Questions to Ask Before Buying a Home
Twenty-one questions to work through before you commit to a house, covering the real monthly cost, the age and material of everything expensive, which inspections are worth paying for, what you would inherit from the seller, and how hard it would be to sell again.
The questions
Open any question for the note
What will this house actually cost me every month once I own it?
Why ask it
Build the figure yourself rather than trusting an affordability calculator: principal and interest, property tax, insurance, mortgage insurance if your deposit is under twenty percent, any association fee, utilities, and a maintenance allowance of roughly one to two percent of the value a year. The gap between that number and the advertised payment is where people get into trouble.
What will the tax bill be after the sale, rather than what the seller currently pays?
Why ask it
In many places the assessment resets on sale, so a long time owner's low bill is not what you will pay. Ask the county or your agent to estimate the bill at your purchase price, and check whether the seller has an exemption, a senior freeze or an appeal in place that will not transfer to you.
Can I get a real insurance quote on this specific address before my contingencies expire?
Why ask it
Insurance is no longer a formality in many regions. A roof past a certain age, a wood stove, a pool without a fence, a past claim, or a wildfire or wind exposure can mean a startling premium or a refusal, and finding that after you are committed is one of the more expensive ways to be surprised.
Has anyone made an insurance claim on this property, and for what?
Why ask it
Ask the seller directly and ask your insurance agent about the claims history attached to the address, which insurers can look up. Two water claims in five years tells you something the fresh paint does not, and it also affects what you can be insured for going forward.
How old are the roof, furnace, air conditioning, water heater and electrical panel, and what would each cost to replace here?
Why ask it
Get years, not adjectives, and then price replacements with a local contractor rather than a national average. This turns a vague sense that things look fine into a schedule: a fifteen year old roof and a twenty year old furnace mean two large bills inside your first few years.
What are the water pipes and the wiring actually made of?
Why ask it
Certain materials cause real problems: polybutylene or galvanized supply lines, cast iron drains at the end of their life, aluminum branch wiring, knob and tube, and a few brands of electrical panel that insurers refuse to cover. Ask the inspector to name what is there, because these change both your insurance and your renovation costs.
Can I have the main sewer line camera scoped?
Why ask it
This costs little and is the single most commonly skipped inspection with a large downside. Root intrusion, a collapsed clay pipe or a belly in the line runs into thousands, is invisible in a normal inspection, and is much easier to negotiate over before closing than to discover when the basement backs up.
Which specialist inspections does this particular house need beyond the general one?
Why ask it
A general inspector is a generalist by definition. Depending on the house that may mean a structural engineer for foundation cracks, a roofer, a chimney sweep, termite or pest, radon, well water testing, septic inspection, or a check for a buried oil tank. Ask what the inspector saw that they recommend someone else look at.
What work has been done to this house, and was it permitted?
Why ask it
Unpermitted additions, finished basements and rewiring can void insurance claims, complicate an appraisal and surface as a problem when you sell. Records are usually searchable at the local building department. Compare what is on file with what you can see, and ask the seller about anything missing.
Has water ever come into this house, and where does water go when it rains hard?
Why ask it
Ask the seller in writing, then look for the evidence anyway: a sump pump, efflorescence on basement walls, fresh paint only along the bottom of one wall, a re-graded flower bed. Walk the lot after heavy rain if you can, since drainage problems are common, expensive and rarely mentioned.
What is the flood, wildfire, wind or earthquake exposure at this address?
Why ask it
Check the official maps, but do not stop there, because a great deal of flooding happens outside mapped flood zones. Ask neighbors what has happened in the last decade, ask whether flood insurance is required or merely advisable, and get the premium in writing before you waive anything.
Are there any easements, encroachments or shared arrangements attached to this property?
Why ask it
Read the survey and the title commitment rather than trusting the fence. A utility easement across the garden, a neighbor's driveway crossing your land, a shared well or septic, or a private road with an informal maintenance agreement are all things you inherit, and disputes over them outlast everybody involved.
Is anything here on a lease, a loan or a lien that I would take over?
Why ask it
Solar panels are the usual one, and a leased system can complicate financing and resale considerably. Also ask about water softeners, propane tanks, security systems, and any assessment for pavements or sewers attached to the property. Get the contract and read the transfer terms before you agree to assume anything.
Can I see twelve months of utility bills?
Why ask it
A full year exposes what a summer viewing hides: electric heat, an oil tank, a poorly insulated attic, an old boiler, a pool pump running all season. Many utilities will also give an address history on request. This is the cheapest way to find out what a house costs to keep comfortable.
