joaniela's Profile

Best way to find a good inspector: find people who've recently sold a home and ask what they thought of the inspector that inspected their house. I was referred to my inspector by a coworker whose husband had gotten ticked off by the inspector because he was SO thorough when they were selling her late mother-in-law's house.

There were several things we, as 1st time homebuyers) didn't think to look for that might save other people money and/or aggravation: 1st, stand at the sink, refrigerator, and stove, and move between them. If your spouse is there and will be in the kitchen with you, get them to join you. Also, stand at the sink and open the dishwasher. Our kitchen is too small for two people to work in easily, but the distances between all the work spots are a little long for one person. Awkward. The bigger issue is our dishwasher opens in front of our sink, making loading it while doing dishes. Very awkward and aggravates me several times a day.

Also, we didn't notice that the brand new house didn't have towel racks or toilet paper hangers. Since we wanted ones that matched the style and finish of the fixtures, we'd spent about $200 by the time we were done outfitting two bathrooms. (That stuff is NOT cheap.)

And when you're looking at a newly built house, think about what will be needed in the way of landscaping. All the houses in our neighborhood had grass and mulched flower beds, but our yard didn't have a single tree. Small trees aren't terribly expensive, but they can be a LOT of work to plant. Plus, they need regular watering, which can get expensive.