NWR: Going to look at a house tonight are there.....UPDATE

any questions I should be asking besides what the taxes are? I am a little bit clueless!

UPDATE: Ok, so we really liked this house alot. It has alot of potential. The entire 1st floor would have to be gutted and re-done, but the finished basement is phenominal. It is 2 bedroom & they are a decent size-you could definetly put 2 kids in the one room. Small yard, but enough room to put a table & bbq and it has a driveway.

How much can I offer below the asking price without looking like an idiot?

find out which school district the house belongs to...so you can research for the future

good luck!! where is the house? in Queens?

You might want to know when the house was built, how old the roof is, etc.
Write down a list of things you want in a house and you can ask about those things.

Taxes with and w/o star
How old the roof is
School district
Oil or gas
If oil how old the burner is
if theres carpeting ask if there is hardwood floors underneath
how old the appliances are

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Posted by vita930

find out which school district the house belongs to...so you can research for the future

good luck!! where is the house? in Queens?

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Yes in Queens.

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Posted by BEANS

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Posted by vita930

find out which school district the house belongs to...so you can research for the future

good luck!! where is the house? in Queens?

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Yes in Queens.

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where in queens?

I don't have suggestions for questions because I live in a little rinky-dink one BR apartment and will for quite a bit longer but wanted to wish you lots of luck and send !

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Posted by LaurenluvsTJ

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Posted by BEANS

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Posted by vita930

find out which school district the house belongs to...so you can research for the future

good luck!! where is the house? in Queens?

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Yes in Queens.

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where in queens?

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Maspeth

yes to all above -
when was it built?
does it use oil or gas?
one family? two? - can it be converted to a 2 family?

**flush the toilets and run the faucets - i did this in every place i had interest in. i did it as if i were mindlessly doing it - but really it was deliberate***

taxes? schools? parking?

i would also suggest you spy on it at another time if you really love it - this way you can check your neightbors out.. seriously - you can pick your house but you cant pick your neighbors...

GOOD LUCK!!! let me know how everything goes!!

xoxoxoxoxox

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Posted by mtdr1106

yes to all above -
when was it built?
does it use oil or gas?
one family? two? - can it be converted to a 2 family?

**flush the toilets and run the faucets - i did this in every place i had interest in. i did it as if i were mindlessly doing it - but really it was deliberate***

taxes? schools? parking?

i would also suggest you spy on it at another time if you really love it - this way you can check your neightbors out.. seriously - you can pick your house but you cant pick your neighbors...

GOOD LUCK!!! let me know how everything goes!!

xoxoxoxoxox

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Thanks everyone!

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Posted by BEANS

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Posted by LaurenluvsTJ

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Posted by BEANS

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Posted by vita930

find out which school district the house belongs to...so you can research for the future

good luck!! where is the house? in Queens?

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Yes in Queens.

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where in queens?

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Maspeth

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Welcome to the 'hood'...I would be VERY careful when buying a house there...they're so old!

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Posted by beautyq115

Voltage of the house...110 or 220 (I think it is)

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GOOD ONE!

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Posted by BEANS

bump for update

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We offered 20k below when we bid on this house because the price was just reduced as well.

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Posted by Keywi231

Whats the asking price?

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560K

Well first of all - I wouldn't make an offer without seeing other houses first. We are in the process of house hunting ourselved and we decided we would see at LEAST 20 houses before making a decision.
I know this may not be possible in Queens, but I still would look at more before making any offers. We were so quick to sign the lease on our apartment we have now, and know that we didn't look around nearly enough and are not happy with it at all. We learned our lesson from that and with a purchase as big and as important as a house, we are not going to make the same mistake again.

As for the offering below the asking price - see what other houses in the area are going for, are they on par? Below? above?
Generally I would say offer what you feel comfortable with... they will usually counter-offer.

I agree with Lauren you should look at a couple of other houses first.

We have gone as high as 60K below asking price because the house needed a lot of work. The owner countered back only reducing it 14K wouldnt budge, but now I keep seeing his house price drop.