Why is the seller moving, and what is their timeline?
Why ask it
The answer shapes the negotiation and occasionally warns you about the house. A job relocation with a hard date makes price and closing flexibility more likely; a move a year after they bought is worth understanding. Listen for anything mentioned in passing about neighbors, noise or repairs.
What is this listing's history: how long on the market, any price cuts, any contract that fell through?
Why ask it
A sale that collapsed after inspection is the most useful thing you can learn, and agents will often say why if asked plainly. Long time on the market in a fast local market usually means a price problem, a condition problem or something structural about the location.
What is planned within a mile of here?
Why ask it
Look at the local planning or zoning portal yourself for pending applications: a road widening, a new development, a rezoning, a phone mast, a new school. What sits behind those trees today may not in three years, and the seller has no obligation to imagine the future for you.
If schools matter to me, have I confirmed the catchment with the district rather than the listing?
Why ask it
Listings and property portals get school assignments wrong regularly, and boundaries are redrawn. Confirm the assigned schools in writing with the district for the exact address, and ask whether any boundary review is under way, since a change can affect both your children and your resale.
What is the commute, driven at the hour I would actually be driving it?
Why ask it
Do it on a weekday morning from this address, not on a Sunday afternoon, and do the return trip too. Also test the walk or drive to the things you do weekly. A quiet cul-de-sac twelve minutes further out changes shape entirely when the school run and the motorway are both involved.
What would I want to change in the first two years, and what would that cost?
Why ask it
Get a rough contractor figure before you buy, not after. Some changes are simple and some are structural, involve a load bearing wall, a service upgrade, a historic district review or a planning application. Discovering that the layout you were going to fix cannot easily be fixed is the classic new owner regret.
If I had to sell this in three years, what would make it hard?
Why ask it
Name the specific drawbacks: a busy road, a tiny garden, one bathroom, an awkward layout, a long commute, a high tax bill. You may accept them all, but knowing which ones you would have to discount for tells you far more about the purchase than any general expectation that prices go up.
Checking a house properly
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before you write the offer
Set your own ceiling and write it down
A lender's approval is what they will risk, not what you should spend. Decide your maximum monthly figure with tax, insurance and maintenance included, convert it into a purchase price, and write it down before you see a house you love. Bidding is designed to move that number, and it is much easier to hold a line you set in advance.
Visit at three different times
A weekday morning, a weeknight and a weekend afternoon. You are checking traffic, parking, noise, who is around, whether the street smells of anything, and how dark it is. Sit outside in the car for fifteen minutes with the window down. Almost every regret people describe about location was visible on a second visit.
Line up insurance and lending on this address early
Get an insurance quote for the specific property and tell your lender the address as soon as you are serious. Roof age, claims history, flood exposure and condition problems can all change what you pay or whether you can be covered, and it is better to learn that during a contingency period than after.
Read the disclosures and the title work yourself
Do not rely on a summary. Seller disclosures, the survey, the title commitment and any association documents contain the specific things that later become disputes: past leaks, boundary anomalies, easements, liens and unpermitted work. Write down every question they raise and get answers in writing before your deadline.
Inspections worth the money
- Attend the general inspection in person and follow the inspector around. What they say out loud in the crawl space is more useful than the report.
- Sewer camera scope on any house more than about thirty years old, or any house with mature trees near the line.
- A structural engineer if there are stair step cracks in masonry, doors that will not close, or sloping floors. An engineer gives you a cause and a cost, where an inspector can only note a symptom.
- Radon testing where it is common, and a well water test and septic inspection for any property not on public services.
- Termite or pest inspection in regions where it matters, and a check for a buried heating oil tank in older northeastern properties.
- A roofer's opinion on any roof over about fifteen years old, and a chimney inspection if there is a working fireplace.
- Get repair quotes, not repair estimates, for anything you intend to negotiate over. A written contractor number carries weight that an inspection note does not.
Costs people leave out
- Closing costs beyond the deposit, typically several percent of the price, plus the first year of insurance and tax escrow.
- Moving, and the immediate essentials: window coverings, a lawnmower or snow blower, tools, bins, keys, locks, replacement smoke alarms.
- The first round of repairs the inspection found and you accepted, which almost always happens sooner than planned.
- Higher utility bills than in a rental, particularly if you are moving from a flat to a detached house.
- Ongoing maintenance at one to two percent of the value a year, averaged. Some years it is nothing and then a roof arrives.
- Insurance and tax increases, which in some areas have risen faster than anything else in the monthly figure.
- A cash reserve after closing. Completing a purchase with an empty account is how a manageable repair becomes credit card debt.