The though of buying a whole-ass house on your own can be SCARY. Like...where do you even start? How do home loans work? Does the fridge come with the house?
1. Furnishing a house can get really expensive.
"Close the doors to the rooms you don't use, get stuff used and in phases. You don't need to fill every room upon move in. Vintage furniture is often of a MUCH higher quality than new." – banieldowen
2. Plus there are all these random things you forget that you'll need to buy.
"Bills and mortgage are known and predictable, but then there's broken boilers, washing machines, fridges, paint, random tools and all sorts of other stuff that just adds up really quickly." – Y3VkZGxl
3. It's a good idea to have an emergency fund.
"Sure, insurance can occasionally help, but it's not something you can count on except for in catastrophic circumstances." – austinmonster
4. Get a plumber to inspect the sewers before buying.
They can stick a camera in there to make sure everything is tip top. – BabaYaga2017
5. If you have a backyard, see if it slopes away from the house for water drainage reasons.
"If [rain] water wants to go somewhere, like into your basement, or eroding your foundation, it is so shockingly hard to get it to do anything else. You can fix the problem and it's going to happen again and again because the water wants to go there." – effieokay
6. Flush the toilet and run the shower when you're inspecting, to ensure everything actually works.
If you can, go to the floor below and listen for any water leaking. – ballsosteele, S_W
7. Don't hire a property inspector who is recommended by or connected to your real estate agency.
"Go with someone independent that will be honest about all the problems. Attend the property inspection and physically view everything the inspector brings up as an issue." – humanbinchicken
8. If you're right next to or opposite a field or empty lot, chances are there'll be a whole lot of construction soon.
9. If you're buying in a building, read the body corporate meeting minutes from the past few years to make sure there aren't any big repairs coming soon that'll hike up your fees.
– My dad
10. Before moving in, find out how to turn off the gas, electricity and water.
11. Find out all the fees and taxes that you'll be paying so you can budget ongoing costs before buying.
12. Think about the location and how long you'll be living there.
"One of the reasons we bought our first home was because it was close to work. But it was a long drive to the other jobs I had later." – ConCons_Husband
13. Banks will usually lend you more than you can actually afford.
Calculate your monthly repayments and make sure it's a payment you can realistically make every month for the next 20+ years. "The thought of having a nice $250k house sounds nice, but you have to think realistically. What fun is it to have all your money go to your mortgage and you can’t enjoy a night out or pay for you car to be fixed?" – hotcake911
14. Ask the seller if they'll leave you any of the appliances like fridge, washer and dryer.
"It never hurts to ask." – Ron_Fuckin_Swanson
15. Find out if every floor of the house has insulation, or your heating bills will skyrocket when winter comes.
– Devonai
16. Check out the street and neighbourhood for yourself.
"Spend some time hanging out in the neighborhood to see what traffic, neighbours and noise is like." – core-void
17. Make sure that your offer specifies that the house be ready to move in.
"We were relocating to a new city hundreds of miles away and didn’t get to do a final walk-through until the day before closing. The previous owners had left all kinds of junk behind that we had to deal with. (Not to mention the place was filthy). Since everything we owned was on the moving truck, which was arriving the next day, we felt like we had no options but to proceed to the closing and deal with it ourselves." – barto5
18. Check all the power outlets.
Once I moved into an apartment where all the outlets only ran along one side of the house, which was incredibly inconvenient. Also make sure that there are outlets in the bathroom and enough in the kitchen. – Me
19. Don't be afraid to back out of the sale at ANY POINT.
"Yes it’s kind of shitty to the sellers and a little awkward. Losing the $1000 or so you spent on the inspection or appraisal can sting. None of that is as bad as being upside down on a house or feeling trapped in a house. If something feels off it’s ok to walk away." – tacopants9
