When you think of someone buying a house, their first, do you still picture a young couple in their mid-twenties? Of course, we used to but these days, typical first-time homeowner tend to be in their early-to-mid thirties! That’s more than 7 years older than their parents and grandparents would have been when (if) they purchased their first home.
Young adults thinking of buying a house need to save a lot more money, just for the deposit on a house nowadays. Getting a mortgage loan is also not as easy as it would have been for previous generations. Student loans have become a financial handicap for many young adults today. Of course, this goes without saying, but if you’re in the process of buying a house, you should never feel insecure about how old you are at the time of signing the contract.
There’s something that should be said about buying a house 5-7ish years later than we used to. First-time homeowners these days tend to be a bit savvier than their predecessors when it comes to asking the right questions. It’s far less common nowadays for people to make simple mistakes as a result of their lack of real estate experience (HGTV anyone?).
No one in any generation could afford to make any costly mistakes when purchasing their first home. This is why you must ask yourself three decisive questions before buying a house. Answering these three questions will help you to better make your decision and feel 100% about it.
Buying A House?
First Ask Yourself These
3 Decisive Questions
Why Is the Owner Selling?
People sell their homes for a variety of reasons. Some families are growing and need more space. Others need to relocate for work. Some people are going through a painful breakup and want to downsize as a result.
You can’t truly know what the reason someone’s selling unless you ask. Don’t be afraid to ask personal questions. You will need to find out if there are any issues with the property.
Some homeowners try to sell before needing to finance extensive repair works they just learned about. Others live in an unpleasant neighborhood with awful schools. These are all very good reasons to possibly reconsider buying that particular house.
Does the House Need To Be Renovated?
The first thing you want to do with any house that you’re potentially serious about is to organize a real estate inspection. While property issues may not deter you from buying, they can give you the upper hand to negotiate a better price.
The inspection is meant to identify, among other things, any health hazards, such as; electrical or plumbing issues, possible mold contamination and heating/cooling issues, which may result in a lack of energy efficiency.
Issues like these are pretty standard these days for any property, no matter what shape it’s in. This is one of the reasons that checking out a ‘Fixer-Upper’ doesn’t feel like that big a deal these days, as it was a decade ago.
Today we have ‘Chip & Jo’ (Chip & Joanna Gains of HGTV’s, Fixer Upper) making it look so easy to buy a literal dump of a house for half the price and use the rest of that money on huge, major, but gorgeous renovations! The idea is that you’d have more creative control is the design department and most everything would essentially be custom-upgraded, just the way you like!
Would an Extension/Add-On Increase Value?
It’s fair to say that your first home is likely to need some kind of improvement because it’s rare that first-time home buyers are rolling in the dough to the point where they can afford something that isn’t falling apart! So, what if I told you that there was a way to save money and increase your home’s value?
Extending the house by adding 1 bed + 1 bath on top of the kitchen, for example, thereby adding a second story, would definitely increase its value. This increase in value would also add to your available equity in the home.
While the current owner is making repairs to the issues your inspection uncovered, the ‘cosmetic renovation’ you’re paying for will also be underway. If you can schedule all the repairs at once, you can pay for the renovation with your newly acquired equity!
Before you get too far ahead of yourself, you should get in touch with the local authorities to confirm whether the property is authorized to pursue a building project. The housing authorities might have established regulations for your area about what’s possible.
As a future homeowner, you absolutely need to ask these three questions before most all others. Knowing why the owner is selling, if the house needs to be renovated, and whether or not you’ll need to add value with an extension to the home up front, are all critical elements that could easily affect your decision to buy.
Buying a house is one of those ‘lifetime’ moments and one of the biggest decisions you’ll ever make. Never go into making a decision this big without all the information you can get your hands on!
Edited by Jessica Rose Adams
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