What question should you really be asking when buying a house? Well today I'm going to share with you a checklist of my top eight questions all home buyers need to ask. So let's get started. So you think you found your ideal home. You love the neighborhood, the large backyard, the wood floors that has everything on your wish list. But while making you an offer on this home, there are at least eight questions that you need to answer to first to make sure that your dream home is truly ideal. Number one, how long is a house spent on the market? A glimpse in the past may help you to determine whether or not you're paying a good price or not. For example, has this seller had their house on an off the market more than three times in the past year? If so, ask your realtor to find out why. The answer may determine that sellers level of motivation. The longer the house has been on the market, it's more likely that the house is overpriced or may have some other problem. If you're financing your new home, your lender is going to order an appraisal of the home. So making a realistic offer based on comparable sales is better than potentially getting into a situation of overpaying. Unless of course you have to have that particular home and you're prepared to come to closing with the additional money just in case the appraisal doesn't come out to your contractual purchase price. I talk about these situations and more in my earlier video. The good news is there's usually always a remedy that makes both buyers sell or happy. Number two, what are the utility costs? When buying a house, you're probably not thinking about how much utilities are going to cost, but you should ask. You need to have a good idea on average. How much you need to budget for these additional homeowner costs? Most utility companies will give you the last 12 months bill history or at least give you an yearly average. If you're buying a home in the greater Lakeland area, below I put a link to all the local utility companies for your convenience. Just keep in mind that the current seller may have a different lifestyle in years. For example, if they have a lot of kids and you don't, their water bill and let the bill may be a little bit higher than a family of two. But you'll be able to get a good idea. Number three, how old is the roof? Every year, remodeling trend publication puts out a list of the least and the most cost-effective home improvement projects. According to this year's report, the cost of roof replacement is climbing, but returning a slightly lower value. A new roof is expensive. You don't want to get stuck replacing a roof after a year or two being in the house. So find out how the roof is. This will give you a good idea of how long you have until the roof actually needs to be replaced and make your offer with this in mind. Number four, what problems has the house had in the past? Unless you plan to buy this home as a project home, you don't want to buy a house with a lot of problems. You want to be able to weed out all the homes that have major issues. The sellers may have filled out a seller's disclosure declaring everything they know about the house. But please don't rely on this. Of course, you're going to get a professional home in term mind inspection report. This is ultimately going to tell us the whole truth about the home's condition. But that's done after you get into contract. So ask if the houses had any past pest infestations, like termites. And if so, when was the house treated? And also is there a transferable bond to you as a new buyer? You should also ask if there's ever been any past broken pipes, past fires, or mold or mildew damage. If the deal seems too good to be true and you're not in the market for a fixer upper, be bold. Ask what's wrong with it. Number five, how much are property taxes? By now, you probably notice that there is a few extra costs of being a homeowner. And one of these costs are property taxes. Two things. If your home purchase is going to be your primary residence, it is very important that you file for your home's steady exemption. Otherwise, you're going to be paying a lot more in property taxes. And if you're financing more than 80% of your purchase price, your property taxes are going to be escrowed into your monthly mortgage payment. Again, it's super important that you file for your home's steady exemption. Otherwise, you may see your mortgage payment increase. Buying a home in Pope County, I provided you a link on the free checklist below. This link will take you to the Pope County property appraisers tax estimator site, where you could just simply plug in the address, your purchase price, and it'll calculate how much your taxes will be. Number six, what is a sewer situation? If the property is not on city sewer, then you have a septic system. Maintaining a septic system adds a minimal cost. Ask when that system was last pumped out. And how long is the drain field? And has it ever backed up? You'll want to have a complete septic inspection. So not to get saddled with having to replace a septic system. Number seven is the electrical up to code. Today's electronic lifestyles mean there's more plugs needed. Check the outlets and make sure that the electrical system can handle your usage. Also, if the electrical system is outdated, you may not be able to obtain a binder for homeowners insurance. Not to mention the cost of overhauling the system. Your offer should reflect this. And finally, number eight, what warranties are still in effect? Your home buying checklist should include a question about home warranties. Is the HVAC system still under warranty? What about the appliances in the home? From the roof to the water heater, you want to know what's still under warranty. And also ask for the records too. And always keep them in a safe place. For your convenience, you'll find a link below to my free checklist titled Questions Every Buyer Should Ask. Also on the checklist, I put some additional links to help you make the very best and inform decision when making the most important and expensive purchase of your life. I'm Lisa Kelly, Lakeland Homes and Lifestyles with Pamir Realty. I hope you found this video helpful. And if you did, hit like and leave me a comment. I would love to hear about your home buying experience so far. And before you go, please hit the subscribe button. Go ahead. I'll wait until you do it. Oh, and if you want to make sure that you never miss any of my new videos, just hit the little bell to be notified when my next video is published, which is every single Monday. Until then, I'll see you on the next one. Number four. Cut. Number four. What problems is the house? Complete!