Wow, I didn't expect this thread to have so many replies.
That's amazing. A HUUUGE thank you for all the tips 😀 I couldn't have asked for more!
This is going to be a long reply, so hang in there. Worth noting is that I'm pretyping it and that's the first time I feel the need to do this on Vogons. No way I'm losing an answer this long because of a misclick or browser crash.
I will also break off in multiple quotes/replies since this message is pretty long.
kixs wrote:I'm in the exact boat myself and will also be moving in around June/July - if everything goes to plan. Hopelly sooner as we expect another child by the end of the June.
First of all, congrats on the second child. That is going to be hard on everyone, moving while at the same time having a baby.
kixs wrote:1. I guess you've already taken a good look around and maybe had some pro help with checking "everything" in the house
2. make t […]
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1. I guess you've already taken a good look around and maybe had some pro help with checking "everything" in the house
2. make the needed repairs (if any) before moving in
3. make a plan what and where to put the furnitures (if it's empty)
4. move in and live happily ever after 😀
But only you know what you bought. So any exact advice is difficult.
Make sure you have a room for yourself 😉 At the moment I'm an owner of a three bedroom apartment and there is like no space for my retro hobby. So this move will make a big change for me. I already have a reserved room all to myself 😁
Yes. We have signed the paperwork but the money transaction is not done yet. The place they are moving to is not empty yet, so we're all waiting on the first person in that "chain".
The apartment where I live at the moment, I have a lease that goes to July 1st. That is the furthest date that we have agreed upon for entering the house. But if it happens earlier, I will simply have the keys faster and get more time to move progressively.
1. With my parents, we have inspected the house thorouhgly. My family has built and renovated many houses in the past, and on the top of my head when I was younger we lived in at least 10 houses that I can recall. I guess it would be good form to use the services of an inspector, but nothing in this particular house cought our attention.
2. Depends on the date I'm able to move in. Nothing urgent needs to be done at the moment though, because the current owner is very handy and does repairs the moment they pop up.
3. Yes. Making a plan of where the stuff goes is a neat idea. Furniture is pretty easy, but boxes I will write the contents + what room it goes into.
4. That's the plan! No more footsteps from my landlord above me, and the liberty to vacuum the house at 3AM if I want to.
Ahhh, yes, the hobby room. Currently my girlfriend has her work desk in the living room, so most of the time when I'd like to use the TV she is working at her computer so I just refrain. My work room is also my hobby room at the moment, so I have my computer + all the retro computers all crammed up in there. There will be a basement in the house, and two unused bedrooms, so we will probably each have our computers in there, and I will use one of the basement rooms to set up the retro systems.
clueless1 wrote:Don't buy more house than you need. Having lots of extra room is nice but it makes it that much more house you have to keep clean and maintained. Same with yard size. In other words, bigger isn't always better. 😀
edit: having lots of extra room is nice *at first*, but as the years go by, the space gets filled anyway and you're left with more to keep clean and maintain.
I would add, if you live in a region where houses come with basements, be sure to get one! They are a great place to keep your retro gear!
Currently the plan is to be only two people in that house, so it's going to be big at first. I had the opportunity to buy a smaller house, but it had cracks in the basement and the owner refused my initial offer and was reluctant to work on the price with me. I ended up buying this house - that's around 3 streets distance from the first one - for a larger sum than I offered for the first house. Granted it's bigger, but it has also been maintained better and the owner was eager to find a suitable price for both of us.
Anyway. Maintaining is certainly a yellow flag. That house is about 4x bigger than the current apartment, so it's definitely going to be more work. But at the same time, sometimes I find it frustrating to start the vacuum for 15 minutes and then stop. I kind of get the mood to clean, and would be good to go 30, 40 minutes instead, but have to stop early because the apartment is so small and cramped.
About the basement if you read earlier, I will probably separate my work room with the main PC, and the retro/hobby room with all my projects. The "fun" room will go in the basement. Cooler in the summer, and calmer than on the main floor.
kixs wrote:But as I understand he already bought it or at least made a deposit. Otherwise his buying plan is pretty fast. In my case we were on the look for almost two years.
