Proper Permits

• when you look at a house that is 30+ years old, chances are high that there's been some work done to it at some point
• take the time to look at the permit history to what has been done to the property
• have a realtor help you if you don't know where to start or what to look for 

• you really need to do as much research about an area as possible
• sometimes this information is not made public and it is nearly impossible to know
• if no information is available, you will need to decide whether or not the property is worth the risk of not knowing
• it is your responsibility to determine these issues!

• it's a major expense to add an air conditioning unit to a house that was built without one 
• first thing to do is determine whether the house does actually have an AC unit or not 
• make sure that the AC and heat are both sufficient for the size of the property and are fully functional
• HVAC issues are easy to address upfront while you're in your contractual inspection period
• if you miss an issue with the HVAC system and close on a property, you may end up spending thousands later on trying to fix it 

• one of the most expensive repairs
• don't ever assume that a roof is in good shape
• before buying a house, make sure to have the roof inspected closely to make sure that it has a decent life expectancy and no major issues 

• most people only check the "comps" (comparable sold properties) before making an offer
• an equally important measurement of a homes value is the Days on the Market
• if the house has been on the market for over 300 days, you need to know why the home has been on the market so long
• many times, it's simply an issue of overpricing by the owners but soetimes it has to do with the property itself
• ask why the property has not sold; you don't want to be stuck with a property that will not sell later on