New homebuyer, any suggestions/advice?? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

#1 06-27-2003, 03:58 PM

Yup! I'm meeting the real estate guy tomorrow for the first time. My financial planner gave me the go ahead to buy last week. Plus, I'm sick of renting.

I'm looking for a townhouse/other in the $270,000 range in the DC area.

I'm sure there are a lot of homeownes in our Forum.

Any advice for a first-time homebuyer??

Thanks!!

TN-W124 Diesel · #2 06-27-2003, 04:15 PM

I don't know the area, but check if the house is in a Flood Zone, and if you can get Flood insurance, hey you never know..and get it inspected by YOUR inspector, not the realtors..

MTI · #3 06-27-2003, 04:15 PM

Most of the time, homebuyers only see the property during the day, sometimes only during a weekday. Try visiting and prospective property "after hours" especially in the evening when all the homeowners in the neighborhood should be home. Check out the street parking, lighting, etc. to see how the area is when you'll be home the most.

Rick Miley · #4 06-27-2003, 04:27 PM

I have a personal friend who is a real estate agent in D.C. and you could be assured he will work for you and not the seller. Email or PM me for his name and number.

engatwork · #5 06-27-2003, 05:31 PM

Congratulations Stefano

. I agree with the earlier post. When you find something you can live with for awhile (and maybe make a little $ on if/when you decide to sell) get a house inspector to go over it with a fine tooth comb. Kinda like a PPI

. Use that as leverage to reduce the asking price or get them to fix the stuff on the punchlist PRIOR to signing on the dotted line. Get the biggest garage you can afford

.

JCE · #6 06-27-2003, 05:49 PM

I agree on the PPI for the house, including mold, soil compaction efficiency, flood areas, repair history and records, etc. Then, extend the PPI to the neighborhood, starting with the homeowner association rules/CCRs, if any - can you live with ALL the restrictions if a control nazi ever gets elected to the association (and they will, at some point). Increase the scope out to the surrounding areas. Is the area increasing or decreasing in home value and quality? Which way is the flow of rush hour traffic to your work - better to go against the flow in this case. Nearby pluses (schools, fire stations, freeway access, shopping, parks/bike trails, etc.) and minuses (haz waste sites, challenged neighborhoods/gang activity, high crime, poor access, lack of drainage systems for rain run off, etc.). Local Micro-climate - is the area in a dish shaped valley to trap summer heat, at a canyon that focuses the winds, etc?

JCE · #7 06-27-2003, 06:54 PM

Ted:

Radon depends a lot on your area of the country/geology, and the type of building materials and structure type. Granitic soils are usually more likely to contain the radon gas producing parent nuclide(s). Houses with basements are typically most likely to trap radon - a very heavy gas molecule. It may be in the building materials, or come from the surrounding soil through cracks in concrete slabs or basement walls. Brick (and sometimes concrete/c-block) construction often has more radon potential than wood frame homes. Mineral wool insulation has sometimes been associated with radon production, but farely rare event. Often water supplies are a (limited) source of introduction of radon, usually as well water, as municipal aeration is fairly effective at causing the Rn to outgas.

The US EPA used to have a radon site with local maps showing potential 'hot' counties and states, and checklists of things to look for and remediation measures. If they don't have enough info (!) I can look through my old slides and handouts for you. Some radon is present everywhere on the planet, but is a major problem only in a relatively few parts of the country.

Test kits are fairly inexpensive. Some of these are not terribly accurate, however, and aren't worth the money, IMHO. Definitive quantification can be very costly, however. If you aren't looking at a high risk structure/geology/location, I would focus on the other PPI items first, and do a 'peace-of-mind screen test after the more common potential problems (mold, fungus, lead based paint, water supply, local air quality, etc) were addressed.

Good luck on the new house, and enjoy your own place (another full time job)!

JCE · #8 06-27-2003, 10:29 PM

Quote:

Absestos insulation and cement board siding

123C triggered a long dormant synapse

- asbestos was also often used in 20-50 year old non-metal heating and AC ductwork. If the ducting isn't metal or flex plastic, and looks like rigid paper mache/stucco, it may contain asbestos which requires (in CA, anyway) a specialized certified contractor for removal and a separate haz waste fee.

For the trivia minded, most of the world (including most of the USA) has switched away from the old 'Curie' system of units to Sieverts/Becquerels, but EPA is a prominent holdout. For comparison sake, comparison to the picocurie levels for another naturally occurring radioisotope, (potassium 40, with longer physical half life, biological residence time, and more penetrating gamma rays) may be useful:

The human body (avg approx 75 kg) contains about 100,000 picocuries of potassium-40 - about 1300pCi/liter. (0.01% of all natural potassium is K40, including the potassium iodide tablets being issued for nuclear emergencies. Milk contains about 2000 pCi per liter of K40, and Bananas contain about 4000 pCi per liter.) The K40 distributes throughout your body, however, while the Rn mostly flushes through your lungs, where it some of it potentially decays to a non gaseous radioactive heavy metal molecule emitting highly damaging alpha particles at the surrounding tissues.

This is not to minimize the importance of Radon issues, politicized though they may be. However, it is important to keep them in the perspective of being just one of the legion of potential environmental issues, many of which are unregulated or much more poorly regulated/publicized than Radon, such as ultrafine particulates from diesel exhaust. I would personally be more worried about my home being located close to a major truck/bus route, busy train tracks, or coal burning power plant (which also emits radioactive waste up the stacks and in the fly ash), than I would be about a 4.1pCi Rn concentration.

