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Buying A House - How To Use The HUD Home Buying Scorecard

By Kate Ford

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 17Dec2008 Word count: 604 Viewed: 1277 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

Everyone experiences this common dilemma when buying a house.

We view houses without a system in place to compare one house with another. And it can cost us.

You probably know what follows. You visit several houses for sale. You return home to review your notes but suddenly you are confused. You can't remember which house you liked and which ones you didn't.

How can you keep track of the homes?

You will find buying a house is all about comparison. Most likely, you will have already narrowed down your search to homes that are similar in price. In fact if you have been preapproved by your mortgage lender, most of the homes you preview will likely fall into a similar price range.

So you will need additional criteria other than price to avoid confusion.

In order to compare homes it is wise to have a system. The Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD as it is commonly called, has created its own score card. But before I explain how it works, I recommend that you also include a camera as part of your previewing system.

With this in mind, your real estate agent is going to take you to see several houses based on information you have provided. To remember each house, use a camera to photograph important attributes. This way you can analyze comparable pictures.

First, take a picture of the outside of each house. Then photograph the major rooms such as living room, family room, and kitchen.

Second take photos of the yards and any extra features about each house that you like as well as dislike.

Lastly photograph anything you think may be a potential problem.

Keep in mind that if you are systematic in your approach, you will be able to easily compare pictures of the major rooms of each house, the yards, extra features you thought were beneficial, and potential problems.

Now you need the HUD Home Buying Scorecard. Print out the pictures for each house and attach them to your score card.

What is the HUD Home Buying Scorecard? It is a home buying checklist designed to remind you of important features in each home and to score each feature with a good, average, or poor score.

Before you go on tour with your Realtor, print out or copy several HUD Scorecards so that you have one for each individual house. At the top write the address and list price for each home you are previewing.

Basically the scorecard highlights features from 4 important categories that everyone buying a house needs to consider.

Briefly the first category includes attributes from the home itself such as square feet and number of bedrooms to roof age and condition of gutters and downspouts. Score each one.

The second category compares items related to neighborhoods and includes the appearances of nearby homes and businesses, traffic conditions, pet restrictions, and garbage service.

Equally important, schools are the third category itemizing questions of age, condition, reputation, and curriculum.

Finally the last category for buying a house represents features pertaining to convenience. You can score either good, average, or poor for proximity to supermarkets, work, child care, restaurants, and church.

Now use this system to analyze. Simply take the photos of each house and attach them to your scorecards. Next compare the photos and scorecard of one house to another. You will be able to easily analyze and decide which house is best for you.

Who says buying a house has to be confusing? Good luck and happy shopping!

Always consult your real estate professional before taking pictures within a private residence.

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