When choosing a home, each potential buyer faces a lot of difficulties, so many of them prefer to turn to the services of professional realtors. However, there are also those daredevils who act independently, engaged in the search for the object and legal execution of the transaction. My brother works as a realtor and spoke about the questions that should be asked when choosing a home.
As a rule, buyers ask standard questions related to the cost of the property, the availability of schools and kindergartens nearby, etc. However, there are certain questions that homebuyers should ask the seller, but often forget about them.
Property Maintenance Costs
Buyers are almost primarily interested in the cost of housing, but at the same time completely forget that in the future there will be certain costs for its maintenance. Do not be so harsh.
Be sure to ask how much you will have to pay for the removal of garbage, intercom and elevator, as well as other services indicated on the receipt. Ask if meters are installed for electricity and other energy sources. This largely depends on how much you have to pay for the maintenance of housing on a monthly basis.
Do not forget about the annual payment of property tax. It is calculated by a complex formula, which, among other parameters, includes the area of your property. The more square meters, the higher the tax that will have to be paid to the state budget.
How long does a property sell?
As a rule, this parameter can be tracked on online sites where property owners often post their offers. However, it will be useful to ask this question directly to the seller. The more the object is on sale, the lower the demand for it. This indicates that soon the price of it may drop. If the object is recently on sale, and potential buyers often come to view, it is unlikely to expect a drop in price. However, some buyers are trying to bargain.
Transport accessibility
Before buying, you should pay special attention to traffic congestion. This is especially true for people who go to and from work every day. It is unlikely that the seller will be honest in this matter and name the real amount of time that you have to spend on the road in the morning.
Ideally, you should personally assess transport accessibility by trying to make several trips in the selected direction at different times. You can find out about the presence of traffic jams in the morning and evening hours, as well as find out how much time you have to spend daily on the road to get to work and get back.
The presence of a school or kindergarten
If you have children, this question becomes especially relevant. You should ask where the nearest facilities are, what school or kindergarten other children attend, etc. Having found this out, you should collect as much information as possible about these establishments.
It is not enough that there should be some school or some kindergarten near the house. If you care about your child, you will try to choose a good educational or preschool institution for him. This is why it is important to find out before buying a property.
Features of the area
It would be nice to learn as much as possible from the seller of the property about the area in which you plan to purchase a home.Is it an active or quiet area? What objects are nearby? Perhaps the railway will be located nearby, because of which you will have to enjoy the sounds of trains at any time of the day.
Of course, you can rely on the honesty of the seller, but it is better to personally visit the area at different times of the day to draw conclusions about it. You need to take a walk in the surroundings and get an idea of where you will live.
If you find something unpleasant, you can simply refuse the deal. This is much better than after the purchase to find out the fact that loud music is heard from the neighboring bar.
District Condition
It is equally important to pay attention to the condition of the district as a whole. Experts say that there are four stages in the life cycle of each area: growth, stability, decline and renewal. Ideally, buyers should look for housing when the area is in a state of stability. Some areas will move from a phase of stability to a phase of decline. Some areas will continue to be in decline for a long time. People tend to live in these neighborhoods as needed. It is better to try to avoid such areas.
Area Prospects
Many people often relocate due to job changes or family circumstances. That is why it is important to pay attention to factors that may subsequently affect the value of real estate, both up and down.
Pay attention to the new enterprises that appear in the vicinity, as well as the economic and political development of the area. Visit the town planning office and find out what other projects you plan to implement in the selected area. Perhaps this will be a new shopping center or other residential areas. Ask how future changes may affect the value of your apartment.
Who is the owner?
In addition to the characteristics of the object, it is equally important to take care of the legal side of the transaction. You should know who is listed as the owner of the property. If this is a person who is married, it will be important to obtain permission from the spouse for the transaction. If this is not done, in the future it can be challenged, which creates additional troubles for the buyer. You also need to make sure that the seller was not married at the time of the acquisition of the home.
If the purchase of an apartment was previously carried out using maternity capital, the child’s share should be allocated in it. With such objects you need to be especially careful.
Prescribed or Temporarily Discharged Persons
It is unlikely that someone wants to buy an object in which other people can apply for housing. That is why it is important to make sure that no one is registered in the object. It is important to check if there are anyone who is temporarily discharged. If such are present, it is better to completely abandon the acquisition of housing in order to avoid potential problems in the future. That's why you need to ask the seller for an extended extract from the house book, which will indicate all who have ever been registered in the object.
The presence of encumbrances
This is another important item that the buyer should check. In the presence of encumbrances, the owner cannot fully dispose of the property.
For example, when buying an apartment on a mortgage, it is pledged by the bank. This means that for the purchase of such an object will have to coordinate the issue with the bank. Or first pay off the mortgage completely, remove the burden, and then buy the object. The main difficulty is that the seller, as a rule, does not have money for early repayment of the object. You can issue the required amount as an advance, but this complicates the transaction.
Buying a property is a difficult transaction, in the process of which you have to consider many different nuances. Now you know the basic questions that a seller needs to ask in order to get as much information as possible about the property that interests you.The more you learn, the easier it will be to make the right decision, which will not let you get disappointed in the future.