Your Home for Real Estate Information

4 Ways To Investigate A Home For Sale Before Making An Offer

14 September 2020

Cody Day

In 2019, there were just over five million homes sold in the United States. This astounding number shows just how many people there was that year on the lookout for the home that would support their plans for life. As someone on the search for your next family home for sale, you are bound to be excited about examining the prospects.

While it is always recommended to go to a home showing and get a good, hard look at a house before you make an offer, you should also be doing some behind-the-scenes investigative research of your own as well. Here are a few ways to investigate a home you have found for sale before you make an offer. 

1. Find out how many times the home has changed hands. 

By checking the title or deed history of the property at the local courthouse, you can get an idea of how many times the home has been bought and sold. Most courthouses offer free online records of property deeds and sales documents, so you don't have to work too hard to find out how often the home has been bought and sold. This is important to know because a home that has changed hands quite a bit can be indicative that there was something dissatisfactory about the property. 

2. Get a good look at the property via online maps. 

Online maps like Google Maps can give you a nice, birdseye view of the property, which can be hard to get with an ordinary home viewing. Key in the address of the home for sale and get a good look at the satellite imagery of the property. Doing so can give you an idea of things like: 

• the proximity to your closest neighbors 
• how many houses are in the area 
• if there are wooded areas close to the home 

3. Look at the history of the listing price of the home. 

If a home has been bought and sold a few times, it is a good idea to see how much the proposed market value may have changed over the years. You can get this information by investigating the sales and assessment history of the property, which can be something your real estate agent could help you with. Take note of if the property has lost value over time or whether its value has steadily risen. Single-family homes tend to be highly sought after properties, so a dip in market value could be a sign that the property has issues.    

Share  

Search