Buying a Home is Not Just About Location in Real Estate| 5 Questions to Ask

Buying a Home is Not Just About Location in Real Estate| 5 Questions to Ask

Is It All About Location in RI Real Estate? By no means NO

Whether you are buying a home or selling, location in the world of RI real estate has always been considered all important.  It impacts

Piece of RI real estate not for sale

the price of a property and so is front and center on clients minds.  Certainly the price difference between waterfront and suburban country real estate acreage is a lot of gold bullion!  So it can be a primary monetary deal breaker or winner when you are  selling or buying your home.

But there are other important things that come into play that a home buyer must be aware of.  What are some of them?

Well to me, if all financing is in order, then you want to focus on and around the potential property looking at many additional categories, such as:

– Who are the Neighbors?  Nowadays you can Google addresses, neighborhoods, neighbors and find out a bit about the happenings there.  Do they have disputes with one another?  Is one neighbor antagonistic?  Probably the seller is not going to tell you anything but driving by on weekends when neighbors are outside tending their ponderosa might be a good time to ask questions.  You never know what bombshells you might discover or nothing at all.  Will lots of children in the area be important to you positively or negatively?

– Are their Easements or encroachments on the property?  If you are the seller and never had a survey done and homes are located close together you truly do not know where the property boundary lines are.  Let’s see the survey and examine it.  Putting up privacy fences later can cause you angst if the neighbor says you are on their property.  Shared driveways with right of ways to an adjacent home can cause issues on maintenance if a maintenance road agreement is not in hand to review prior to closing.

– Read the Sellers Sales Disclosures Carefully and Ask Questions.  Are You Near a EPA Superfund site?  This is something you can check out by going to the EPA website for your state and drill down to the town for more information.  This may not be disclosed if the seller has no knowledge of it.  Past water in the basement problems, issues with the septic system, leaks in the roof are all things to take note of when looking at disclosures and what are the costs to remedy them.  What if it is an estate sale and there are no disclosures?  Then you make sure you hire the best home inspector you can afford.  You want him to discover anything and everything, within reason, so you can sleep well at night!

– Flood Insurance is necessary or not?  May not be carried by the homeowner on the property if no mortgage is on the home so an insurance person needs to be called to find out about it.  Not only by the ocean, bay but also by rivers and streams now can cause the mortgage lender to require flood insurance.  You need to know the flood zone, if damage from a hurricane has occurred before to this property, and the cost of annual flood insurance for the dwelling and personal property.  Flood insurance is no longer subsidized by FEMA and this insurance is going up considerably for homeowners in ‘V’ and ‘A’ flood zones.  Although the mapping of a flood zone can be challenged with an elevation certificate, it is another cost you need to know about up front.  Make sure you have a real estate agent that knows these particulars and can help guide you as needed.

– Fiscal soundness of the Town.  Well the buyer asks why do I care?  I like the house here.  Fiscal responsible towns are the towns you want to buy into.  This is a key item that you must understand because it impacts the real estate taxes you pay, the services you receive from your town and the education your children receive.  A fiscally irresponsible city will eat away at the foundation of the values of real estate.  This is another all important question to research and find out about.

What I have shared with you is that there is so much more than just L-O-C-A-T-I-O-N that contributes to whether you will be satisfied with your purchased piece of green earth.  Find a good real estate agent that knows their business and will represent and guide you well.  And then think of the next 5 questions to ask of them.  Whether you are buying or selling in the RI coastal real estate market, I would love the opportunity to earn your trust and business.

Buying a Home is Not Just About Location in Real Estate| 5 Questions to Ask

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