I have no idea what I'm doing...

[mousme]

So... when contemplating buying a house, complete with mortgage and property and... gah!

I can figure out the main things (talk to the bank, possibly a mortgage broker, get the property and building inspected), but are there any pitfalls I should look out for?

I'm looking for advice from people who have done the homeowner/buyer thing.

Thanks!

Comments

[joane.livejournal.com]

Fact-finding mission: For rural property - find out about the septic system, how old it is, what kind of maintenance it needs... see if you can dig up what the property taxes are on the property right now, if you'll have to pay for garbage removal on your own, that kind of thing.

Also, how long has this place been on the market, and if it's been a while, can you find out why it hasn't sold? (If it was a grow-op, for instance, there's likely to be mould everywhere.) How old is the furnace/water heater, and when was it last inspected? Will they, or the roof, need to be replaced soon?

Can you get phone/internet (my grandmother's northern Ontario camp was on a party phone line with six other families until about ten years ago)? Is there a long drive/road connected to the land, and do you have to pay for snow clearing yourself, or is it within town lines and under a tax-paid service contract?

I suggest reading through chunks of this thread - you can do a search for parts of the discussion that deal with rural properties. There's a metric fuckton of good advice there, though the finance/legal discussions tend to be US-centric.

[chasingthenuns.livejournal.com]

i don't know about in canada, but in the u.s. the housing inspector will be able to tell you about mold, how old the furnace/water heat is, the roof, if it's structurally sound etc. but, i totally concur with all of her questions.