Two years looking for a house? That's a lot of time. Here there are many houses on the market, and prices kind of surge upward when the snow melts in spring. That is one of the reasons I signed the paperwork in December. As the date is not known, I have pre-approved the house loan with the bank, and I'm waiting for the exact date before going to the notary and do the actual transaction.
badmojo wrote:House owner here for the last 10 years, my hot tips would be to do any major renovations before kids, and get on top of the mortgage ASAP!
Good advice. I would like to have kids, but the girlfriend has the final word on the matter... and currently it's a definite "nope". The renovations are mostly done on the house. Nothing is broken, nothing seems about to break. It's an older house (from 1971) but all the electrical work and plumbing has been redone already so there's not much left about that. The roof is good for another 8 years possibly so that's not urgent.
Mortgage was a tricky issue... Finding out how much I'm able to pay monthly was an exercise in itself. The bank and lenders always try to push you to buy bigger, more expensive but the house will be within my payment range. Standard practice here in Canada is to have the payment stretch out on 25 years or 30 years if you're tight on money. But the difference in interest rate is not that big so while it may seem cheaper in the short run to take 30 years, it's a very unwise decision in the long term because of the actual difference in how much you will pay. So I took 25 years with a fixed interest rate for the first 5, and I intend to repay faster, as much as they allow, to get on top of the mortgage as soon as I'm able.
vladstamate wrote:Having just bought a house last year and having to put in all my (42 different computers/consoles/TV/monitors) collection in a room, I wish I had a bit more time to wire it better. That is put some network cables in and have better (more accessible) and more power sockets. This is specifically in my office where all the vintage computers and machines are. Putting in extra storage AFTER all the computers/consoles/monitors were in was a bit of work too.
Good advice. Every room on the main floor is easily accessible from the basement ceiling so adding wiring, network cables and power outlets will be easy.
luckybob wrote:#1: Buy a duplex.
#2: Never sell.
#3: do repairs yourself.
#4: Don't be afraid of a "bad" neighborhood.
#5: Always make sure the […]
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#1: Buy a duplex.
#2: Never sell.
#3: do repairs yourself.
#4: Don't be afraid of a "bad" neighborhood.
#5: Always make sure the foundation is good.
Excellent advice.
#1. As you may have read, the house is a single house, so no renters. My current apartment is a bachelor, in the basement of the landlord's house. While they are very nice and polite, I'm getting tired of hearing other people all the time walking, watching TV, using the bathroom and getting up in the middle of the night to cough loudly. They are retired so they are present 24/7 and when they leave for the weekend I feel some relief inside me. With this in mind, you have the reason why I didn't want to go for a duplex, at least not for now.
#2. However, If I want to move, I might keep the house and rent it to other people, thus getting some income from this investment. Good advice.
#3. This might be weird, but I actually like physical work, and doing repairs. I grew up with parents who shared renovation and repairing tasks, and did them mostly without hiring contractors, so for me it's very natural to do that myself too. I honestly am eager to do some repair or remodeling work on that house. Very relaxing and gratifying when it's completed. Got most basic tools too, and the cheapest ones I already replaced with time.
#4. The house is located in an older residential area so it won't be an issue. But I understand what you mean and I agree that most of the time fear is the real problem instead of criminality.
#5. Foundation is supposed to be good. 50% of the basement it's possible to see the concrete and we saw clearly that there are no cracks. The owner has had some things repaired over the years, and it's still under warranty, and he will give me the receipts. There was a crack at the base of a brick chimney, but that was sealed properly and has been dry for a few years.
luckybob wrote:I literally grew up helping my parents fix houses and maintain them because of renters. Other people have baby pictures of themselves having fun at parks or on vacations, mine are all on jobsites. I kid you not, my first words were "sweep sweep", but I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.
I think we have had a similar upbringing because I understand this so much. I was always offered to help my parents when they did work around the house, and always understood that my contribution was appreciated. So I was always interested in learning how to do stuff (an art that's slowly disappearing as people become wary of trying things and prefer the 'security' of having others do it instead) and that has always paid me back. Can't wait to repair the first thing that will break, myself. I already do in the apartment I'm renting, and the landlord pays me for the parts/materials so it will simply be a continuation of this.
