Questions to Ask Before You Buy

[flip_it_fast]

So many people jump into buying a house without asking enough questions, or the right questions. Then once it's too late they find out all of the things they should have know from the beginning. The roof is twenty years old, the furnace is ten, the neighborhood crime rate is high, property taxes are outrageous.

Don't be afraid to ask questions. As a matter of fact it is a good idea to prepare a list ahead of time. Find out the important things before you can no longer back out.

A few of the questions that should be on your list are:

• • How old is the house?
  • When was the furnace installed and when was it last inspected?
  • What are the annual property taxes, on average?
  • What is the crime rate in the neighborhood?
  • Are there warranties on the appliances?
  • What are the estimated utilities costs for each season?

  
  
  
  

Better to know everything about the house that you can before it;s too late!

[flippinout]

The questions you listed here are very important ones to ask. There would be nothing worse than to buy a house and then find out later that you cant afford to live in it because of high utility bills and property taxes etc.

What would be great would be if the seller would leave a list on the kitchen counter with all these things listed on it including facts about your heating and cooling systems etc. That way, you could sit down and figure up just how much your new home would cost you per month besides the usual mortgage payment.

Then that way you would have no surprises and would know that the heating and cooling systems were in order and if there were warranties. That would be the ultimate way to go.

[flip_it_fast]

Thats an awesome idea flippinout!

It would be something like the vehicle industry's CarFax reports that people can get on a vehicle before they buy it. Thats would be awesome.

You could find out all of the important facts without really having to worry about getting the answers. They would already be available when you view the home.

I wonder if anyone has ever done that?

Some more questions that I would want to know are:

Was the electricity wiring and boxes updated and if so by whom?

How old is the roof and what is the expected lifetime of it?

Is the home in a flood zone and has it been flooded?

There are lots of things that a buyer should know and should be able to use to factor in on their decision.