Don’t get me wrong, cordless is the way to go, it just costs significantly more and a lot of people don’t realize how big the difference can be. I think our hammer drill was $90 vs. $300 for the cordless equivalent.
Bought my first home back in August. First thing I did was call Stanley Steemer to have the carpets and heating/cooling ducts cleaned, because, gross. Second thing I did was break something on purpose, because it was MINE.
Get a lawn mower, weed eater, rake, and snow shovel. Then, depending on how hands-on you plan to be, get some work gloves, protective eyewear, and trash bags for stuff you want to get rid of. Get some basic tools if you don’t have any. Hammer, screwdrivers, pliers, wrench, power drill, putty knives, paint brushes, hand saw, etc. There WILL be projects to do.
So I’m going to go more into the buying part.
My fiancee and I have been looking and found something we like, however it’s been on the market 9 weeks and seems decently over priced for the area it’s in. My issue is how far can I trust my real estate agent? They get paid based on the sale price so everyone, except us of course, benefits from a higher sale price. Their agent is saying stupid stuff that I just flat out don’t believe (like they listed the house but didn’t allow any showings for the first three weeks because the basement wasn’t finished). My agent is telling me the best comparable sold for just a few thousand less than their asking price. I question that comparable though, its got an extra bedroom, a slightly larger lot, sold in May, and its sale price to property tax ratio was considerably higher than any of the other comparables he sent me (for some reason they don’t list square footage or price per square foot in Ontario) so I’m thinking whoever bought it overpaid. I’m also not sure how I feel about the basement being finished just a couple of months ago, could be a rushed, cheap job. We also found out that a previous offer fell through because of possible asbestos in the attic, I don’t think that’s too big a deal as the attic is just a crawl space, not even suitable for storage really. Should I trust my realtor when he says it’s only slightly over priced when my gut is telling me it should be about $50k less? How likely are sellers to accept a price that is more than 10% below asking?
Your story is setting off myriad alarm bells. I would NEVER buy a home with any amount of asbestos, period. On the price front, yes, I think you’re being screwed. Your realtor is no more trustworthy than theirs on this topic, since they both get paid out of the commission. How likely the sellers are to accept a lower bid is entirely dependent on the market and how motivated they are to sell, but personally, I’d keep looking.
Agents don’t benefit from a higher sale price in a vacuum. They only benefit when the sale closes. Your agent will tell you if something is way off, but would prefer you pay a few thousand extra just to get the deal done.
I don’t know what your local market is like, but I can’t fathom paying for anything you think is overpriced right now. 9 weeks is nothing. If they don’t take your offer, they will start sweating after a year. Of course then they will be forced to take a lower price than your original offer. This happens all the time in a down market.
Follow your gut about the price. Also, make it 20% below asking.
(Oops, didn’t notice the part about the asbestos; I can’t help you there.)
The important question: does your realtor also represent the individuals selling the house? If so, you need to get a different realtor to give you another assessment. I’m friends with one, so I had that covered going in, but that’s what he had told me to do the poker night before I had him come work out the purchase of the house I wanted (which was a new built home, so it didn’t have a realtor). Your offering price should be contingent on the results of an inspection. If you find asbestos, know that it does present some significant health risk, but you can go through the abatement process to have it removed (not cheap, but if you can get this process paid for as part of the purchase agreement, it shouldn’t make a difference to the bottom line), so if you can get a lot knocked off the price, it might not be a deal breaker.
Bravo, Tman.
Also, I’d recommend figuring out your drainage in the basement - check that your sump pump (if you have one) is clear.
On those same lines, plan for a flood - Assume that the washer, hot water heater, and boiler will break at some point in the future and pour water in the house - make sure the path to the sump pump is clear. (i.e. don’t put your priceless book collection in a cardboard box between point A and point B)
I’d also recommend checking for rodent and insect signs - and treating early and often.
Don’t start too many alteration projects - simple maintenance is probably best, given your tool collection.
For me, as well, I totally neglect any plant in the yard in a new place for a year. Anything that survives is a ‘good’ plant and will be maintained from then on. Personally, I like to mulch around the trees to make it easier to mow - but don’t pile mulch up around the house (termites)
I’d highly recommend looking for moving sales (not yard sales) for tools and furniture. I picked up a half dozen solid tools for $2 each.
He doesn’t represent the seller, they have their own agent. I’m fully intending on having an inspection too, even though we already know about the asbestos, who knows what other problems might exist.
My problem with real estate agents is the system is set up such that I can’t trust their advice when it comes to price. Even if the agent is being completely truthful I can’t take anything they say about price at face value, simply because the higher the sale price the more money they make. In that regard their interests and mine don’t coincide. This leaves a buyer stuck making their own decisions and feeling like they’re up against the seller, the seller’s agent and even their own agent who are all trying to get the highest price out of them possible.
At least you’re aware of this, which many buyers aren’t. They assume that “their” agent has to have their best interests at heart.
This. Easiest way I’ve found to figure out which outlet is on which circuit is to plug in a radio and flip breakers until you can’t hear the radio any more.
Smoke detectors, smoke detectors, smoke detectors. They’re your responsibility now, not the landlord’s. Also, figure out how you are getting out when those go off at o’dark thirty.
