5 Things EVERYONE Should Know Before Buying a House!

These are the top 5 things you should know before buying your first house, from the perspective of both a Real Estate Agent and Real Estate Investor. Enjoy! Add me on Instagram/Snapchat: GPStephan

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The first, and biggest mistake is not to worry about minor cosmetic issues. I’m talking about referring to walking into a home and not liking the paint color. Or not liking the carpet. Or thinking the backsplash is ugly. Too many buyers get caught up in the small, easily changed details that they overlook the bigger picture and pass up an otherwise perfect house for something that can be changed out within a day or two for minimal effort.

Anytime you’re checking out a property, look at 3 things:
-The location. This is something you’re stuck with and can’t change, regardless of how much money you sink into the property.
-The second is the floor plan. This CAN be fixed, but it’s just a matter of money. At a certain price, things just don’t make sense to fix - if you’re buying a property for $150,000 under market value, then maybe changing the floorpan can be justified. But if you’re buying at retail level and think the floorplan sucks, then maybe the house isn’t for you.
-The third, like I mentioned, are cosmetic issues. These can easily be changed for very inexpensively, all things considered. Don’t get caught up here.

The second thing to know is that when you see a property, it’s usually only during an hour in the day - sometimes a weekend afternoon, or a week day after work. But it’s important to understand wha the house is like throughout the day - sometimes what you could be a quiet weekend street is filled with back-to-back stop and go traffic during the week as everyone gets off work.

The third is to consider neighbor noise and much like the first example, go there late at night or on weekends and see what the neighbors are like. Trust me on this one…while neighbors come and go, and chances are they won’t be noisy forever, at least have an idea what you’ll be getting into.

Fourth thing to consider is commute times. Obviously this won’t matter if you’re buying an investment property, but for anyone else, figure out how long it’ll take you to get to and from work depending on traffic. Especially in Los Angeles, what could be a 15 minute drive at 2am might turn into an hour long commute at 6pm.

Fifth, is to always get the home inspected - this is a common sense - I’ve never seen a home NOT be inspected, but I can’t stress the importance of this enough. Get the home inspected, and do as many inspections as you think will be necessary. Even if not to try to get a credit, but just to know what you’re getting into.

Finally…as a 6th bonus tip for reading all the way through, because you’re the real MVP…don’t open up any lines of credit or buy anything expensive 6 months before getting your mortgage. The worst thing you can do right before getting a loan is to get yourself in debt or give the bank any reason not to give you the full amount promised. Always get the mortgage, first - then whatever you decide to do after that is on you.

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[TRUTHREALITYTRUTH]

1. Location
2. Floor plan
3. Cosmetic (paint, flooring) CAN BE OVERLOOKED
4. Street traffic, watch different times of day & week
5. Neighbour noises, watch different times before buying
6. Commute times weekdayz & weekend
7 . Do inspections (home inspection report) leakages, ac, heater
8. Dont get new lines of credit 6 month before buying

[cristiancortes]

Definitely avoid being neighbors with team 10 😂

[MRios]

I'm so glad I discovered Graham. It's weird cause in a sense, I've felt like he's been a part of my life. He personally helped me with financial advice for my parents, helped guide me and my fiance to start saving for our wedding and in our Roth IRAs, and now helping us prepare for buying our first home very soon. We appreciate you, Graham!

[MichaelJayValueInvesting]

The tips on noise and traffic are all especially important for light sleepers like me. After a few weeks of restless nights, you are going to want to move if you didn't realize your two next door neighbors were Lil Tay and Jake Paul.

[jjbuckner]

Great point you made about driving to the location at different times of day to check neighbor noise. This is something my wife and I did when we bought our first house. Best time we found to drive through was Friday and Saturday nights.

[DanielGarcia-zzeg]

When buying
LOOK AT THE Property taxes
Home insurance

Yes the monthly payment from the bank looks easy. They havent added the taxes and insurance for every year.

Those will go up every year
Maybe not alot but they do

Bigger the house, higher the taxes, nicer the neighborhood, higher the taxes

[DeedraBoodram]

That 6th tip is the best!! Thanks for sharing!! I have been thinking about making a video similar. We purchased a house and later discovered extensive termite and water damage. First time home buyers should really make sure that they have a good home inspector.

[young]

Do you hate your neighbors? Well a brand new hit man will cost you anywhere from 10k to 50k

[JamesMyers]

Good tip about driving the street at different times. Your quiet street could become a racetrack in the mid-late afternoon.

[brandonsmith]

I hardly see home buying tips for regular folks looking for houses in the $100, 000-$150, 000 range. Shocking how many people have $300, 000-$500, 000+ to blow on a house.

[BrentInvesting]

This Carpet is GREEEN" lol My wife is huge on cosmetics. After she learned buying real estate with equity in it... You want these Green carpets, scrapped up walls and old kitchen... That's good equity possibility right there!

[Taylor-Hanson]

I've officially been watching Graham for over a year. I now find his videos educational and his voice comforting.

[samdicating]

Hello Mr. Graham, Thank you for these 5 tips. You have a point, people only look at the home as is and not look at what they can change such as cosmetic issues. Thanks for these tips and I will certainly keep them in mind.

[JM-wngu]

I'm glad that regardless of being a real estate agent he still gives us an unbiased view and advice on what to look for prior to buying a property. Thanks for the tips

[DylanRoberts]

Personally I think the 6th tip was the best. Good video.

[MeetKevin]

OMG 0:42 I thought someone put plastic over the windows -- THOSE ARE THE CABINETS!!

[PrimPursuits]

Your video comes at such a good timing, I am planning to buy my first property and probably went through half your videos, but this one is definitely one of the best for me now. Thanks!

[mannyjeanpierre]

location for me is everything. I live on a block with alternate side parking. I've gotten 3 tickets after forgetting I wasn't supposed to park there. Now I completely avoid parking the block altogether. Our house is also in the valley part of the street. No good drainage so its a swamp every time it rains. The rain leaves behind trash because we're right across from a business. Lesson learned. Location, location, location

[undergoingsin]

Glad I stayed until the end!! Just finished paying off my car

[stephenbailey]

Great content Graham, dropping knowledge that all buyers (especially first time home buyers) should be aware of!