Have you ever unintentionally buried someone else’s (dead) cat in your garden? Well, I have. And while it was admittedly regrettable, I did learn a valuable lesson from the experience—a lesson that transfers quite nicely to real estate.
That is, take a closer look and ask a few more questions so that 1) you have a clear understanding of what you’re getting into and 2) you don’t regret your decision.
Had I taken just a few extra seconds to study the cat’s features or read the still-intact collar tags, I would have realized this wasn’t our cat, Daisy. I still may have decided to bury and eulogize the deceased, but it would have been a conscious choice. As it was, I made a hasty and ultimately regrettable decision to bury DD (Daisy’s doppelganger) in a shallow grave in the middle of our garden. (I still feel bad DD’s owners never learned of their mate’s fate.)
Similarly, when buying a home…
Always take a closer look and consider what questions may still need to be asked. For example, while you know to complete a general inspection as part of your due diligence, you may have yet to consider having the sewer line inspected. We HIGHLY recommend that buyers have the sewer line inspected, especially in older properties. Repairing a sewer line is expensive if the problem is within a section of the line in your yard, but if the problem lies in a section of the line under the street, the repair will be costly. Not only will your insurance policy not cover issues with a sewer line, but you should also know the homeowner is responsible for the sewer line until it reaches the main — and the main line is most often in the middle of the street. This means that if your problem stretches to a section under the street, you now have to pay the City of Fort Collins/Loveland/ etc. to shut down traffic, dig up the street, and then put the street back together when the repair is complete. You may still decide to proceed with the purchase, but at least you’ll know what you’re getting into.
If you want to love the home not only after you close but also months and years later (when it’s no longer new and shiny), it is essential to be thorough on the front end when going through the buying process. Every situation is different, and the questions we ask about one property won’t always be the same as the next; sometimes, the questions are evident and quickly answered (do the letters on the shiny ID tag, with 20-point font, spell out the words “Daisy?”); sometimes, the questions are buried (no pun intended) and not easily unearthed. That’s why you have us: Our job is to know the questions to ask.
Yes, we want you to be excited about your purchase on the day of closing and as you move in. But the excitement of a new home will go away quickly. It’s more important that you feel good about your (very expensive) purchase in the coming months and years. If you ask the right questions and have the right expectations, you will know exactly what you’re getting into, and you’ll be far less likely to regret your decision later.