Good Bones Reveals Why It's Always A Good Idea To Look Into A Property's History Before You Buy
Finding the home of your dreams is a trying process, and once you finally find the one you love, you might be tempted to put in an offer right then and there. However, there is one crucial piece of information you might not know just by looking at the house: it's history. Of course, if you're interested in a newer build, the home won't have much history just yet. So for this, we're really referring to older homes, which Rocket Mortgage would put in the category of 50 to 100 years old. Learning a home's past goes deeper than asking the real estate agent, who may or may not have the full backstory.
Yes, an agent can tell you what year a house was built (or at least a general timeline), as well as any potential issues the place may have, but there are some parts of a home's history you'll need to look elsewhere to find. It may take some digging, but Mina Starsiak Hawk, host of HGTV's "Good Bones," explains why it's a good idea to delve into a property's history before you buy.
You can figure out if the house is worth purchasing
Starsiak Hawk says learning about a home's history is beneficial and necessary. Once you find out how often the property has been passed around between investors, you get a sense of how easy or difficult the home is to repair, Starsiak Hawk explains (courtesy of Realtor.com). If the property has been sold to multiple owners (specifically within a short period of time), that tells you the home may not be an easy fix. Rather than pay for costly repairs, investors or owners threw in the towel and sold the place instead. Knowing this information ahead of time may save you a ton of money by encouraging you to find a home with fewer issues.
In order to explore the true history of your potential new home, such as the previous owners and what it sold for in the past, check with your county clerk's office for access to property records, says HomeLight. This is where you'll find a list of all previous owners and how much they paid for the property. You'll also find information on tax liens and any changes to the square footage.