Get a snow shovel now. When January rolls around and nice Midwestern white death comes falling, there won’t be any left to get.
Tools. You don’t need to get every tool under the sun (yet), just have friends who have them.
Water is the enemy of houses. If something is wet that shouldn’t be, find out why and fix it.
Enjoy your house.
Yeah that’s all you need. No one’s going to replace your own judgment. It’s an entrepreneurial risk you have to take on yourself.
I recently bought a house back in April of last year. Very similar sounding to yours.
Remember, you can’t do everything at once. If you try and “finish” the house in the first year you’ll go broke. You’re going to be in the house a long time (Hopefully) so you should tackle one project at a time, one purchase a time. Just because you have all that room doesn’t mean you now have to fill it. Take your time. The unused space is a good feeling, it’s like, “I still have options!” which is cool.
Keep some money in reserve for your deductible on your home owners insurance, as well as for things that will fail. My house had a warranty which I used twice already. One for a dishwasher that failed (Fuse, oddly housed in the door), and the thermostat on the waterheater went (It was new, but apparently defective.)
Know where your water shut-off main valve is at in the house and if possible, near the street. If you ever have a pipe break or something leaks, you’ll want to know where it is. Also tell/show the wife, etc.
Check the on-off valves under each sink, toilet, etc. I had one fail and leak after I got the house. Didn’t see it during the inspection that it was leaking. Had to fix it. Wasn’t a big deal, luckily. Could have been a lot worse.
That’s about it. The rest you’ll figure out or talk to people about.
Not 100% true, in that the way the market is structured now (which, btw, is totally fucking broken), their incentive is to close the deal period, not at the highest price possible.
Think of it this way, for every extra $1000 you sell for, YOU keep $970 and they keep $30. So…yeah, it’s not like they’re going to go to bat for you and risk losing the sale in order make an extra 0.03 * ( increased percentage ).
For the owner, all that matter is the actual profit/loss from the sale. For the agent, what matters is the price of the sale and whether it occurs or not. If no sale occurs, it doesn’t necessarily impact the owner, but the agent makes nothing. If the house sells at a loss, the owner is hurt but the agent still makes out.
It sucks that the agents’ goals are not aligned with that of the home seller or buyer.
Ah yes, Insurance.
Spend some time actually going through scenarios with your agent and seeing what is covered.
I’d say the most common things to occur are snow damage (ice dams and resultant water in the house) and water damage internally (overflowing sinks, tubs, backed up sewage). See if there is a tiny premium increase to cover something you think might happen.
Speaking of sewage - are you on Septic? If so, make sure it is pumped once a year and be there, if you can stand the smell to hear the sewer man’s commentary on the state of your septic system.
Fortunately, my mom lives about 4 minutes away and my little brother only 15 minutes away, so between them we’ll be able to borrow all the tools we need for the first little bit.
Now, see, you’re selling me on this all wrong. You could have mentioned Advent Children and had me in an instant, but now the moment’s over.
Oh, HELL no. :) What we have now is the placeholder furniture. I’m going for the nice stuff now! Pottery Barn won’t know what hit them!
Hardwood floors! Ow!
If you really want to know it all, in addition to hiring a home inspector buy one of the training books they use.
The biggest pain I find is time to do it all. You have to get pretty serious about priority ranking and getting rid of all the “must do or house will be damaged” stuff. Spend some time thinking about your money/free time ratio, and the breakpoint where you should call a professional.
I ended up going this route. I had a Black & Decker cordless that I got as a freebie from opening a bank account. It’s usable for some lightweight work but in the end, I found that I ended up buying a more powerful drill – a Rigid Tool (I just had to say that).
From reviews I’ve read, the better quality (not B&D) current generation cordless have better batteries that deliver more power and better lifetime.
I’ll echo a sentiment uphread, as a new homeowner, a Costco membership is a good thing. You can get your tools there as well as linens and some furniture (and big screen TV) for decent a decent price.
Don’t want to completely derail this, but do Costco prices vary per region or store?
I’ve always heard people discuss how inexpensive Costco is. But I’ve gone there a couple of times to look around (six months apart), and I found the prices to be the same as or even slightly higher than other stores (like Target, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Home Depot, etc.).
Last time I looked, I saw big screen TV prices that I knew weren’t any better than Best Buy, printer prices on printers that I had just checked out at Best Buy that were no better than Best Buy, and water softener and assorted tool prices (we recently had to replace our water softener) that were no better than Home Depot/Menards.
I’m wondering what I’m missing, or what is going on.
I’m in Canada, so I don’t know how this is in the States. Not everything is cheaper than elsewhere, but Costco is usually one of the better prices to be had. What is often the case with Costco is that you need to look at what they are offering versus some place like Best Buy.
For example, my wife needed a new computer. We looked at an HP package from Costco. I forget the price but lets just say it was $1,000. We saw a package at Best Buy for the same model of computer at Best Buy for $1,000. But when you look at the details, Costco provided a system with more memory, a larger hard drive, and a larger monitor.
When I got my Canon Rebel XT DSLR, it was a package that came with two kit lenses for a lower price than other places were selling for single kit lens packages.
So check to see what extras Costco has negotiated with the supplier.