Christina Rordam: How to avoid unpleasant surprises when buying a home

I don’t like surprises, never have. No surprise birthday parties, no surprise vacays and especially no surprising weather events! I’ve managed to stay safe, weather wise; being a Florida native, it’s mostly always warm and balmy. I’ve wiggled my way out of surprise parties and dug up the deets on all future excursions thus far. The worst surprise, and I may be biased as a Realtor here, is a surprise when buying a home. Short of striking oil, a-la “The Beverly Hillbillies,” I don’t want to be surprised nor have any of my buyers or sellers be surprised in the home sale process either. Unfortunately it can happen if agents and customers and everyone on their teams aren’t diligent.

The most important thing you can do here is a little research and inspecting. Although every seller should be disclosing major repairs, like say a sinkhole related repair, they don’t always do it. Why would anyone ever put themselves at risk for lawsuits from unknowing potential buyers like that, you ask? Sometimes even they might not have known about it. A great example is a bank-owned home. If the bank hasn’t lived there they may not have been aware of any structural issues such as foundation problems, mold or termites. Of course you’re getting an inspector when you’re buying your new home, so don’t be afraid to Google the property’s address too! You’d be surprised what you can find. Perhaps the bank doesn’t know there was a major repair completed on the home but old MLS or Realtor.com listings from previous agents and owners might make mention of it. Look up the home on the respective county’s property appraiser’s website. Were there permits pulled? Do you know what they were for? If not, ask!

Speaking of asking, introduce yourselves to the neighbors, immediate and throughout the neighborhood and ask how they like living there. This one is so easy. Smile, walk over and get to know your future neighbors. Neighbors can change and sometimes that’s a good thing so the main point here is to get the gossip. Some of this may be personal and just rubbage, and some of it may be things only the neighbors know and may impact your decision to buy or not buy. Of course not every neighborhood tale is true, so do your research and follow up on any tasty tidbit you learn.

Learning doesn’t stop with neighborhood chatter; go further and read your boring HOA bylaws. There’s nothing nastier than an unpleasant HOA-related surprise! Vehicle restrictions, impending special assessments, who’s responsible for the roof in multi-family housing, all these details can be uncovered commonly in the tantalizing (sarcasm) HOA documents you receive. Don’t wait until it’s too late to ask about what matters to you. And take it one step further and read the darn things. It can save you some major headache and help you find your perfect housing match.

As with a partner or friend, making the perfect match can seem hard but is ultimately distilled to a few more steps. Obviously we all want to live somewhere safe. The web is your friend here once again. There are plenty or websites devoted to sharing stats on crime and offenders. Bear in mind you may feel the urge to move to a remote island after you learn some of the cold hard facts but, again, it’s better to know these things now. If you love the home and have concerns you can then decide to take precautions such as installing cameras and a security system. With today’s tech you can see who’s ringing your bell even when you’re not there.

Ultimately it pays to do your research and get to know your neighbors and neighborhood. Another benefit from doing that is you have someone to call on when you need a cup of sugar or want to go on a boat but are tired of owning one! I kid, but networking with the community and doing your research in conjunction with proper inspections and having quality insurance mortgage and Realtor partners can transform your potentially surprising experience into a stress-free one. Don’t forget to look us up too! Your home team (Realtor, lender, title company, inspector and insurance company) will all have digital resumes and bios online, in addition to their tenure in their fields of expertise along with things like testimonials from prior customers and clients. Get to know us, too.

Surprises are great for something I suppose. Just not houses.

Christina Rordam is a licensed Realtor and Central Florida native with 10 years experience helping Orlando area buyers and sellers achieve their real estate dreams. She is a member of the Orlando Regional Realtor Associations Top Producer Club and holds the CDPE, CNE and CSP designations. Do you have any questions or a topic of interest that you’d like to read about? Contact Christina at 407-928-8294, [email protected]. View homes online at ChristinaSellsOrlando.com.