I'm looking at a house tomorrow. Originally booked the tour for the lols, but now I'm legitimately considering going through if I don't find anything too egregious tomorrow. What sort of things should I look for/ask the agent?As for the house itself, it's the definition of a fixer-upper. I'm okay with that, I was gonna renovate whatever home I bought anyways.
Ask if the basement is sound proof
>>2956286Stake out the neighbors to see if they are going to be trouble. Nothing is worse than moving into a place only to realise that you moved in next to jackasses, loud idiots or otherwise bad people. Personally I think living next to anyone with kids sucks because they are loud annoying fuckwits. Best neighbors are old people because they are quiet, don't throw parties and generally are mellow.
Hang around outside the house and ask other people who live there if there are any problems with the area. Be willing to completely ignore what they say, because I was told my street has no trouble at all but some houses play loud music during the summer. There's never any music, but there are children on quadbikes and all sorts of scummy shit.You can pay for a survey of the house before you buy it (details will depend on which country you live in) and they aren't that expensive, and that should find any structural disasters.
>>2956286Ask if it has been tested for lead (paint, pipes), asbestos (insulation, drywall, flooring), or other toxins (radon, mold, mice/rats). Chances are its a 'no, we didn't test anything' but still ask.Ask if there are any unpermitted additions/conversions. Things like that can make your own renovations difficult.The roof and the foundation are the two things that are 'must fix' that are the biggest hassle and cost. Make sure you know their actual condition before you buy, as needing $40k in foundation work right off the bat can easily be a show stopper.Bring an outlet tester, water testing strips, and a powerful flashlight. Test an outlet in every room and look at every fucking thing. Crawlspace, attic, in the vents, in the cabinets, under the eves, everywhere. I went to see a house and found a rat skeleton in the corner cabinet in the kitchen after being told the place was rodent free. Test the water. It takes less than a minute.Rock the toilets. If they move, that's a bad sign.Check all the doors. Do they stay open? Do they fit properly? Do they latch properly? No? Is it just the foundation settling or is it because of a tree falling on the house/earthquake/wind damage?Check the light fixtures. Are they cheap shit? Are they original? If they cheaped out on shit you can see (shitty cabinets are another red flag), what is hidden?How old is the water heater, HVAC, and other appliances that will be staying? How many amps is the main breaker? What size is the water line? Do they have hard water/a water softener?
OP here. Agent couldn't make it, so the tour is going to be rescheduled. Just means I have a little more time to prep.>>2956287No basement, unfortunately>>2956538>>2956544Good ideas, I'll have to see what I can do>>2956581All good things to check, I'll have to write this all down
>>2956538This
>>2956586After the tour is over, just sit in your car for a couple of hours to see what the neighborhood is like. Repeat this the day after, say at 6 pm
Don't be stressed about figuring everything out, there will be a home inspection ams you'll get your escrow back if there is something major. Pay more attention to major stuff ams things you can't change easily like does the fuse box look good and are their open spaces, where there laundry is, is there water to the fridge already.
>>2956734Irony 9000
Hire an inspector for each component of the house. General inspectors are too retarded to actually know any and will hide behind their contract as why they missed something. For the foundation, get a foundation pro. Sewer, get a plumber. You will be getting an electrician either way so might as well get a pro trades man for each item. It wont actually cost that much more either.
>>2956538>old person neighbor die soon after you move in>his/her relatives inherit the place>they're loud assholes/bad people>or they sell the place to bad peopleQuestion isn't "is it safe", but rather "for how long".
>>2957214the idiot has spoken
>>2956286Old house with cast-iron septic pipes? Bring a ball-peen hammer and don't be afraid to give those pipes a good love tap. They can look perfectly good on the outside, but be as thin as tinfoil if they're rotted.
>>2956286Could you give some more details>How old is the house?>Is it in any environmental buffers?>Private/public utilities?>Steep grade or flat lot?
>>2956544I would think people here would already know to check the demographics/crime stats of the area they plan to live in
>>2957258No idea, doubt it though>>2957691>How old is the house?1990>Is it in any environmental buffers?Not that I can see in the photos. Haven't taken a look at it IRL yet>Private/public utilities?Power is public, water is well, gas is not available as far as I can tell>Steep grade or flat lot?Flat, but the entire area is very hilly, so it's only relatively flat
>>2957698Ask when roof was done.Look around window jams/casing on the outside, good indication of potential rot under the siding. Also see if the windows are worth replacing in general.Hairline cracks in foundation are actually fine, BUT some regions had a huge problem with pyrrhotite in concrete around that time. Check out pictures of what this looks like in early stages and run if you see it.Sewer/septic?Most states have conservation maps where you can see wetlands, watershed protection act stuff and whatnot. Can seriously restrict what you can do in your back yard.
>>2957703>Sewer/septic?Septic, 4 years old according to the listing.The rest of that is good info, appreciated
>>2957705I would ask about the old system failure; cause, where the old leach field is buried.Could mean soil doesn't drain great. Look at the topography. Try to get an idea of where water would go in a storm; if the yard could get eroded or if the grade is pitched toward the house. I don't think perimeter drains were required in back then.I'm mostly nitpicking trying to help you find uncommon but major problems.
If you decide to buy it look at insurance for water in and out piping. Home insurance here doesn't cover it. Dropped $7500 on repiping water in about 18 months ago. Already in $6000 for drain stoppage and won't have a price for a functional drain pipe for another couple of days once the clogged pipe is cut into 10ft down and augered because palm tree roots are deep. New car or indoor shitter, those are my options today.
>>2956897this is so much money lmao dont do thisits a fixer upoer assume their is something wrong with all of it and use the money you save on inspectors to fix problems as you discover them
OP here. Finally got to take a look at the place. It's even worse than I thought, since damn near the whole building will need to be gutted to be livable. On the bright side, this whole experience has mentally opened the door to actually buying a house at some point. Thanks to everyone who replied, feel free to kill/let this thread die.Blogpost done
>>2957698>1990That's not a fixer, that's a tear-down. Horrible decade for home construction, nothing but OSB and vinyl abominations
>>2958138heheh, yeah things have progressed a lot since then
>>2958020>save $1000 on inspectors>need to replace 30,000 worth of sewer and pipes and $50,000 on foundation ypu could have dropped the price wothWay to save money there uncle jimbo, o always valued your trailer park financial advice
>>2958145>needs to hire 5 random dudes to recognize 80k worth of damgejust admit a fixer upper house isnt for you