Also, if you are a smoker, not only are Rn effects multiplied by your decreased pulmonary clearance mechanisms (damage to the cillia which help clear the lungs of pollutants), you are also inhaling a very large amount of radioactive alpha emitting heavy molecules naturally occurring in the tobacco, again multiplying the radiation exposure to the lungs.

Oops, not in front of the classroom any more, so I will stop rambling.

#9 06-28-2003, 12:47 AM

Man! this is great. Thanks, everyone, for all the info!!

I wanted a townhouse/house rather than a condo because I hate the idea of living in a "unit" with other "units". I also want a garage for my car(s).

I think I have one of two possibilities:

1. live nearer to DC in an older townhouse or duplex
2. live further out (15-20 miles) in the same.

The price would be about the same for either.

Eric, thanks for all the information, if I get an older place it will be invaluable! (It also reminded me of a house I lived in for two years a few years back. The backyard was up against the county's electrical power lines. One could hear the buzzing 24 hours a day. I always worried that I was getting some kind of bad rays or something. Hope not.)

The lease on the house I'm in ends at the end of July. We may not renew. If we do, my housemates know that I won't be here in a few months. If we choose not to renew, I may be at my late father's house for a while until I buy. That means two-hour commutes each way!!

Hope it doens't take too long to find a place.!

unkl300d · #10 06-28-2003, 01:47 AM

yes, buy a duplex. You can decide who lives next to you.
Form a corp. for your properties so it is harder to get sued and lose properties. More write offs.

Rentals can pay for themselves in time.
make sure the plumbing is copper and NOT pre- lead solder.
Past 1985, I believe, lead solder was outlawed.

check water pressure with all taps on.

roof condition.

homeowner's insurance is hard to get now so you better have a broker give you a quote on prospective properties and find out up front if you can get insurance in order to satisfy the bank loan.
otherwise you fail escrow and lose the place.Find out how much, get a real quote not heresay.

insurance is a bum rap nowadaysmake sure there are no lawsuits on the HOA or surprise plans by the city to
take your land for freeways or parking lots etc. Know the politics.
property taxes.
The credit card of city goverment.
know your politics!

rent laws.

toxic waste dumps from the past????

window panes, foundation cracks, zoning laws, lead based paint,
aliens, muders in the building (you can run a check with the police-this CAN effect prop value!!)
crime in general etc.
due diligence.

Denis
prop manager/owner

#11 06-28-2003, 02:24 AM

Thanks, Denis.

My best friend used to be a city planner and also deals with many environmental laws for new developments. He's done many envoronmental impact studies and advises developers of what they must do to comply with city/county laws. I'll plan to use him to look into any issues of toxic dumps, etc. I'll also have him look into what any area I'm looking at is zoned for. I'd hate to buy with a lot of space around, only to learn that the space has been zoned for a strip mall or something.

dairel · #12 06-28-2003, 11:33 AM

Be sure and look at a 15 year fixed loan. If your going to stay or keep it for more than a couple of years look at paying points to get a lower interest rate. Do not do a variable rate, in this current economy. Dairel CPA,CFP,CFS.BCM,BCE

#13 06-28-2003, 12:42 PM

After I meet with the realtor today I think I'll have a better idea of where I can afford.

My first inclination is the area north of Old Town Alexandria and south of Crystal City. From what I hear, it's an "up and coming area" which is still a little on the marginal side but a lot of "yuppies" are beginning to notice it and move in. I think I may be able to get a townhouse there for the range I'm looking to spend-- $270,000ish. I don't mind an older house (has a lot more character than the newer ones!), but it has to be in decent shape. I certainly don't want a money pit and will definitely get a PPI done.

Further out, say, Sterling or Herndon won't kill me as long as it's near the Dulles Access road. I can pay the tolls and deduct them as a business expense. Either way, I'd rather spend the money than sit in a huge traffic jam every day slowly going crazy!

BTW, my sister and brother in law bought their house in Bethesda five years ago for $270,000. Today it went on the market for $565,000. They expect it to sell within the week.

wbain5280 · #14 06-28-2003, 09:42 PM

Stay away from either end of Dulles airport due to the flight path, i.e. Ashburn.

Radon is not such a big problem, it's half life is only 3 days.

I used to live in the Merrifield area which was really nice but the traffic is brutal. Check various areas at night for drug activity or other assorted problems, such as working on the Beltway or Springfield Interchange at night.

Botnst · #15 12-30-2006, 11:19 AM

Here's a nice little cottage on the market in my area.

Bot

-------------

$398,500

617 W. Canal St.
Church Point, Louisiana 70525

Bedrooms: 4
Full Bathrooms: 2
Half Bathrooms: 1
Single Family Home
MLS#: L0597204
Description

Colonial home refurbished in 2004, is wonderful for family living, corporate retreat, bed and breakfast. Entry with hardwood floors, a staircase introduces an interior with a formal living room with fireplace, dining room, kitchen morning room, study or office & laudry room. Upstairs consists of the master suite with fireplace, adjoining nursery & 3 bedrooms, with a sitting area. Sits on 6. 24 acres of mature trees, backyard leads to tennis court, pond, pool, pool house (2,300 sq ft) with kitchen, game room wet bar, outdoor barbeque.

Features

Garage/Parking
6.24 Acre Lot Area
In-ground Pool
Year Built: 1935
Slate Roof
2 Floor(s)
Colonial Architecture
Central Cooling
Lake Front
Fireplace