Nolo's Essential Guide to Buying Your First Home (37 page)

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Authors: Ilona Bray,Alayna Schroeder,Marcia Stewart

Tags: #Law, #Business & Economics, #House buying, #Property, #Real Estate

BOOK: Nolo's Essential Guide to Buying Your First Home
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And more.
Some agents find creative ways to help. For example, homebuyers visiting from out of town may find their agent is willing to pick them up at the airport and make hotel reservations. Mark Nash keeps five umbrellas in his car for rainy days. And agents regularly work evenings and weekends, showing you houses, reporting back on houses they’ve previewed, and more.
 
Visit open houses without our Realtor®.
Although Pat and her husband loved their Realtor® (their second one, after they’d fired the first), she was extremely busy. And, says Pat, “We knew finding an affordable house in a good school district, with yard space for our children, wasn’t going to be easy—so we spent Sundays looking at every open house we could. By a stroke of luck, an agent at an open house told us that a nearby house would be up for sale soon. Its owner lived out of state and needed to sell in a hurry. Our Realtor® made some calls, and we put in a bid. On Christmas Eve, we found out that our bid had been accepted, and we got the house!”
What’s Better? Open House or Individual Appointment?
 
The answer may actually be “both.” Open houses are great for scoping out the possibilities quickly and anonymously, particularly on an action-packed Sunday. Visiting open houses unaccompanied by your agent can be nice for gauging your own reactions with no outside influence. But a quick visit is never enough—if a house looks promising, it’s worth revisiting, with your agent.
 
The Rumor Mill: Getting House Tips From Friends
 
People planning to sell their house don’t usually make a big secret out of it—they tell friends and neighbors, long before they formally list the house. If you can tap into the same network (most likely if you already live nearby), you may find out about a house before it’s up for sale.
Tell friends, neighbors, your hair stylist, the florist, your dentist, and more. Some home seekers even print up letters explaining exactly what they’re looking for and promising a treat or reward to anyone who helps them find a house.
Planning Ahead for House Visits
 
Don’t get too ambitious—most buyers find that visiting between four and eight houses per day is all they can handle before their brains fry. To make the most of your visits, do some prep work. Make sure you’ve got not only the complete list of houses you want to visit and a map, but all the items on the House Visit Checklist shown below.
 
CD-ROM
 
You’ll find a blank version of the “House Visit Checklist” on the Homebuyer’s Toolkit on the CD-ROM included in this book.
 
While you’re looking at a house, the seller’s agent (and the seller if present) are evaluating you. Dress comfortably but professionally, without overdoing it. As Realtor® Mark Nash puts it, “A lot of bling or overdress means the seller or agent will think you can afford full price. You want to be well groomed, understated, and home-price-range appropriate. This is a business transaction—don’t give them a negotiating edge by allowing them to overread you.”
Luke:
Maybe one place wasn’t so bad
.
Lorelai:
Oh good, describe it to me
.
Luke:
I don’t know. It had walls with a kind of a floor with a light
.
Lorelai:
Okay, hold on there, mister. If you tell me it’s got a roof, I’m stealing that baby out from under you
.
—From the TV series
Gilmore Girls
, 2000
 
 
TIP
 
If the house has a rental unit, never tell existing tenants what you will or won’t do as owner.
For instance, saying “I’ll keep the rent low” could create false expectations, leading to later arguments. But be friendly, and ask tenants for information concerning roof leaks, sewer backups, break-ins, and more. Tenants may reveal things you’d never learn any other way.
 
Unless your child is small enough to carry in a sling or backpack, leave the kids at home for the first visit. Most parents can focus better without chasing a toddler or hearing choruses of “This will be
my
bedroom”/“No,
mine!
” You can (and should) get your kids’ okay later. And this should go without saying, but don’t bring your pets.
House Visit Checklist
 
Tuck the following into your bag:
your Dream List (from Chapter 2).
your list of Questions for the Seller or Condo/Co-op Checklist (from later in this chapter)
your First-Look Home Inspection Checklist (from later in this chapter)
a pen and paper, for taking notes
binoculars (handy for examining the roof)
a camera or camcorder, preferably digital, to remind yourself of what you saw
a tape measure and notes on the type and size of your furniture.
 

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