A Degree in Buying a Home
You know, if you think about it, from the time you could spell your name (maybe even before then), you started learning about math, history, and the alphabet… then you graduated from kindergarten and refined your knowledge in these subjects for another twelve years… then you may have spent another four or eight years or more building on your hard-earned base of knowledge to earn your baccalaureate, masters, or doctorate degrees… but think hard… were you ever taught the first thing about buying a home? More than half of the population in the United States owns a home and to my knowledge, there is not a high school in the country that teaches students what to expect when they are “on the market” for their first home. Given that purchasing a home is oftentimes a family’s single largest investment, it is unfortunate that so many people get their degree in purchasing a home from the school of hard knocks (experience).
Over the past few years, our company has sold many homes. We have sold small homes, big homes, brick homes, stone homes, tall homes, short homes, and even a home with shag carpet (hey, the customer asked for it, so we installed it). Our customers have varied from first-time homebuyers to buyers who were on their twelfth new home. We have some customers who we see and speak to on a regular basis and we have some customers who we have never seen or talked to in person (out-of-town buyers, usually buying a second home)… but even with the broad variation in our customer base, there are a few very common customer characteristics, one of which is questions.
Whether you are just toying around with the idea of buying or building a home or you are frantically looking for a home because you are transferring for a job in a week, do NOT be afraid to ask your real estate agent or homebuilder or loan officer questions about why they are doing or saying or building what they are… a dumb question is a question never asked. Let’s be very honest with ourselves, buying a home is a VERY complex operation. Fortunately, the process has been streamlined and refined to the point where much of the tedium is automated, but buying a home is a big deal involving many different parties and organizations (many of which you have likely never heard or really thought of)… but do not feel overwhelmed. You do not need to spend a year studying about buying a home. You really do not even need to spend more than just a few hours… but you would do well to sit back and think about what it means to buy a home and how you can best prepare yourself and your family for the excitement and fulfillment that can be enjoyed when buying a home.
I thought about writing a comprehensive outline for our blog fans detailing every aspect of the home-buying process… but then decided that if you wanted to read a book on the subject, you would not be coming to our increasingly popular and entertaining blog site to do so. We are all about succinct and pointed commentary not New York Bestsellers, right? Anyhow, I do hope that the below commentary is helpful to you. Whether you purchase a home from our company or some other lesser homebuilder (sure, I am a little biased, but so are you about your life’s work), I hope that you will take the time to really research your purchase. Being educated and knowledgeable on the subject of buying a home is one of the most important ways you can ensure that your experience before, during, and after the transaction is pleasant and rewarding.
Instead of going into every detail you should consider, I have simply outlined what I believe to be the most important aspects of your journey to becoming a prepared home buyer. Here is a summary of the key points which are each further explained below in greater detail:
1. Educate Yourself
2. Surround Yourself with Good People
3. Communicate Carefully
4. Hire a Home Inspector
Here are the more detailed explanations behind each key point:
Educate Yourself
It is the age of the internet… and as a homebuyer, you now have access to more information on the subject than you can possibly retain… but you have to take the time to find it and learn it. I will warn you, there are MANY websites on the internet that are merely fronts for organizations or people who have an agenda. For example, if you go to the website for the National Association of Igloo Builders (I will use a cunning surname to avoid catching flack from anyone), you will find that there is a spin on the information you are given. You must be careful what you read because few websites tell the whole story for fear of offending their membership or their own back pocket. With that warning disclosed, I will offer that I did find one website in particular that I think does a good job of providing an unbiased point of view. You can visit the website by clicking here. I do not necessarily agree with every point that is made, but the author’s candidness will serve you well as you begin to earn your degree in buying a home. Aside from the recommended website, you may also want to consider reading more posts on this blog or the information made available on our website and otherwise unleash the power of Google and Wikipedia if you have any questions that have not yet been addressed.
Surround Yourself with Good People
You cannot do everything yourself, but you can make sure that your homebuilder, your home inspector, your real agent, your loan officer, and your title company are reputable and knowledgeable in their respective professions. I realize that it is sometimes impossible to really know who will do a good job and who will not, but there are also times when it should be quite apparent that someone is NOT going to be a good fit. For example, if you are having your home built from the ground up (a “custom” home), you may want to just ask your builder how he or she accounts for their costs and how they manages their files. If the answer is, “well, uh, I puts all de receipts in dat der glub box and den a pays ‘em when you a pays me,” you would do well to take a hint that you are about to tangle with a tar baby (for those of you who are not avid Uncle Remus fans as I am, this means you are about to get into a real mess). The point is that if you surround yourself with people who are disorganized or who only care about their commission or getting your transaction closed so that they can move onto the next one, you will have done yourself and anyone else involved in the transaction a disfavor. Ask someone you know who is in the business who they recommend and why. Ask for customer references. Research on Google. These are all simple steps that could save you a LOT of headache and money later. You are the customer and you are the one calling the shots. Do not forget that… so choose your team wisely.
Communicate Carefully
Buying or building a home involves many details and a lot of money… and let’s be honest, people make mistakes, forget details, and otherwise create situations where good communication is key to keeping little issues from becoming BIG problems. When I say “communication,” I do not just mean smiling and speaking clearly… I mean thinking carefully about what you want or what you need to know and then communicating that message carefully and precisely to the other people involved. For example, if you want your homebuilder to upgrade the windows in your home to a Pella brand unit, do not send a request for a “Pella” window. Submit a request for a “Pella double-hung Designer series unit with the low-E argon insulated glass.” The point is that by communicating carefully and precisely, you are more likely to avoid miscommunications and misunderstandings with your homebuilder, real estate agent, and any number of other people involved. The concept is not novel… it just takes a little time and discipline… but careful communication could save you thousands of dollars and a lot of gray hair.
Hire a Home Inspector
I will not go into as much detail on this point because I have already done so in another blog posting that you can visit by clicking here… but suffice it to say that we have built a couple hundred or so homes and we ALWAYS recommend that buyers hire a home inspector, especially if you are buying a home from some other homebuilder who does not have the same standard for quality control systems that our company has established. Yeah, you can call that a sales-pitch, but it’s true. Most builders have two quality control systems: their own eyes and their memory… and I do not care how many years a builder may have been building or how good their memory may be, they are NOT going to catch and remember every detail themselves and you will not catch every deficiency yourself when you do your final walkthrough. Trust me, get a home inspector.
As time goes on, I may add more thoughts about the above points as questions arise (feel free to post any specific questions). For now, just relax. Yes, there is a lot to learn, but be comforted by the fact that you have access to the internet and that there are well-trained people in the world to assist you. If you do your homework, find the right people to help you, communicate carefully, and hire a good home inspector, your chances of having a pleasurable home-buying experience will have greatly increased (not to mention the increased return on the investment).
I stayed up late on a Saturday night to write this, so please tell me it was helpful in at least getting you thinking about what to do next. J
