Home Inspections

So now you’ve found the home of your dreams and have had your offer accepted – it’s an exciting time! Now you want to make sure that your dream home isn’t a nightmare. A home inspection goes a long way toward helping you sleep peacefully. Make sure that you have a qualified home inspector. Many states have adopted licensing to ensure that home inspectors meet certain minimum qualifications. The American Society of Home Inspectors is an organization that provides guidelines, continuing education and certifications for home inspectors along with helpful information for consumers. That might be a good place to start. Your Realtor(R) may also be a good referral source.

It’s important to know upfront that there is no such thing as “passing or failing” a home inspection. The goal of the inspection is to help you understand what is going on with the house you’re considering. This is why it is important for you to attend the inspection if at all possible – the more eyes, the better. A key question to ask during the inspection is, “Am I finding out anything that would make me change my mind about buying this house?” Hopefully your eyes have been open when you first looked at the home and as you negotiated the purchase. The inspection is where your observations and assumptions as to its condition are affirmed or negated. Remember that there is no such thing as a perfect house. Every structure will need some work somewhere. The important thing is to make sure that you are not blindsided or surprised by the work that might be needed.

A good home inspection is one where the inspector systematically checks the structure and utility systems. As each segment of the structure is examined, a good overall view emerges as to the quality of the building and how it’s been maintained.

Once the inspection is completed, it is important to go through the report and evaluate the repairs or upgrades that might be needed. Use it as a maintenance guide to be referred to in the next several months or few years.

The real value in a home inspection is the peace of mind that comes with knowing what to expect from your home and what your home should expect from you.

Rick Coughlin is a residential real estate broker who has been helping people buy and sell homes in Weymouth, Quincy, Braintree, and throughout the South Shore since 1984. He’s been involved in the Associations of Realtors at the local, state, and national levels in a number of different leadership levels. He has been a guest contributor on WCVB-TV’s “Chronicle”; Tom Williams’ “Sound Advice” and is often sought for his real estate expertise and knowledge of the South Shore real estate market. Contact him at Rick@CoughlinHomes.com or by phone, 781.335.2357

“Before me, as behind, God is, and all is well.” James Greenleaf Whittier

Merry Christmas!

In this season of hustle and bustle, shopping and parties, let us not forget

the reason for the season:

Immanuel – God is with us!

To all our customers, clients, and friends, have a wonderful, happy, and safe holiday.

God bless you all!

Help For Friends of the Homeless

Regardless of how bad things are for people out there, things can always be worse. There are many in our own towns who are without the basics – food & shelter. The Christmas season tends to be especially tough. For the past several years Coughlin & Company has tried to do what we can to help make things a little bit easier. South Shore Friends of the Homeless is looking to bring Christmas to those in our midst who are less fortunate. We're asking that donations be left at our office here in Weymouth between now and December 13th and we'll get them to South Shore Friends. Items in demand tend to be hoodies and sweatshirts (l, XL, & XXL), hats, gloves, scarves, footballs, soccer balls, diaries, games, lego sets – anything that would make a nice gift for someone. I have a more detailed list that I can email you if you let me know. Or you can contact Judy Patt at JudithAnn5@verizon.net. Tell her that Realtor Rick says, "Hey!"

Thank you for whatever help you can give.

I Think I Want To Buy A House – Part Six – The Offer!

Oh, Boy! We’ve found the house we want to buy! How do we make it happen? This is probably the most exciting, yet most stressful part of the process. One reason for the stress is that it seems like we’re venturing into areas we know nothing about with consequences that can cost us everything. The truth is that you now know more than you think you know. all those trips into homes you wanted nothing to do with have educated you in what to look for in a home. All the homes you’ve looked at in person and online have educated you in what’s going on in the marketplace relative to value. All the time you’ve spent with your Realtor has forged a trust and working relationship that will help you navigate the rest of the trip.

Now that we’re ready to make our move we begin by submitting an Offer to Purchase to the home’s seller. This is typically presented through the seller’s Realtor. (While this form is our negotiating instrument, it is a legal contract. If you’re not sure what it says or what it obligates you to, please speak to an attorney with expertise in residential real estate. ) When determining our initial offering price, it’s important to make sure that we’re high enough to catch the seller’s interest, yet not paying too much. Some of the questions to ask are: What is the list price to sale price ratio currently? How long has the house been on the market? Do we have any idea what the seller’s motivation is? (are they relocating? divorcing? alive?) Sometimes the seller’s Realtor will give us this information, other times not, but it never hurts to ask.

When we make our offer we typically have to make it in writing (the Offer to Purchase) and include with it an “earnest money deposit”. That’s in the form of a check, typically made out to the seller’s Realtor‘s firm in the amount of $500 or $1,000 and is intended to bind” the offer. This check is deposited into the listing company’s escrow account and remains there until the closing occurs or the deal falls apart. The purpose of the deposit, frankly, is to demonstrate our commitment to fulfilling our obligations under the offer. (Once our offer is accepted, we typically have to come up with additional deposit money, but more on that later). When we make an offer we usually want it to be conditional upon our having a satisfactory home inspection and being able to actually get financing to complete the purchase. These are called contingencies. If we find after a home inspection that the home isn’t in the condition we thought it was, we can withdraw our offer and get our deposit back. If we aren’t able to get our mortgage financing, we can withdraw our offer and get our deposit back. These contingencies usually are time sensitive, so we want to make sure that we fulfill our obligations as quickly as we can.

