Homebuying, new or used, is one of the three big investments people make in a lifetime, so you want to do it right. Unfortunately, for first-time buyers, there's a lot that gets left out and learned instead through experience. Here's a laundry list you can reference ahead of time, from a 20-year homeowner instead. Remember, plannable things are preventable. That costs a lot less than damage control after the fact.
New Home Selections
You will deal with a heavy push to select all the options for your home up-front. On the one hand, you pay for all these add-ons over time with your home loan (except the 1 percent who pay up front). On the other hand, the selections are limited and usually not the best value for your money. Premium carpets tend to be lower commercial grade than real premium sold later in retail stores (big industry secret here). Instead, go with a low-grade default and then replace it a year or two later with the carpet you really want. Spend on the padding too when you do; your feet will thank you for it and that good carpet could last as much as 10 years.
Focus your option choices on structure and permanent forms of the home, not on things like lights or amenities. You'll end up replacing the amenities within 5 years anyways, but if you always wanted an extended garage or an office add to your master bedroom, the options are the time to pick those choices at the lowest cost. You will pay an arm and a leg for structural changes after the fact.
Plumbing falls into the structure category too. If you have the choice to take on additional connections and added tubs etc., do it. It will be much harder later if walls need to be opened up.
Wiring
If your home is not wired for a network system with cable, you should be asking why. This is practically standard now, along with solar paneling on the roof. You're going to need cabling for TV and Internet access and probably phone too, so you should expect to be included in your home. If used, plan for what it will take to upgrade your wiring and cabling. Old homes were not wired for bigger appliances or lots of computer devices. The first power-strip you plug in after the fact will prove that point when the fuse pops.
Appliances
New homes tend to come with appliances installed already based on the selections and purchase agreement. In these cases, expect anywhere from 10-15 years of life before they will fail. Some could fail as early as 5-8 years, however, if used heavily. In a used home, expected lifespan is a lot shorter because everything is used. Most people tend to replace the appliance outright, but things like a water heater could take longer. Most water heaters last anywhere from 10-20 years, so keep that in mind when buying. Otherwise, you could end up with surprise costs after a few months of being moved in.
Builder Issues
Do some homework to know who your builder is, even on a used home. Many times there are systemic issues that come up with builders that you can find on the Internet, but no one will tell you when buying. A good example was Kitek plumbing lines. These were used extensively in the late 1990s and to mid 2000s in new homes. While they were easier to install, the same plumbing type began to fail prematurely, causing extensive home plumbing repair costs later for homeowners. The manufacturer long disappeared, but homeowners today are still just finding out they have the suspect plumbing when something goes wrong and massive leak occurs behind a wall.
Neighborhood Issues
When you buy a home, new or used, you also buy the neighborhood it's located in. Most people focus on the house and don't think about the surroundings until they are in the home, unless something is really obvious (i.e. like a home on skid row). However, neighborhood issues and concerns are easily available and can be researched online before buying. Check into things like local police logs, local news and even sites like Nextdoor and Reddit. What your potential new neighbors talk about says a lot about whether your hundreds of thousands of dollars on a home is worth it or not.
Title Protection
You signed all the papers and they handed you the keys to your home. It's yours, right? Well maybe not. Title fraud is a real problem. With all the title paperwork moving around, there is the risk someone files bad paperwork or files a non-authorized form on a title change. County recorders and clerks barely pay attention to the ton of filing paperwork they see, so don't depend on government to watch out for your title. This is why you get title insurance for a home purchase. It's a necessary evil to avoid finding out you don't really own your home after all, and your purchase money is gone.
Property Taxes and Assessments
Just when you thought you will finally be done paying rent to someone else, now you get to pay taxes to own a home? What? True story, property taxes are charged on every homeowner in an incorporated area, and that money goes to the local government to pay for all sorts of services. Most people want it to be for the police, fire department and the local school, but in reality, property taxes often go for anything else a local government needs to pay for as well. Wealthy neighborhoods tend to have better services and government programs. Poorer neighborhoods tend to have less. There is a very strong relationship between the taxes collected and what people get back. As a homeowner you will need to make sure you have these taxes paid twice a year, or you could lose your home in a tax levy.
