As a home buyer you may be wondering what should you be looking, listening, and smelling for when visiting an Oakland County home. (Or any metro Detroit home)  If you are looking to buy a home in the metro Detroit area these Michigan home buyer tips should help you weed out a few of the bad homes, or homes that will not fit you and your family's needs.  Remember this is all about you and your family.  It does not matter what your realtor thinks or your parents think.  Sure take their input but make the decision on your own. 

 If you are a first time home buyer you may not know this.......Very rarely is a home perfect in every way to suit your needs.   So house hunting becomes a search of compromise of getting the most of what you want, the most of what the rest of your family needs without giving up the dream of a "near perfect home".  Many times it becomes a give and take.  Sometimes it is updates, room size, extra amenities, closets, garage, yard,or basements that are the determining factor whether you buy a home.
      Below are some questions that you should be asking yourself as you go through homes.  This will help you decide whether the house fits you, whether it needs work,  whether you can live with it as is for a while, what may need changing, upgrading, or major work.  You should make a home inspection a part of purchase agreement and your final decision. 
      You should rule out a house for something that you can't live with, or can't change.
You should have a budget or time frame on what you can change in your future house.  Let's say you have a budget of $5000 that you would be able to spend in the next few years to fix up the house.  You do not rule out the house with a leaky faucet because of it.  You rule out the house that is going to take $10,000 of carpeting to replace.  Step back and think about the room without the horrible paint color or wall paper.  Can you live in it if it was painted a different color?  Do you have the ability to paint or remove the wallpaper?  Unfortunately over the years I have seen people rule out good houses because of simple items such as wallpaper or paint color and buy a home that was less valuable.  
      By answering these questions and writing down the good and bad points of each house will help you compare houses.  Write them down as you go through them.

If you are moving to Michigan feel free to call me with questions about your relocation.  I work with relocation companies all the time and can help make your move to Michigan less stressfull
       

Outside
               How does it sound?  Is there traffic noises?  Kids screaming?  School Noise? Airplane Noise? Train Noise? Industrial Noise?

              What do the neighbor's houses and yards look like?  What can you see from your yard?  Can you see industrial  buildings, churches, parking lots, shopping centers?

              How is the traffic out front?  Is there a school nearby?

             Are there overgrown trees or bushes that need to be taken down?  How is the fence or shed?  How is the lawn, the landscaping?  These are minor, minor items.

            Is there standing water on the property? 

            How is the driveway and the garage door?  How is the concrete work?  Is it cracked or uneven?  Is is asphalt?  

            How does the roof look?  Are there plants growing out of the gutters?  How does the chimney look?  Loose bricks anywhere?

            How is the paint job? Does it need painting?  Does it need caulking? What does the vinyl or aluminum siding look like?  

            Can you fix what you see easily enough to make it your home?