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Real Estate Tips From a New Homeowner


What To Look For During A First Showing Of A Single-Family Home

Do you have the opportunity to view a home that you are interested in purchasing? If so, it will help to keep the following things in mind when touring the home during your initial showing. This can help raise some important issues about the home right away and know if it is worth moving forward with making an offer.

Signs Of Water Damage

It is always worth taking a look at the basement to try and identify any signs of water damage in the past. Unless the basement has been completely remodeled since there was last water in the basement, it is typically very hard to cover up. You'll likely see some sort of discoloration along the bottom of the exterior cement walls. If there is wood paneling then the wood will look a bit darker or discolored along the bottom edge. 

Seeing water damage is not the worst thing to find though. Have the homeowners moved forward with having a sump pump or flood control system installed since it happened? This can do a good job of keeping the water out of the basement and away from the home.

Signs Of Old Plumbing 

Older homes are not going to have all the modern upgrades that newly constructed homes have. An example of this will be the types of pipes that are used for plumbing. While newer homes will have copper or PEX, an older home may have galvanized steel. The problem with these pipes is that they look fine on the outside, but actually rust on the inside. You can have an unexpected pipe burst simply due to the pipes being old. Galvanized steel pipes will allow a magnet to stick to it, but it also can be identified by its gray color and have signs of rusting.

Signs Of Old Appliances

Always take a look at the hot water heater, furnace, air conditioner, washer, dryer, and kitchen appliances to get a good idea about how old they are. After all, the last thing you want to do after moving in is have to pay for a huge appliance upgrade. While your home inspector can give you more insight, many of these appliances have information on them about when they were manufactured or installed. If any appliance is approaching the end of its estimated lifespan, it is worth assuming that you'll need to replace it soon after moving into the home. While this may not be a deal breaker, you need to budget for upgrading these old appliances. 

For more information about the single-family homes in your area, talk to a real estate agent.

About Me

Real Estate Tips from a New Homeowner

While some people "wing it" when purchasing their first home, I went about the process differently. I put a lot of research into home market trends before even deciding where I would like my new home to be located and learned about all of the steps of the buying process. Once I was ready to start looking at homes, I hired a real estate agent who was very impressed with all the knowledge I had accumulated about the home-buying process before I even owned my first home! I love learning, so I actually greatly enjoyed learning all about real estate, and I am still keeping on top of the latest real estate news and trends since I know they will come in handy when I decide to upgrade into a larger home in the future. I decided to help others by sharing what I have learned on a blog!

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