So I am going to buy a new house..

[Norelco]

I live at the bottom of a huge hill. My entire back yard (including my driveway) is at a fairly steep grade. I don't have a basement, so flooding isn't a problem, however, water settling under the house is a problem. It could comprimise structural ingetrity, as well as cause mold. You have to take huge precautions to prevent this. I've dumped hours upon hours of work under my house to get everything right. Covered the entire undersection of thehouse in plastic, place sump pumps, covered pipes, and buried irrigation pipes and directed them to the city drains located near the sidewalk. It's one of few complaints I've had with my house, but luckily it was fixed with little money (although quite a bit of work). Be as picky as you want with your house, you're living in it. If your housing situation is fine for the meanwhile, you have all the time to wait for the right house. I don't think you have to worry about housing prices spiking anytime soon.

My wife and I are living in a pretty nice 800sqft apartment in the expensive part of town. I can afford it, but she would rather have that money put towards a house, which is understandable, but she's getting increasingly irritable that we can't find a house we like (with no structural/electrical problems). It seems most people here in Buffalo don't really have the wherewithall to take care of their homes (either they're just ignorant or they can't afford it). It makes looking for a suitable home more frustrating for us.

[Weltall]

Wasn't a joke Tyche. I wanted to see what 700 a month gets you in X city.

[Tyche]

3 Bed, 2 full bath.

I live in Henderson, KY. It's a bit less than 2 hours from where you are. It's a larger rural community.

I'll just post random images throughout the house, because I'm in too much of a hurry to walk you through.

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/7...oor2kz2.th.jpg

http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/2...ect1ig0.th.jpg

http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/7...ect4aj6.th.jpg

http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/8...ect1gu2.th.jpg

http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/6...ct10ie2.th.jpg

http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/8429/house3fo4.jpg

http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/8797/house4ec4.jpg

[BIGSTIC]

Do you think it's bad that my wife and I are being picky?

There was a house that we were almost ready to put an offer on, but her uncle came along with us and he is an electrical inspector and noticed that the house is wired with aluminum wiring (as opposed to copper). He said that could be a fire hazard if any of the wiring was done incorrectly.

He was very right on this point. Aluminum expands and contracts more than copper and the connections will become loose over time. It is fine to have Aluminum Service Feeders, the big wires that come into your house from the power pole. But aluminum in walls going to outlets and lights is just asking for trouble. It was quite commen back in the 70's to use aluminum because it was cheaper but things have changed and you will pretty much never see aluminum in houses, except for the service entrance or the wires feeding your stove or ac. Modular and Mobile homes are famous for using aluminum. And if you think you could buy the house for cheap and just re-wire it well figure I can wire a new house(1800sf) for around $4-5k but if you want me to come in and wire a remodel with the rock still up you can triple that figure. ITs all about speed and fishing wires slows the whole job down.

And you can never be TOO picky when it comes to buying a house. This is gonna be probably the biggest purchase in your life so no reason to rush it. Dont let your realator, famliy, coworker, try to push you into purchasing a home. When the time is right you will know. Hell the fed dropped the intrest rate again today so at this moment time aint really gonna make the deal worse.

[Norelco]

Quick question. Do any of you guys have any experience with property disclosures? It seems to me this is something the seller provides the buyer if there is any fixes/problems with the house that they feel they need to disclose (CA has a rule that if someone has died in the house within a 3 year span they have to say so, or if there are foundations, or lead-based paints).

My question is, is this something they disclose to you while you are looking at the house or do they only disclose this stuff to you after you put an initial offer on a place?

[Norelco]

Ah, sorry for the necro bump.

My wife and I just put in an offer on a house and the owners accepted. Home inspection this Friday. w00t!

[Neosutra]

Ah, sorry for the necro bump.

My wife and I just put in an offer on a house and the owners accepted. Home inspection this Friday. w00t!

Grats! We can all be poor fuckers together!~