Posts Tagged ‘buying’

Questions to Ask When Buying a Used Car

Friday, May 28th, 2010




It can be a nerve-wracking thing to buy a used car. How do you know whether it is in good enough condition to take a chance on? What is a good way to find the information out you need on this type of car?

Well of course, the answer is to ask questions. You need to ask as many questions as you can think of about the car. These will be asked to the previous owner or the car lot you are thinking of purchasing it from.

Now you may have trouble knowing what these questions should be about if you have never bought a used car before. We have listed some sample questions here to get you started. Read the questions below…

Questions to Ask When Buying a Used Car:

  • You need to ask if the car has been in a flood recently, especially if you are thinking of buying from a dealer. They have sold flood-damage cars in the past. This goes for hurricanes and tornadoes too. Believe me the dealers will and know and should tell you.
  • Has the car been badly damaged and repaired in the past? If so this could mean the frame is damaged. Not all damaged framework gets repaired correctly after a wreck.
  • Another question to ask is how many miles the car has been driven. A high-mileage car is never a good investment in the long term. The engine could need replacing at any time.
  • When was the car last serviced? This should include things like all the fluids being checked, spark plugs replaced, fan belts checked, and the air filter replaced.
  • Was the car driven in a state with bad winters? This will tell you if salt has damaged the underside of the car.
  • Has the car been detailed inside? You don’t want someone else’s dirt in the car as you drive it off the lot.
  • How new are the tires? This might be a bargaining point to get the price down if the tires are too old.
  • If you are buying from the owner you should inquire the reason they are selling it. You don’t want to wind up with a car that is on recall do to a malfunction. In fact check the car out online to make sure it isn’t.
  • Ask the dealer for a full fact sheet on it. A reputable one will be able to provide you one.
  • Make sure you understand which oil and gas to put in the car. Since this varies between makes and models it is good to know.
  • How many miles does the car get per tank of gas? Show how much gas it will cost you to run the car.
  • Always ask if you can take it for a test drive or at the least that they will take you for a ride in it. A test drive would be better though even if the dealer or owner has to ride with you.
  • Ask if you can examine the interior of the car. You want to check for how much wear and tear there is. If the interior is too torn up you may not want to spend the money on the car.
  • You should ask to look under the hood at the engine. If the engine has been maintain it will look cleaner than if it has been ignored.

Questions to Ask When Buying a Used Car

It can be a nerve-wracking thing to buy a used car. How do you know whether it is in good enough condition to take a chance on? What is a good way to find the information out you need on this type of car? Well of course, the answer is to ask questions. You need to ask as many questions as you can think of about the car, to the previous owner or the car lot you are thinking of purchasing it from.

Now you may have trouble knowing what these questions should be about, if you have never bought a used car before. We have listed some sample questions here to get you started. Read the questions below…

  • You need to ask if the car has been in a flood recently, especially if you are thinking of buying from a dealer. They have sold flood-damage cars in the past. This goes for hurricanes and tornadoes too. Believe me the dealers will and know and should tell you.
  • Has the car been badly damaged and repaired in the past? If so this could mean the frame is damaged. Not all damaged framework gets repaired correctly after a wreck.
  • Another question to ask is how many miles the car has been driven. A high-mileage car is never a good investment in the long term. The engine could need replacing at any time.
  • When was the car last serviced? This should include things like all the fluids being checked, spark plugs replaced, fan belts checked, and the air filter replaced.
  • Was the car driven in a state with bad winters? This will tell you if salt has damaged the underside of the car.
  • Has the car been detailed inside? You don’t want someone else’s dirt in the car as you drive it off the lot.
  • How new are the tires? This might be a bargaining point to get the price down if the tires are too old.
  • If you are buying from the owner you should inquire the reason they are selling it. You don’t want to wind up with a car that is on recall do to a malfunction. In fact check the car out online to make sure it isn’t.
  • Ask the dealer for a full fact sheet on it. A reputable one will be able to provide you one.
  • Make sure you understand which oil and gas to put in the car. Since this varies between makes and models it is good to know.
  • How many miles does the car get per tank of gas. Show how much gas it will cost you to run the car.
  • Always ask if you can take it for a test drive or at the least that they will take you for a ride in it. A test drive would be better though even if the dealer or owner has to ride with you.
  • Ask if you can examine the interior of the car. You want to check for how much wear and tear there is. If the interior is too torn up you may not want to spend the money on the car.
  • You should ask to look under the hood at the engine. If the engine has been maintain it will look cleaner than if it has been ignored.

Questions to Ask When Buying a House

Saturday, February 13th, 2010




So you two just got married? Are you now looking for a house to buy? There are many questions you will need to know the answers to before proceeding with a purchase.

Both of you want to make sure you understand every aspect of buying a home before jumping into homeownership.

You two newlyweds want to make a good first house purchase after all. The following questions will give you some kind of idea of the things you should educate yourself on.

Questions to Ask When Buying a House:

1. Ask yourselves first how much you can actually afford to pay for a house? You should not spend more than one third of your income on the house payments. It is really best to come under the one third if you can. This way your budget will be easier to handle.

2. Also you two will have to ponder how much room you will need to be comfortable. So will 1,000 square feet be enough or do you need more room than that? While considering the size you will also need to ask yourself how many bedrooms, bathrooms, and other rooms you will be looking for.

3. Can you get the size of house you need, for the money you can afford to pay? You will find this out by asking a real estate agent or looking online at the houses for sale.

4. When you start physically looking at the houses then you will need to ask if there are any problems. Ask if the house is in a flood zone for one thing. This could be very important, due to the fact that special flood insurance has to be bought to cover any house from flooding.

5. Ask if the house can be re-carpeted if you don’t like the color or condition of it at no cost to you. This is a point many people forget to ask. Simply state the inquiry as “Can the carpet be replaced?“

6. What age are the appliances and which ones are being left with the house? Everyone does not leave the refrigerator but they usually leave the stove. So this is something that needs to be known.

7. How much acreage is the house on? Of course this will probably be told to you, but just in case it is not, you will now know to ask. Make sure the drainage is good on this acreage too, you don’t want the water in your yard running into the neighbor’s yard and causing damage.

8. How old is the roof on the house? This is especially important with an older house. Even with a new house make sure to examine it for leaks though.

9. Does the foundation have any cracks in it? In fact don’t just ask go look at this where you can. Look for cracks in the walls too. This is a sign of settling, which may mean there is a problem with the dirt under the house.

10. What is the crime rate in the area? You might have to check with the local police department to get a good answer on this though.

11. Is the house in a good school district? You might be planning on staying in the house long enough to have kids so this will be important one day.

12. How close is the fire department to your house? If you are out from the city a bit in a more rural area, you want to be sure that the firemen can arrive in time.

13. What date will the house be available to move into? This will depend of course on your final walk through and closing date on the house. The final walk through is to approve any changes you wanted to the house has been done. The closing is when you sign the legal papers for ownership and get your keys to the house. If a house has been occupied by someone, you may have to give them a period of time to move out upon closing, or set the closing to after they have already moved out.

14. Will you have some time after you have lived in the house to have problems fixed? Most new houses have this built into the contract, not so much with older houses.

If you educate yourself enough, then when the happy day comes you two can celebrate life in your new house. Happy house hunting!

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