Remember that just because we’ve made an offer, the seller can continue to receive other offers and market the property. He or she is not obligated to us until our offer has been accepted. Once our offer has been submitted the seller can either accept it, reject it, or come back to us with a counter-offer.  When we’re negotiating, it’s important to try to understand the seller’s position.  If we can understand his or her motivation it may go well in helping us to better meet those needs while not giving everything we have.  Understand your own position.  Are you willing to walk away?  If so, you may very well be in the driver’s seat.  If not – if this is the home you have to have, you may pay more for it.  Understand the market conditions.  Are interest rates going up?  Down?  Relatively stable?  How easy will it be for us to find another house that meets our needs?

The better we understand the seller, our self, and market conditions, the better we’ll be able to objectively negotiate the best deal for the home we really love.

Next, we’ll talk about home inspections.

Do you have any questions? Thoughts?  Is there something you’d like to see addressed here?  Shoot me an email or post a comment here.

Rick Coughlin is a residential real estate broker who has been helping people buy and sell homes in Weymouth, Quincy, Braintree, and throughout the South Shore since 1984. He’s been involved in the Associations of Realtors at the local, state, and national levels in a number of different leadership levels. He has been a guest contributor on WCVB-TV’s “Chronicle”; Tom Williams’ “Sound Advice” and is often sought for his real estate expertise and knowledge of the South Shore real estate market. Contact him at Rick@CoughlinHomes.com or by phone, 781.335.2357

I Think I Want To Buy A House – Part Five – The Search!

Finally! The fun part is here! This is when we get to actually see homes and find out what’s out there in the world! But like anything else, there are things you want to consider when you go. First, if you’re checking out open houses, give your Realtor a heads up. Let him or her know the homes you’re interested in. He or she may be able to accompany you and provide some expertise or, at the very least, give the listing agent a courtesy call toe let them know you’re coming.

When you first pull up to a house, check out the neighborhood. Does it look well maintained. Do the other homeowners take care of their yards and homes? Are there kids toys around? Many times we can get an idea of the family make up in the neighborhood by toys. Are they for small kids? Are there tree houses, which may indicate pre-teens. Basketball hoops? Street hockey nets? Are there mini-vans in the driveways? You get the idea. Next, let’s look at the house we’re pulling up to. What is your first impression? Does it look neat and clean? Yard well-maintained? What is your gut feeling about the house. Often we might get a feeling about the place that we may not be able to articulate, but pay attention. Look at the top of the roof against the sky (the ridge line). Is it a straight line or does it sag? Check out the plane of the roof. It should be fairly flat. If the ridge is not straight or if the roof’s plane is not flat, it might indicate structural issues that we’ll want to explore further. Are the roof shingles intact? Are some missing? Torn? Curling? We can get an idea of the roof’s age and condition by checking out the shingles.

When we get into the house looking at the overall picture. Does the home look like the people who live there love the home the way you will? Does it look like it’s been maintained, overall? It’s important to spend most of your time in the basement. This is where the the house will tell you most of its history. Spend some time looking at the foundation, heating system, wiring, and electrical system, plumbing, and structural members (joists, columns, beams, etc.) Don’t worry about knowing what you’re looking at initially. Just get an overall impression and feel for what you’re looking at. Rarely do we buy the very first place we look at, but we want to see enough homes to know what we’re looking at. When you do decide that “this is the one!”, it’s important to have a home inspection. (More on that in another post!).

The most important thing you’re doing at this point is getting to know the market. What’s out there and what is it selling for? You want get educated so that when you do come into the right place, you’ll know it and you’ll have an idea of its value. The clients I work with typically go into fifteen to twenty homes before making an offer. Often the home they buy is one of the first we’ve looked at, but weren’t ready to pull the trigger at that point. At the very least, as you look at various homes, you’ll get decorating ideas!

Finally, as you look at different places, keep the paperwork and records of each of the homes you look at. Sort them into homes you love, ones that are possibilities, and ones that you aren’t considering. Many times homes that we love at first sight lose their luster as we consider their size, features that they either don’t have that we want or do have that we don’t want to pay for. Conversely, homes that we might dismiss at first may grow on us and be the place we buy and stay in for years.

Let me know some of your stories. Any of us who’ve looked at homes for any length of time has stories. What are yours? Shoot me an email or post your comments here.

Rick Coughlin is a residential real estate broker who has been helping people buy and sell homes in Weymouth, Quincy, Braintree, and throughout the South Shore since 1984. He’s been involved in the Associations of Realtors at the local, state, and national levels in a number of different leadership levels. He has been a guest contributor on WCVB-TV’s “Chronicle”; Tom Williams’ “Sound Advice” and is often sought for his real estate expertise and knowledge of the South Shore real estate market. Contact him at Rick@CoughlinHomes.com or by phone, 781.335.2357

Vote Today – It Matters!

Today is election day in Weymouth and several other communities on the South Shore.  I would urge you all to get out and make your voices heard.  It takes only a moment to cast your vote and that vote matters.  History is full of elections that are incredibly close.  The Massachusetts governorship was won in 1839 by just two votes when  Marcus Morton beat Edward Everett in what is the closet gubernatorial race in U.S. history.  Your vote matters!  Especially in the elections that we tend to take for granted.  Those selectmen, town counselors, planning board members, and school committee members are the ones who will be moving up to state and local offices in the future.  Get involved now!