The home-buying process includes a great deal of paperwork and market research to help you find and buy a home for the right price. In addition to these details, it is also important to take steps to help you get a quality home that is free of surprises and unexpected bills later on. Here are some great recommendations for you to help ensure your home purchase is a smart one and you take out any upcoming unnecessary surprises.
Hire a Home Inspection
There is only so much you can do on your own to determine the condition of a home's systems and components before you make an offer to buy the property. But once you are under contract to purchase the home, it is in your best interest to hire a professional inspector to dig a bit deeper into the home's condition. For example, you don't want to purchase a home that has serious mold issues or a clogged septic or plumbing system that will require you to pay out thousands of dollars to remedy it. And as a new home buyer, you may not have remaining savings to cover these expenses, and you will likely end up going into further debt to remedy them.
The details in the report can help you decide to renegotiate the purchase of the home or pass on it, and your purchase contract should allow for these changes. Talk to your real estate agent to make sure your purchase contract has the right clause to allow for an inspection and price renegotiation. And when you hire an inspector, find out the areas of the home that will be covered with their inspection. Look for a local company like Home Wise Inspect to do the inspection.
Get a Home Warranty
A second recommendation in the home purchase process is to make sure your home purchase comes with a warranty. If the home is newly constructed, the builder will usually provide this, but make sure you use it. Inspect the home for problems and ask the builder to remedy them so you can get any problems fixed before the warranty ends. If you are buying an existing home, the buyer can include a home warranty coverage with the purchase or you can buy one on your own.
A home warranty will cover many systems and areas in the home for repairs or replacement. Be sure you read the details in the warranty to make sure it covers any and all areas within the home you want to have coverage on. For example, if your home has a hot tub, be sure this is covered in the warranty as not all provide hot tub coverage because not every home has one.