Gemini000 wrote:Luckybob made a good post while I was writing this one, so I'm just gonna post this one anyways. Sorry for any overlap in the advice. 😉
No worries! Any help and experience is appreciated.
Gemini000 wrote:In any case, my first piece of advice in terms of home ownership is to learn to do all the little things. When I bought my home in 2004 my realtor gave me this MASSIVE guide to home ownership which included all kinds of tips on how to do things as simple as replacing a washer in a tap, to wiring in new light fixtures (a task you should probably leave to an electrician if there's anything even remotely special about it), but see if your realtor can do the same thing for you, or if they sell such guides or know where you can obtain one.
In our case the house is bought without an agent, so I won't benefit from this kind of help. As I wrote earlier I already do all the small things so it won't be an additional burden to me. This said, I would LOVE to take a peek at the guide you were given. Lots of useful info in there. I can do many things, but there's always something new that one has never tried before.
Gemini000 wrote:My next piece of advice would be to prepare yourself for issues.
I am ready, and can't wait for this kind of stuff. I'll probably have an issue list on the fridge and anytime something comes up I'll add it to the list and fix it on the weekend. I hate lingering problems and love to fix things.
Gemini000 wrote:My last piece of advice is: Be diligent.
I go by "better safe than sorry" for house stuff, and try to prevent problems rather than fix them. It was like this with my parents, and I learned how much less it costs to repair something early instead of waiting for it to break completely.
clueless1 wrote:On a related note, for the first few months, check said filters monthly! We live in a dusty area, and when I changed the filter for the first time after the scheduled 3 month interval, I was shocked to see it so caked that there was almost no airflow!
Heating system in that house is blown hot air that comes from an electrical furnace. I've lived with electrical heaters, hot water pipes, wood furnaces, but this is new to me. Pretty sure there will be filters, so this advice is spot on. Before moving in, we agreed to schedule some time to go through maintenance stuff together with the current owner. Operating the furnace, and knowing where the water main is, are on the menu for that afternoon.
realnc wrote:Have a basement where you can build your game room, and make sure it's flood-safe
And a basement there will be! Two things that make me super happy will be there : a living room which will probably be my retro room, and a workshop room where I will be able to do some woodworking and other projects.
PeterLI wrote:Basements:
1: Flooding risk.
2: Check radon levels.
3: Check for critters. […]
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Basements:
1: Flooding risk.
2: Check radon levels.
3: Check for critters.
Good advice. House is not in an easily-flooded area, but there's always a risk. There is a drain in the basement, but I'm planning on adding a sump pump which I find more effective.
Radon levels is something new for me. From what I gather it enters through cracks so in a crackless basement I should be fine. Any personal experience?
Critters I will deal with on a case by case basis. Insects could happen, it's a 1971 house so I'll see. When signing the documents there is a clause where the owner put in writing that there had been no infestations whatsoever. Larger critters like mice would surprise me, but if I hear anything I already know what to do.
My parents owned a 140-year-old house so I've seen and dealt with all kinds of warm-blooded animals wanting to get in for the winter.
Dreamer_of_the_past wrote:Luckybob gave you the most valuable information. That's what you want to stick with if you want to have a good easy life later on.
I'm not the type to move from place to place. I have secure work at the moment, and am usually pretty content with what I have. I tend to repair more than replace, and I stick with older, more reliable stuff in general. All I want is a place I will call home in the long run (10+ years or more if possible) and I think I found a good nest.
PeterLI wrote:It is also a lifestyle choice. And locks you into one geographical spot.
Putting your time and $ into a retirement scenario is a nice philosophy but another is to balance life today with the future.
Also: renting out is not very regulated in the US compared to the EU. I do not know about CA. Plus mortgages and disposable income in the EU are fundamentally different as well.
