F-Body Europe

I'm looking at buying a house in Little Rock when I get there. Any advice will help.

find a good Realtor, if you don't trust one, find another. Remember they work for you, it is a conflict of interest if the house is listed under thier office. They would be trying to get the best price for you and for the seller, this doesn't work. So if you find a house being sold by RMAX, don't use a realtor from RMAX.

As a buyer, you should be paying the realtor any money, the seller pays.

First time home buyers should (IMHO) higher an inspector. But find your own. Don't let your realtor hire or even recommend an inspector. The inspector is paid for by you; but,,,, if they don't say good things about the house, then the realtor may not recommend them again. Again, a possible conflict of interest. But they do have to inspect the house, so if they point something out, you might have read into what they are saying.


good luck
tom

Move.

When I flush my toilet, I pretty much think it goes to ARE-KANSAS

Well, since you're over here, you might have to flush twice

why Little Rock ? ? ?
met a few people from there, but every one is coming either out of a family of eight kids or more, and/or had sex with one or more sister or cousin or every sister or cousin had at least one child of one or more brothers or cousins and/or all had been married at least three or four times and had one or more children out of each marriage and/or the first baby was born when the mother was 14 or 13 and/or if you marry a girl you are not sure, she might be your sister or cousin...
ok, I want to be fair. maybe there are some "normal" people or is this standard ? please proof me wrong.

Jason,

tbiker99 is on point. Everything he said I agree with. I owned a house in Va. Another note is if you find a house you like that has been on the market for a long time, find out why? If you are planning on keeping the house for a long time, you don't have to focus so much on location. If you are looking at it as an investment, resale / rent when you leave if you leave, then location is crucial. Also drive around a bit, look at developing areas, I.E. if there is a new subdivision popping up or a walmart and you find a house not real far away from it, it is a sign that area is going to grow. If everything is closing near the home, there may be a good reason. Don't just drive by a house you are looking at in the daytime, or during the week. Check out the neighborhood on a weekend evening as well...

Bottom line, take your time, and do it right and do what you are doing now, ASK questions!

Larry

Silke, I have no choice in going there. Besides, Germany is getting old.


Thanks for the help guys. I'm already getting a list of houses to look at. I will be leaving there, so I'll have to rent it out. I'll look out for a new Wal-mart

Careful, there's a couple of folks on this board, cough cough kc10a and nmonty, that have some pretty deep roots in Arkansas.

Folks from that part of the country are real easy to joke about, but all kidding aside, most of them are good, down to earth people. I think you'll like it there, jason, but take a look at the real estate market before you decide to buy. Kinda sucks if you can't sell or rent when you PCS again.

Hell, I'll probably be the only guy on my block there still with all their teeth!


I'm from Georgia mang! I'll fit in just fine

Silke, careful about what you say about Arkansas. LOL. I was born there and Nick was born about 3 blocks away from the state line. My roots in Arkansas go back well over 100 years. Most of the people from Arkansas are great people (excluding our former President). It reminds me a lot of Germany in some ways.

Jason, in real estate there are three main rules to remember: Location, Location, Location. A lot depends on whether you plan to keep it and rent when you leave or sell it. Definitely have an inspection done. Also, make sure you get title insurance. One of the best ways to find out what the neighborhood is like is hang out at a grocery store in the area in the afternoon and on Saturday. You will see who your neighbors will be. Make sure there aren't any restrictions on working on your car in the driveway.

AMEN to checking on restrictions. Every place I looked at in Vegas with the exception of my place would not allow car repair in the driveway or in the garage if the door was open. F#$% that sh#$!!!!

That's messed up! If I buy a house, I should be able to have sex with elderly women in the front yard if I so wanted.


That'll be the first question I ask