5 Good Questions Buyers May Not Think to Ask

First-time home buyers have a lot to think about, and sometimes they don't consider all of the factors that will impact their enjoyment of their new home.

A handful of recent home buyers in St. Louis say what they wish they would have asked before buying a property. The issues they raise are valid concerns for anybody buying a home practically anywhere:

• For pet owners: How welcome and comfortable will my pet be in this home? Are there any pet restrictions and is there a safe convenient place to walk a dog?

• For condo buyers: How often and by how much have the condo fees gone up in the past? Is there a maintenance fund, and how large is it? While past performance is no guarantee, stable fees and good planning in the past is promising.

• For homes with basements: Does water sometime seep into the basement or other parts of the home? Has this property ever been flooded?

• For everyone: Who are the neighbors? Do any of them have noisy animals or hobbies?

• For homes near vacant land: What is the future of the adjacent open land? Just because a piece of property doesn’t have anything built on it now doesn’t guarantee that it won’t.

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sarah Casey Newman (06/23/07)

For more homebuyer tips and information for home buyers, visit http://www.thomasanddrake.com/ and click on "Buyer/Seller Info".