In my previous post about the basics of buying a home, I mentioned some point that you should be aware of.  One of the points is to know the right questions to ask.  Here is a list of questions I always make sure to ask:

1. Why is the seller selling? – This question is solely for negotiation purposes.  I wrote previous posts about negotiations, which you might want to check out.  In this situation, you want to know more information about the seller’s position.  Did they buy another place already? Are they moving out of state? Are they upgrading to a larger place? Essentially, you want to know how motivated they are to sell.  If the seller has already bought another house, they are likely paying two mortgages and are pretty desperate to sell soon.  This puts you in a strong position to negotiate.

2. How much of the building is owner occupied? – This is only if the property is a condo in an apartment building.  The % of owner occupancy can play a role in your financing options.  More on this later.

3. Does the tax figure include a residential tax exemption? – Usually, the seller will let you know what the tax expense is each year.  Many towns will give you a residential tax exemption and allow you to pay lower taxes each year that you live in the apartment.  If it is an investment property in which you are not living there, you won’t get the exemption. This is good to know, so you can see what your monthly expenses will be to own the house.

4. What kind of heating system and how old is it? – The type of heating system can make a big difference in your monthly costs.  Oil can be costly and annoying to have to get heating oil delivered to your property.  You want to make sure that it has been updated and is working well.  Of course, many of these things will come up in inspection, but it never hurts to know before you make an offer.

5. How old are all the appliances, windows, roof, water boiler, etc? – It is good to know how old things are and the last time they were renovated as they could impact your valuation of the property.  If the roof is likely to need to be repaired in the near future, you want to know that.

6. How is the condo association? Are there any anticipated extra condo association expenses? – Of course, this only applies to condos.  You want to know any future expense that could occur.  Sometimes, condo associations want to make repairs to the building as a whole and it is up to the condo owners to pay for this.  You want to know ahead of time if there are plans for this so you know that you will need to pay that once you own the condo.

7. Have you been showing the property a lot? – This is another question to gauge your negotiation strength.  If the house has been shown a lot recently, you might have a lot of competition.  If it has not been shown much at all, you know the seller doesn’t have many potential offers to choose from.

Does anyone else have any good questions to ask?