With a little more effort than scanning the rooms you may find more wrong than what you were told.  You should look for things most people don't think about looking into when buying a home. Bring a few tools and a flashlight. Look at the electrical outlets, breaker panel or fuse box, piping, attic insulation, central air ducts, and signs of recent repair work for hidden problems. Of course this doesn't mean you forgo bringing your own inspector if and when you are seriously considering making an offer.  

Be aware of do-it-yourself home improvements. In one case, a buyer ended up with a home in which the previous owners enclosed the garage to form a living room. The seller did the work himself. All additional electrical wiring was run to one side of the breaker panel causing the breakers to trip when the buyer ran the vacuum and something else at the same time. Additionally, the roofing wasn't sealed properly and so there was water leaking into the attic. The electrical outlets and wires were in such bad shape they began sparking and smoking. Some home improvements are minor enough to handle yourself but when it comes to electrical, roofing or any repair that normally requires a licensed professional you should ask the seller who handled those areas of the improvements.  

Be aware of home improvements done by incompetent contactors. In another case, seller was an elderly woman and she had just had the roof replaced due to hail damage. It was covered under her policy but being the cost conscious senior that she is she hired a local company to do the work and saved a few hundred dollars. When she sold the house neither she nor the new buyer knew of the poor roof workmanship.  An inspection was done but the roof passed.  Apparently the issue was not apparent unless you walked over the area. At closing the seller handed over all the warranties on the appliances, which included a one page Xerox copy on the roof replacement. The buyer was never able to reach the contractor and has had to hire another bonded contractor to re-do the roof.

 When you buy and sell property, expect the unexpected. Case in point, once, while holding an open house, the previous homeowners showed up. I suppose I should share some history with you to explain our surprise. From the time we met the homeowners,  during the home inspection, we sensed their reluctance to sell. Unfortunately, they had to sell to avoid foreclosure. Their adult daughter really did not want to move so this added to heighten hostilities. These people were so contentious by the time of closing that we almost backed out of the transaction. Through the entire sales process, they fought and argued about every issue.  

So you can imagine our surprise to see them.They probably came by to see what interest was generated in their old house and how motivated the buyers were.  I realize they had just as much right as a nosy neighbor to be there because it was open to the public. Nonetheless, this was a first for us.  Once they realized that we and not a realtor were hosting the open house they raced through the sign in table, browsed all the rooms, and rushed out.  

As realtors we don’t think much about the emotional trauma people (seller) might be going through when separating from them once largest investment. Their hopes, their dreams are all gone with a swipe of a pin on a paper.  I will be more cognizance of this the next time we decide to buy a foreclosure.

 

Check your real estate tax bill for assessment or mechanical errors.  Most appraisal districts assign value to properties once every 3 years. Therefore, your tax assessment was probably done at the peak of the real estate market when home prices were overvalued by as much as 20%. You can request an appeal with the central appraisal district in your jurisdiction. You will have to do some research to produce evidence that values in your subdivision have actually dropped.  This is not difficult to do but it is time consuming.

You’ll need to consider mechanical errors made by the tax assessor. These can include appraising your house with extra square footage or improvements that don’t exist.  Maybe your property has changes since the last tax evaluation was done. In one case I’m aware of a property owner had made changes to her property that no longer included a front and back porch but the tax assessor was still including them on her property tax records. When she appealed and had the error corrected her bill was reduced by 5%.  In another case, a property owner knew his property was 1/4 acre yet the appraisal district was billing him for nearly an acre of land. You may save big money if you check your property records for error that are causing an overvaluation of your property.  Whatever you do, don’t put this off because the appraisal district has deadlines for filing appeals.

 There’s only five months left to take advantage of the federal tax credit of $8000.00 for first time homebuyers. Housing prices couldn’t be better and mortgage interest rates are low which creates a great opportunity for first time homebuyers. There is a huge inventory of effectively priced properties in the El Paso area. I am an experienced professional ready to assist you every step of the way. There is an array of mortgage programs and products specifically designed for the first time homebuyer.