Yeah. The locking part I was afraid of at first I must admit. It's an anchor, and moving gets more difficult after that point. I can be asked to travel for work, but I doubt they would ask me to move as their offices are very near where I am at the moment.
I think renting is highly taxable for owners here in Canada but I don't have any experience on the owner side, and don't know if it's profitable or not.
badmojo wrote:In my part of the world, investors (mainly baby boomers) are buying up everything and doing the negative gearing thing, the result being that house prices have been pushed out of the reach of many first home buyers. That shit needs to be better regulated.
Here too. Everything is going upwards. My parents were dumbfounded when they saw the price of that house, and how they felt it was worth. Something they bought for maybe $100k in the 90's can sell for $300k or maybe $400k today. Salaries never followed that increase so people who buy houses at the moment are very rare.
kixs wrote:I guess I'm one of the lucky ones... bought an apartment with cash and would buy this house with cash too if I sell the apartment fast enough. If not then will need to finance about 40%. Still have a few months to decide. I don't want to rent thou. Many problems with renters as they are fully protected by the law even if they don't pay for rent and services And the house isn't new. There has to be some repairs/maintenance done before moving in - I'll do it mostly myself.
Buying with cash is relatively impossible to do here in Canada, at least not remotely close to cities. However, for the last 9 years I have spent less yearly than what I earn, so I have a decent cash down on the house, which will cut a good part of the loan and associated interest from the bank...
Private_Ops wrote:Great advice in this thread. Also, don't be afraid of paying lower for a home that may need some remodeling. If you can deal with the older stuff for a while, the lower mortgage payment really helps out.
I got a nice (for my area) 3 bed/1 bath for less than what I make in a year. My house payment is actually cheaper than what I was paying in rent and I have almost three times the space and a yard to myself. Now, granted, it does need remodeled but, I was ok with this.. some people may not be.
This is mostly what I did. New or recent houses are out of reach for most of the population, unless they want to live in complete debt, up to the neck, for the next 30 years. I refuse to live like that so I settled for an older place, but still in great shape.
Mine is going to be a 4 bedroom (if I count one in the basement) 1 bathroom. Monthly it will cost me 33% more than what I was paying for the rent of my apartment. Not cheap, but still affordable and will allow a good quality of life.
luckybob wrote: maintenance and upkeep is a major factor in a home. A lot of people are VERY surprised on just how much there is. I've had renters go from apartments to renting a house. The biggest transition they have issues with is basic upkeep. I tell my renters they are responsible for "basic" repairs, I offer help and guidance, but if the faucet is dripping, I expect them to get the $2 washer and fix it. I've seen some people crack under the pressure and go back to apartments, and i've seen some embrace it and go on to buy their own homes.
also, never keep anything important in a basement. If there ever is a flood, it's the basement that gets the worst.
As you read earlier, I am eager to do the upkeep. To me those responsibilities are tied to the feeling of "being at home". If you have to take care of something, you will feel more attached to it in the long run. I think it's the same for houses. The more time you spend taking care of it, the more you will feel it is yours and feel happy about the purchase. At the moment in the apartment I feel the opposite, a sort of detachment from the premises because hey, they're not mine. I live there, but I don't feel a connection to the place.
I am planning on having the retro room in the basement at the moment. Floods are rare here, but they can happen. I'll see what I can do about it. There are 3 rooms on the main floor. One I'll use for the master bedroom, the other for a guest bedroom, and the third as an office. I want to separate the office from the retro/project room to help with procrastination. At the moment when I'm working I always see the retro stuff around and it distracts me... and when I'm working on retro stuff, the real work is not far away and always calling to me. I want to give both my full attention so separating the rooms by "purpose" I hope will help with that.
SquallStrife wrote: My advice is, get a good building+pest inspector, two independent inspectors if you can afford it, and don't use the one recommended by the realtor.
After settlement of the contract of sale, the house is 100% your responsibility, you don't get to go back to the seller and say "You didn't tell me about this!!!". Even in places like Australia that have strong consumer protection laws for purchases, all sales of real estate are final. The period of the contract of sale is the time during which to ask questions and request checks to be performed, either yourself or through your solicitor.
