainage.
I will be looking in the dishwasher and under the sink. We've bought two houses with bad dishwashers. I also want to make sure there isn't water leaking.
I look at flooring. If it is a used house, I will probably upgrade to something nicer.
We check to see if we can fit a wood burning stove into the fireplace.
We check quality of construction.
Last edited by Sarahsez; 07-08-2017 at 05:30 PM..
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