4 Things to Check Before You Buy a House

If you are about to buy a new house, or are contemplating doing so at some point in the future, there are some things you should check before you sign the papers. A little judicious checking now can save you from some serious problems later. You could end up losing your house, or paying some serious money out of your pocket that could have been avoided.
Thing to Check Before You Buy a House 1 -This first thing to check before you sign the papers are the papers themselves. Have your mortgage contract looked over by a real estate attorney. In addition to that, you should peruse them yourself, even if you think it's all a bunch of legal mumbo-jumbo. Every day there are sob stories in the media about someone who claims to have been sold a bad loan by this or that lender or mortgage broker. Guess what? In many cases they got the loan due to their own greed and / or ignorance. Outright fraud or misrepresentation is one thing, but many times this never occured.

It's true that you should be able to trust your lender or broker, but far too many people were so eager to get their house or loan that they failed to even perform some basic due diligence. Come on, people! You are about to sign what is, for the majority of people, the largest contract of their lives. Before you do so, you owe it to yourself to have at least a basic knowledge about mortgages. If you don't know what an ARM is, at least find out before you agree to one! You should not only find out what it is, but you should be aware the financial implications of it.
Thing to Check Before You Buy a House 2 -Take a look at the neighborhood schools. Even if you will never avail yourself of their services, it is important to know about them for a couple reasons before you purchase your house. First of all, even if they are not important to you, they are to many people, and thus the quality of the schools in your neighborhood can have a major impact on the resale value of your house. Secondly, look at how they are financed. With many schools today, it seems to be all about the money. Where do think all that money comes from? That's right, the property taxes on your house. Some of the school's budget will come from federal and state grants, but much of it will come from your property taxes. You need to check on how they are paying for the schools, along with their levy and tax history.

Thing to Check Before You Buy a House 3 -Does your house have a propensity for flooding? Look at the FEMA flood hazard index and check the local news archives. This is vital if you think there's a chance of flooding. All houses are in a FEMA flood zone, it's just a question of the severity. If your house is in an area that has a flood history, you may get the short end of the stick when it comes to rebuilding after a flood. You can look up FEMA's flood zone info on your prospective house here:https://hazards.fema.gov/femaportal/wps/portal

After every flood there are plenty of people who lose everything who should have known better. If you build or buy a house in an area with a known flood history, you have no one to blame but yourself when the inevitable happens, and it floods again. Sadly many of these people look to the government (our tax dollars at work) for a bailout in this situation. I have absolutely no problem spending tax dollars to help rebuild a community in the event of a rare, serious flood. I do, on the other hand, object strenuously to spending our tax dollars to help someone rebuild their house, again, because they built on a lot only 5 feet above the level of river that floods every 5 – 10 years, like clockwork.

One note on FEMA flood zone data, it is being revised in some areas. Find out if your area is affected by the revision before using the data. In most cases flooding will not be covered by your homeowners insurance, so if you do sustain flood damage, the repair and property replacement will come out of your pocket. In addition, you don't want to buy a lot for your dream home, only to find out later that a home is un-insurable due to flood hazard. If this is the case, you'll probably have difficulty getting a construction loan to get the house built as well.
Thing to Check Before You Buy a House 4 -Look carefully at the CC&Rs. Many communities have CC&Rs (Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions) dictating many things about how you can use, and what you can (and must) do with your house and property. This is legal contract you enter in to with your neighborhood's home owner's association. CC&Rs are just what some people want, because it mandates things such as lawn condition, and house color for example. They can keep you from parking your boat in the street, or limit how long vehicles are parked in front of your house.

You want to be aware of all the provisions contained therein however, because you do not want to buy a house with the intention of using it a certain way, only to discover that you desires are prohibited by the CC&Rs. This is serious stuff, so don't underestimate the importance of it. People have actually lost their homes fighting the home owner's association over CC&R provisions. It pays to be informed before you buy your prospective house.
These are just 4 of the myriad things you should be aware of before you buy a house, there are countless others, but many people never consider these 4 items.