What questions should I ask when buying a house?

The questions worth asking when buying a Utah house are the ones directed at whoever is actually obliged to answer accurately.

That is the organizing idea here, and it is more useful than a long list. Most buyers ask everything of their agent, who knows some of it, can find out more of it, and cannot be the authoritative source on any of the parts that matter legally. Sort the questions by who holds the answer and the whole process gets sharper.

Ask the city

The city is a public-records source and it will tell you things no listing mentions.

If you are buying new construction, the questions shift and so does who answers them. What to ask a builder in Herriman covers the north-valley version, and whether you need an agent to buy new construction in St. George covers why your own representation matters when the only agent present works for the seller.

What permits exist for this address, and does the work match them? A finished basement, an addition or an accessory unit without a permit is a disclosure issue and sometimes a square-footage issue. How to check permit history on a house covers the process, which is usually a phone call or an online lookup.

What is approved or under review nearby? This is the question that prevents most regret about growth. How to find out what will be built next to a house covers it, and the answer is free and specific.

What is the zoning, and what does it allow? Matters if you want a shop, an accessory unit, chickens, an RV on the side, or a short-term rental.

Is the road public or private? Decides who maintains it and what you are responsible for. Who maintains a private road in Utah covers the implications, and on anything without obvious frontage ask whether legal access exists at all, what a landlocked property is covers why a road existing is not the same as a right to use it.

Ask the association, in writing

If there is one, and there usually is in newer subdivisions.

What are the current dues and exactly what do they cover? Get the itemized list. The right comparison between two communities is dues plus whatever utilities the dues do not cover, and some associations include water, sewer and trash while others include nothing of the sort.

Is there a reserve study, and what does it say? An association with underfunded reserves is a future special assessment with a friendly monthly face. This is the single most skipped question in the whole process.

Any special assessments planned or discussed?

What are the restrictions? Parking, rentals, exterior changes, solar, pets, vehicles. Whether an association can stop you installing solar is a common surprise, and what Utah’s association laws are covers the statutory floor.

Ask the seller

Through the disclosure process, where the answers carry obligation.

What has been repaired, and when? Roof, furnace, water heater, sewer line, windows.

Has there ever been water in the basement or crawlspace?

What is the age of the major systems? How to find out how old the roof and furnace are covers how to verify rather than take a figure on trust.

Has any work been done without a permit?

What do you know about the neighbors, the street or the drainage?

What a seller has to disclose in Utah covers the scope of the obligation, which is narrower than buyers assume. Anything you want to rely on should be asked in writing.

Ask the inspector, and ask for extras

The general inspection has a defined scope and three things sit outside it.

A sewer scope

Whether to get a sewer scope covers why, and a failed line is among the most expensive surprises available.

A radon test

Utah has meaningful radon exposure and you cannot see or smell it. Whether radon is a problem in Utah homes covers the testing.

Drainage and grading specifically

Ask the inspector to comment on how water moves on the lot, not just the structure.

What happens during a home inspection in Utah covers the standard scope so you know what you are adding to.

Ask yourself, honestly

Three questions you ask yourself prevent more bad purchases than any inspection does.

How long will I be here? Short holds are exposed to transaction costs and price moves. Whether it is better to rent or buy in Utah covers why the holding period decides more than the market does.

What is the payment including taxes, insurance and dues, and does it leave me saving? Not the approval ceiling. The comfortable number.

Have I driven the commute at the hour I would actually drive it? In the worst month, not the best one.

Ask the lender, early

Four questions for your lender, asked before you tour, save more time than anything else on this list.

What is my actual approval, with taxes, insurance and dues included? Not a rate quote. A payment.

Which loan programs do I qualify for? The requirements and the mortgage insurance treatment differ, and that changes what the same house costs you monthly.

What would happen to my approval if I paid off my car? Existing debt is usually the binding constraint rather than income. What income you need to buy a house in Utah covers why.

If I am keeping my current house, what will you count of the rent, and what reserves do you need? Whether you can rent out your house and buy another covers the answer that most often derails that plan.

Which questions are not worth asking?

Three questions waste your time, because the answer is unreliable by construction.

“Is this a good neighborhood?”

No agent can or should answer that, and the honest response is a question back about what you actually need from the location. Fair housing law exists for good reason and the characterization you are asking for is not one anyone should give you.

“What will this be worth in five years?”

Nobody knows. Whether home prices will drop in Utah covers why a confident answer should worry you.

“Will the seller take less?”

Ask instead how long it has been listed and whether the price has moved. Those are facts, and they tell you what the first question cannot.

What I actually see

Buyers who asked their agent everything and the city nothing.

That is the pattern. The agent is the person in the room and so gets all the questions, including the ones about permits, zoning, approved development and association finances, none of which an agent is the authoritative source for. A good agent will point you at the right office. The information itself is public and free.

The other recurring one is buyers who asked the right questions verbally and got reassuring verbal answers. A seller saying there has never been water in the basement is worth something in conversation and much more in writing.

What to do next

Before you write an offer: call the city about permits and nearby approvals. After you are under contract: request the association documents including the reserve study, and add a sewer scope and a radon test to the inspection.

Ask anything you intend to rely on in writing. And if you are touring without an appointment, what to ask at an open house covers the narrower version of this, where the person answering represents the seller.

I am Kelsey Earl, a Realtor with Keller Williams South Valley, and I would rather send you to the city than guess for you. Send me the address you are considering and I will tell you which questions matter most for that specific house.