As you prepare to go house hunting, there is one tool that I can’t recommend enough: a digital camera. Odds are that, during your search for the perfect home, you’ll look at enough houses that they’ll quickly start to melt together in your mind. Photographing a house thoroughly can help you remember which house had the gorgeous wood floors, and which needed new carpeting.
You don’t need a big expensive camera, but it may be worth investing in a large memory card: if you’re checking out several houses in a day, you may want to take lots of photos. As long as your camera has a flash, though, it should work just fine. The flash is especially necessary with an empty house — without plenty of light, your camera may not record all the details of a house. And you should be planning to record details: something small, like the placement of a closet, can be a deciding factor between two houses.
Beyond taking pictures of features that stand out in a house, you’ll want to make sure to get clear shots of anything that would need to be repaired — this sort of information is crucial if you do decide that you want a particular house. You may be able to get the sellers to agree to make repairs before turning the house over to you, of you may be able to convince them to accept a lower price for the house. You will do later walk-throughs in order to ensure that you’re getting a house in good condition, but noting such issues now can save you both time and money in the long run. There are plenty of home owners that had to struggle with previous owners to get even small problems repaired.
As you visit each house, start by taking a picture of the house number or address, so that you can tell where pictures of one house end and the next start. You may always want to take a few pictures of the surrounding houses and areas, just so that you have a memory aide when you start trying to narrow down your selection to one house.
Not all sellers will be comfortable with you taking photos of their homes — even if it’s a house they’re in the process of selling. It is, of course, polite to ask, and, if they ask you not to take pictures, you should refrain from doing so. Some real estate agents may be able to provide you with pictures of homes you are interested in, as well, which can save you some effort. However, those photos are usually shot in such a way as to make a house look as good as possible. A seller may not be trying to hide something, but, as a responsible buyer, it’s up to you to look for (and record, when possible) any potential problems with a house.
