Buying a real home

[CigarAl]

You can purchase the home warranty direct from the companies without a realtor. You can purchase them any time and does not have to be done at the time of closing.

Take a look at these two companies. I have no affiliation with either company, but I do have a policy with one of them (and no there is no discount or referral fee).

American Home Shield - www.ahs.com

Cross Country - www.cchs.com

Make sure your inspector comes from some who has used them before and has been around awhile. I would suggest finding someone who was in the trade before and has not only done home inspections for their entire career.

Also, if there is no realtor involved, you may want to consider using an attorney for the process, to review the Purchase and Sale and other pertinent documents. I know the seller is your friend, but you need to be protected as well.

If you know of a real estate attorney, ask them who they close mortgages with, they may be able to save you some costs.

 

[jfields]

AHS was the company I used and like I said, they were very good to deal with when the pipe burst in my wall.

I thought they were just responsible for the pipes getting fixed. I was trying to figure out who to call to do the restoration when I got a call from one of their reps. They must have read the notes from the plumber because the girl on the phone stated they were sending someone out to do the mold remediation. Then someone else to take care of replacing the insulation and restore the drywall/kitchen cabinets.

 

[Pugman1943]

Depending on if you are taking your time or have to rush, if you get HGTV, they have a nightly program at 9pm CST called house hunters. Watch it. In the end you get into the meat and potatoes for price asked, price paid and concessions by the owner (if any) based on problems or closing costs. In the current housing market, you should be the Captain of your ship, and while I am sure you can drive a great bargain, you can't be an azzhat. Make sure you have your financing ready because you can then use that to help push the deal (final offer - take it or leave it within 24 hours). Home inspection a must (make sure they are licensed) and as they gang mentioned, referrals would be great. Don't be afraid to look around the web and your area that you might wish to see. Your broker wants to sell their listings, but they can sell any house. Go with your instincts, if it don't feel right, back off and reassess. This is the only investment that will cost you more than a Aristocrat humi filled with boxes of ISOM's. I wish you great success.

 

[likescarsz28]

Thank you all for the sage advice. I will be referring to this thread often as I go through the process. I decided to go through a realtor since she will be the one selling my current home. I figure with the new (to me) home sale hinging on my place selling, she would work harder to sell it. Besides, in the end, she deserves to make some money and I could use an advocate. After looking at dozens of homes, I have narrowed it to two. Luckily, both have cigar rooms!Have a great night, off to the home warranty sites previously linked.

Thank you all again.

 

[Not A Nice Person]

I bought my house brand new from the builder, to my specs and choice of finishes, right before the market crashed. I'm pretty sure the deal I got (didn't cost me a PENNY to close) doesn't exist anymore, but . . . builders have been sitting on inventory for a LONG time at this point. It might not hurt to check around.

~Boar