HOAs, Covenants and Restrictions
In the old days, covenants and restrictions, better known then as CC&Rs, were fairly straightforward but insidious. They would essentially be covered up in real estate documents written in old style legalese and designed to keep certain elements from ever having the chance to buy into a neighborhood. Today, many of those old practices are banned, but CC&Rs still exist and most notably provide for the authority of a homeowner's association or HOA. An HOA basically has the duty to keep a neighborhood looking a certain way as well as control neighbors who want to do things different than the rest. The primary goal is to keep up the value of the neighborhood. However, HOAs oftentimes turn into little power kingdoms by those elected to be on the given HOA board. And, if you're the homeowner that gets targeted by the HOA, you feel it. Plus, the HOA fee is charged for perpetuity (forever monthly) including increases over time. Why is this possible? Well, you agreed to it as a buyer when you signed the purchase agreement INCLUDING the CC&R terms. So, watch out for this before signing. Finding out about an HOA and related rules after you own the home can be a painful lesson to pay attention to details.
Driveway and Side Path
There was a time when homes automatically had a cement path to the side of the house and a driveway. These days, if you're not careful, your new home might be built without them. Make sure to have a side path and utility cement path on both sides of the house and to a side gate. If not, you're going to end up installing one yourself, so including it with the house build if new. If an existing home, watch for buckling and breaking. This is going to add to your cost for replacement. A single panel can be an easy self-job but a full path with framing and pour is going to be a crew job.
Irrigation
It's all underground so what is there to look for right? Well, not quite. Generally, homes today are plumbed with a basic network of PVC piping buried under the lawn and garden soil, mainly for the front of the home only. Once an owner moves in, then the backyard typically gets plumbed in a similar fashion. Both networks connect to the actual pumps and solenoids attached to the house's main water supply. What you want to check for is that 1) the plumbing works and doesn't shoot water off somewhere uncontrolled (i.e. a leak), 2) that's it's not watering your neighbor's lawn instead (can't make this stuff up), and 3) that you have sufficient connection points for expansion. Most homes have a minimum of two connections and solenoids. Ideally, you want four (2 for the front, 2 for the back).
HVAC Systems
Most new homes come with a central heating and air (HVAC) system that addresses every room in the house. That said, that doesn't mean it was the best system for the design of the home. If buying a new tract home, the general suburban model, you can pretty much expect that the HVAC system is a barebones unit that just addresses what is needed for the home if everyone is using it at a minimal level. Unfortunately, that's not the reality of what really occurs. Different folks have different needs, and some want more cooling, and some want more heating in the year. When the system is under demand, it will show its real performance strength, which is hard to gauge when first looking at a home to buy. So, you have to look at the specs for the system involved and compare it against independent standards of what is suggested for real use for a family, just a couple, a single homeowner etc. In most cases, experienced homeowners will recommend that if you can choose a system, choose one that is more capacity than what seems to be needed at the time. In most cases, that will be the right range for what you really need versus the bare minimum.
Both in new and used homes, aside from the HVAC system build visible outside and the specs for it, HVAC depends on the ducting to do its job. As a prospective homeowner, you will want to be sure that the ducting is intact and properly installed. A ripped or disattached duct will cost you hundreds of dollars a month in lost heating or cooling. This scenario happens a lot because the installation is sometimes rushed or done cutting corners. The ducting is installed too tight and eventually it pulls apart. I literally had this problem twice in my home when I first bought it. How to check for it? You'll have to get a bit dusty and get up in the attic to check all the ducting, or at least what you can see. You won't find all of it, but the big duct areas are what to look for, especially where the ducting is yanked hard over or around rafter beams and can get pinched or torn.
Hang in There
If you're about to become a homeowner, welcome to the club. There's no perfect home out there, regardless of being new. However, hopefully, you will have a long stint at peaceful homeownership before your first big challenge. Most issues start to appear 10-15 years in, but the rest will arrive by 20 years usually. I've had a full HVAC system and house flood already, and it's now 22 years. I wouldn't change a thing in owning a home, but it is second job to keep it maintained and livable.
