Questions to Ask Realtor When First Buying

[Garrett F Anderson]

Hello BP Community!!

 A little bit about my situation:

I am buying a house to perform a live-in-flip. I don't have a lot of immediate income so my thought process is to get an FHA loan so that I can get a low down payment and slowly do cosmetic changes. As I get more income, I will tackle bigger projects. This is my first purchase so I am very new to the whole process and I want to be able to learn/ take my time with the repairs. I am going to walk through 4 houses this week and was wondering....

What big questions should I be asking as I go through the house?  Is there any advice that would be helpful in this situation?

I have been told to take plenty of pictures and to ask about the major stuff (roofing, structure, HVAC, plumbing, electric, etc.) but I'm sure there is more I should be questioning.

Any and all feedback is appreciated!  Thank you for looking at my post!

[Aaron K.]

You first need to be prequalified or pre-approved by a lender, if you aren't don't even bother looking at houses if the realtor is taking you before you have talked to a lender it just means that they want to secure you as a client. With FHA you will not be able to purchase anything that needs major work, if you want to do that you'll have to look at FHA 203k which will include the rehab in the loan but as a consequence it will lower the purchase price that you qualify for. If you ask these questions to a realtor unless it is super obvious or stated in the listing they will not know the answer. Any realtor worth their salt will know enough not to take a FHA buyer to a house that needs a ton of work.