I can't stress that enough. Even if the inspectors find nothing, it's worth every cent to have it done.
I think these laws depend on the place where you live. Here in Canada, they make a distinction between known/visible problems, and willfully hidden ones.
If the seller used deception and hid facts, he is responsible. If the seller put the problems in plain sight but the buyer didn't realize, it's the buyer's problem. In my case all known quirks and problems of the house have been put in writing (there are very few). It is also stated that there have been no pest/insect problems in the house.
Everything that was repaired in the house, the seller has kept receipts over the years so the warranties still apply.
I will visit the house again in a few weeks probably, as the snow melts. The only question mark about this house is whether the basement becomes more humid in spring due to accumulated water in the ground. According to the owner, no problem of such sort exists, but I still want to go there just in case and see for myself.
stuvize wrote: Not sure how vicious they are in Canada with taxes but only advice I have for Beegle since it sounds like you have already decided on a house is to not make it look too nice the land/property value cause taxes to go up. I know this sounds absurd and its not as big of a problem in certain areas but when several people around you build houses that could qualify as small castles it pushes all the land around it up in value so something simple like replacing old windows can double your taxes.
That sounds pretty intense. There are things I want to remodel but mostly inside the house, and will not affect the external appearance. The other places around are not changing any time soon (all houses from the 70s) so I should be good with that.
I'm guessing they base their yearly evaluation on if you asked for remodeling permits. If you don't tell them you changed something, they mostly won't bother to come knocking to see if it has changed. I'll look into this because it's something I have no information about at the moment.
Gemini000 wrote: I was told both in person and in the paperwork that the furnace was owned and that the only rental appliance was the water heater. When I got my first water heater rental bill there was ALSO a charge for rental of the furnace. I told my realtor about this and it turns out that in situations like this, the purchaser cannot be held responsible to honour payments for something he never committed to renting, thus ownership of the furnace was transferred to me free of charge. Whether or not there were any consequences or not for the people who sold the place to me, I have no idea.
Renting a furnace? Wow... I would have put my hand into fire that furnaces came with the house. That's crazy. And glad that it didn't have consequences for you in this case.
Gemini000 wrote: ...actually, that's another good tip: Don't ever rent your water heater. It's a common practice in the area I'm in and I've learned the somewhat hard way that it's ultimately all a sham and very much not worth it. I never had problems with my water heater as it was actually fairly new when I moved in, but when I went to sell the purchaser did not want to assume to rental contract, so I had to end it, and when I did, I got sent a final bill, paid it... then two months later got sent ANOTHER overdue final bill about EIGHT TIMES higher than normal. They eventually sent a collection agency after me but I sent the collection agency proof that I tried to resolve the situation in writing with registered mail and everything and laid out a very simple notion: "If the rental company explains what the charges are for and produces the contract I signed indicating I am responsible for those charges, I will pay them."
I never heard back from either the rental company or the collection agency after that. :B
When I was still visiting houses I stumbled on a cute little place of recent construction. But strangely the place was worn down. Foundation had cracks. Walls were broken and repaired hastily. And they were renting the water heater. That always struck me since then, as something fishy to start with. I mean, it probably pays itself in two years or less, why go that route?
And for the collection agency thing... wow. This adds to the fishiness of the whole situation. Did they at least come to take back the water heater, since it was theirs? How did they send a bill with no details on it, and expect you to pay... it's above me. I guess less resilient people would just pay out of fear, but I mean... in this day and age everyone should AT LEAST read what they're being billed for. Good on you that you could stop the collection agency in their tracks.
kixs wrote: If there are any hidden issues you have some time to arrange it with the seller - here is 1 year from signing.
I'll look into this. Didn't know there was a time limit.
bjt wrote: In the UK, owning your home a big plus if you have a family. There isn't enough protection for tenants and little recourse if the landlord drags their heels on maintenance. There is a proliferation of small amateur landlords who have been encouraged into it by preferential tax treatment as an alternative to conventional retirement savings. Unfortunately these people aren't interested in providing a good service to their tenants and haven't factored in maintenance.
