Five Things to Look at Before Buying Your New House

Buying a home is a big decision, a financial obligation that will tie up much of your disposable income for the next 15 or 30 years. You want to feel comfortable with your choice of homes, and knowledgeable about the property you're buying. A home is one of the few investments you can make that will appreciate noticeably over the passage of time, so you want to make sure that you don't get stuck with a money pit that will need constant repairs.

Here are five tips to make that (admittedly expensive) home-buying decision a little easier. These tips are in no way meant to replace a thorough inspection by a qualified, certified home inspector. There are things like the furnace or electrical wiring that you just can't (or shouldn't) check by yourself. But these tips can alert you to potential problems and influence your decision before spending the money on an inspection. Sometimes it's just time to move on to the next house. Here's what to look for....

1) THE ROOF

No, you don't have to grab a ladder and climb up on the roof to check it out. Do a preliminary, but close inspection with a pair of binoculars. Look for loose shingles, or those that are out of place. Look for curling shingles, which are a sign of problems. On a metal roof, look for excessive rust, bent-up tin or sheets that have moved or shifted. Enter the house and look at the roof from the inside. Check the ceilings for signs of water leakage (stained panels, bubbling paint or plaster) and go into the attic to check the insulation and rear surface from the bottom. A new roof is a major expense and a terrible way to begin a long-term love affair with your new house. Don't forget to inspect the garage roof, inside and out, with the same attention to detail.

2) THE WINDOWS

Check the windows on the house from both the inside and the outside. Do they fit well in the frames, squared and sturdy? Are there any gaps between the window and the frame? Are any panes cracked or broken? Sometimes you have to look twice to really catch this stuff. Is there any sign of water leakage on the window sill, such as discolored or rotten wood? How about the walls below the windows? Enquiring minds want to know....

3) THE FAUCETS

The faucets in a house can often signal overall plumbing problems. Turn the cold water on at every faucet in the house and let it run for a couple of minutes. Is the water muddy colored or rusty? Does it clear up after running for a minute? If so, that's a good sign. Ask to taste the water. Heavily chlorinated water is a city problem that can be fixed with a filtration system; distasteful water from a well might have too much sulphur and require stronger measures to tolerate. A strong metallic taste could mean aging iron pipes that will eventually have to be replaced.

Look over the pipes in the basement and under the sinks and look for leaks and corrosion, and check the balance between iron and copper or PVC plastic pipes, which would be more recently installed. Then run the hot water in every sink and see how fast it gets hot and whether or not it gets too hot to the touch. This might mean that the hot water heater is set too high; it might mean that it's getting ready to give up the ghost. Find out when the hot water heater was last drained and flushed and when it was installed. If it's ten years or older, you have a ticking time bomb on your hands. Flush the toilet and see how fast it refills and check around the floor seal for water. Finally, turn all the faucets, hot and cold, off, back on, and then firmly off again. See if they drip afterwards and, if so, how much - it will give you a clue as to how close you are to replacing the washers in the faucets, or perhaps replacing the faucets entirely.

4) YOUR EXTERIOR

After you've scoped out the roof with your handy binoculars, take a long walk around the exterior of the house and check it out. Is the paint peeling and cracking, signs of an impending weekend chore if you buy the house? Is the aluminum or vinyl siding clean and in place or is it dirty, corroded or with sections out of place? Find out when the siding was installed and what sort of lifespan is expected for it. Look very closely at the foundation, checking for cracks, loose bricks or a shifting foundation. Watch for mulch piled up around the walls of the house...those roses the owner planted along the edge of the house may be beautiful, but mulch piled a mile-high often sends water cascading towards the foundation, creating problems in your future. Check for loose screens, unrepaired damage or ill-fitting windows and awnings before making any decisions.

5) YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD

The last thing to do before you leave the area is to take a good, close look around your prospective neighborhood. If there are cars up on blocks, junkies on the corner and broken windows in houses down the street, you might want to look somewhere else and upgrade your possibilities. Chances are that things will look pretty calm, however, so you need to look a little deeper. Are the houses on either side of you kept up nicely; have the exteriors been painted recently or is the siding clean and well kept? Are the porches cluttered with junk or the yards shaggy with growth? You might want to score the overall appearance of the neighborhood before making that bid on your dream home. The value of your future house depends on where it sits as well as how it looks.

Your real estate agent (you are using one, aren't you?) should be able to answer questions about schools, shopping and business in the area, and the answers are important. If you have children, then the close proximity to a school might be attractive; however, if you're a middle-aged or elderly couple whose children have flown the coop, you might not want to deal with the traffic schools create. Another good question to hit your agent with is whether or not the houses on the street are mostly owner-occupied or rental units. Sadly, remote owners that rent their property out don't always keep the homes well maintained. Even if your prospective house is everything that you could want, you have to consider where it is located. It's better to find another good house somewhere else than to suffer life (and a 30-year mortgage) in a questionable neighborhood.