Home-Buying Experience Satisfaction
The below home-buying tips should increase your satisfaction with the home and amenities you decide on. Too many times “buyer’s remorse” sets in soon after a purchase is made due to overlooked features important to the buyer or necessary to proper enjoyment of the home.
- Air-conditioners with scroll compressor and high efficiency rating.
- Multi-stage central air-conditioning units that adjust to changing load requirements. These provide high efficiency, excellent comfort, and better control of humidity.
- White or light-colored roofs reduce the cooling load in summer.
- Outside HVAC units placed on the West side of the building will not be as efficient in summer due to the heat load they are working into.
- Buy title insurance
- Have a property survey done even if not required for your closing.
- Keep accurate and complete records of all transactions and proceedings.
- Be sure the contract correctly specifies your intent. This may require the services of an attorney…not your real estate agent or the one you think is yours.
- If you do not have an agency agreement with the realtor it is unlikely that he/she is representing your interests, and may even be responsible to the other party.
- Make a list of and prioritize your likes, must haves, and dislikes:
- type house.
- location (views, proximity to work & entertainment, school locations).
- colors.
- furnishings and decorating requirements.
- rooms, baths, dining, work areas, play areas, storage, layout, special requirements (e.g., single level for disabled or elderly), flower and vegetable garden areas, trees, etc.
- materials internal and external.
- outside living amenities.
- lighting.
- routine care and maintenance required.
- renovations that might be required to bring up to your standards.
- If you hire a home inspector, be sure he/she is adequately protecting your interests and not the interests (risk reduction and consummation of a sale) of the realtor. Learn ahead of time what will be inspected and how. Be there when the inspection is conducted, review the inspection results with the inspector, and ask a lot of questions. Don’t settle for canned, computerized answers in the inspection report.
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