kathdavis

We just moved last year after 30 years. I learned a lot.
- Never use the agent on the For Sale sign because that agent works for the seller. Get your own that you know and can trust. Maybe get referral from someone you know. If you don't like that one, change.
-Rooms can be painted and wallpaper can come down. Look at the space and bones of the house.
-Save yourself a lot of time by searching on zillow.com where you can enter city, subdivision, etc. where you want to live to look for houses for sale in your price range and you can view pictures of the house instead of waiting to see with realtor. You can also see what houses are selling for in that neighborhood.
-If you find a house you think you might like, ask realtor to see it right away. Houses aren't staying on the market very long at all.
-Always hire someone for the inspection and be there when it takes place. Foundation issues are expensive, so get those taken care of as part of the negotiation.
-Have your realtor include a warranty on the house you purchase as part of contract. It usually costs the seller $500 but covers the furnace, AC, appliances, garage door openers, etc.
-The tree advice you have been given is great.
-Having a ranch this time has really changed our lives. We are actually using our whole house instead of having bedrooms upstairs that we never used.
Hope this helps.

Jeanette Frantz

Take it from someone who worked as a legal assistant in a primarily real estate practice, and from seeing the things buyers can get "taken to the cleaners" on, be represented by your own attorney. Yes, it can be expensive, but almost certainly NOT as expensive as buying a house that might have problems. Other issues that can arise -- proposed roadways which might result in condemnation of all or a portion of property for road construction, or any other "public purpose". What I'm saying is not intended as a "slam" against a realtor (any realtor), but if you are represented by your own attorney, you're generally protected. My own BIL and his wife refused to hire an attorney to represent them in their house purchase many years ago, and apparently didn't have an inspection done either, but ended up with both heating and air conditioning problems (neither one worked). The units ultimately had to be replaced at a cost of several thousand dollars. I wouldn't and didn't purchase a vacant one-acre lot without legal representation, and had legal representation when we subsequently purchased the adjacent one-acre lot. We purchased at a very good time, and bought both one-acre lots in a platted subdivision for less than $10,000. A very good price, but not an amount I'd spend without protecting us. For instance, because it was a platted subdivision, we were able to combine the two lots and build our house in the center of the two acres. Had it been unplatted property, divided by the previous owner, the county regulations here would have made it impossible for us to even build on the property. Also, if the property had been unplatted, it would be necessary to make certain that the two lots were adjacent, and that there was no "gap" in the legal descriptions. In this state, most mortgage lenders (if any) would require a current survey. Even if the lender did not require a survey, it's likely that the title insurance company would require a current survey to eliminate certain title exceptions. I know that every state is different -- all I'm saying is that you should have YOUR OWN attorney to represent your interests. Jeanette

Onebyone

Unless my DD was paying for part of the house then her wants would not be a consideration. She could adapt to the space she was given. If you know your DD cannot move out on her own in the future then her wants and needs are important.

In my area a good realtor is getting hard to find. They all seem to push the houses that are on the high end of our budget and the homes the sellers offered a big bonus to sell the house. We had to insist on looking at homes on the low end too.