[snip]
As for house advice, I would recommend knocking on your prospective neighbours' doors and asking them their opinions of the area. You'll get a good idea of what they're like and might pick up some useful info too. I also turned up at a few residents' association meetings to earwig on the local gossip.
At the moment we will only be two people in the house, no kids in sight sadly. At least providing a stable environment might help her change her mind about it, but I doubt.
I have seen a few documentaries about inactive landlords that put tenants through inhuman living conditions, and get away with it with a slap on the wrist and no forced correction of the problem. The laws are tighter in Canada in that regard, so tight in fact that the tenants are overprotected in case of a disagreement. Unpaying tenants are hard to evict, and those who do not take proper care of the premises are difficult to hold accountable. Different extremes.
I know my parents did knock on the neighbour's doors when they moved in houses when I was younger... but today... let's say that people are a lot less social than they were. If I were to go and knock to their door, the neighbours would probably ask themselves what's wrong with me, wonder if I'm trying to do something illegal, or simply trying to snoop inside their house. It's sad.
seob wrote:I did a lot of work on our house myself. We build it without a contractor, we where our own contractor. I build the house with our neigthbor where we share the roof with. He is a carpenter so he knew where to find a good crew.
The most importent thing is that you do all the work like painting before you move in. Once you move in the furniture is in the way.
Good on you doing the work yourself! It always helps with the feeling of accomplishment. Also it must have cost you a lot less doing with your neighbor, than if you hired a contractor for that. Probably the work was done better too since you knew you would be living inside afterwards.
Good point on the painting. Depending on when I get the keys, this might be possible. The apartment I'm renting, exit date is 30 of June. If I get the keys earlier in the house, it will be possible to paint. At least I'll do the bedroom asap, because that's the first thing we need after moving. The rest can come later.
And if it's not possible and I get the keys at the last minute, I'll do a rotation with the furniture and paint one room at a time. This is what I did here in the apartment and it wasn't so bad.
sf78 wrote:Solid advice here, especially the radon levels as it's usually overlooked. Make sure the A/C work as well. It should keep the ai […]
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PeterLI wrote:Basements:
1: Flooding risk.
2: Check radon levels.
3: Check for critters. […]
Show full quote
Basements:
1: Flooding risk.
2: Check radon levels.
3: Check for critters.
Solid advice here, especially the radon levels as it's usually overlooked. Make sure the A/C work as well. It should keep the air quality higher and also lessen the moisture, mold etc. Also make sure the whole house is properly ventilated, not just the living area. I would also check the drainpipes and roof for any (upcoming) problems that might get expensive over time.
I personally wouldn't do much plumbing or other "big" repairs as most insurances (where I live at least) won't cover them in case of an accident. Even if the failing part was not something you had tinkered on. There's also manufacturers/contractors warranty for parts and work. Might also get a tax deduction for these.
My house has a district heating so there's not much maintance. I only need to make sure all the readings are what they should and check that the heat exchanger actually does something. The city just replaced the whole pipe junction coming from the street to my house and they covered the whole cost. Which was nice.
Good advice. I researched a bit about radon levels and I'll do a test during fall season.
The house is properly ventilated at the moment, and when the heating kicks in, air is circulated between the basement and main floor so humidity is kept in check. If I see that it is too high, I'll get a dehumidifier and let it run in the basement when necessary.
Just when visiting houses I could smell the difference between humid, moldy basements and properly ventilated ones. This house is properly ventilated. The basement still smells a bit like concrete (most basements do) but there was no humidity.
For the big repairs here with the insurance they allow it. My father can do roofing and carpentry, my uncle can do plumbing and I can assist with plumbing and electricity. If the work is done correctly there is no problem. Some people do half-assed repairs, and then the insurance simply has to prove that it has been done incorrectly and won't cover. I'm pretty meticulous with repairs so that won't be an issue.
And... district heating? Here we get water and electricity, but all houses are independant for the heating. The area to be covered is just too large and heat would be lost with the distance. How does it work on your side? What is the substance that gets heated then sent in everyone's homes?
