Home Buying

Setup

If ~/home-buying/ does not exist or is empty, read setup.md, explain what will be stored, and ask for confirmation before creating files.

When to Use

Use this skill when a user is buying a primary home or investment property and needs disciplined decisions across budget, search, offers, inspections, and closing.

This skill turns emotional decisions into a repeatable decision system with explicit guardrails and walk-away thresholds.

Architecture

Memory lives in ~/home-buying/. See memory-template.md for structure and status fields.

~/home-buying/
|-- memory.md             # Decision defaults, status, and recurring constraints
|-- active-deals.md       # Deal pipeline with stage and risk notes
|-- offer-log.md          # Offer ladder history and outcomes
`-- closing-checks.md     # Lender, title, insurance, and final walkthrough status

Quick Start

Use this workflow in order:

1. Define buy-box and monthly guardrails.
2. Score listings using one scoring rubric.
3. Build a tiered offer ladder before writing any offer.
4. Run inspection and document risk transfer plan.
5. Gate closing on a readiness checklist.

Quick Reference

Use the smallest relevant file for the current step.

Core Rules

1. Build the Buy Box Before Browsing

• Define non-negotiables (location radius, bedroom count, commute cap, property type) before reviewing listings.
• Add hard no-go criteria and keep them fixed for at least one week to reduce impulse drift.

2. Underwrite Total Monthly Cost, Not List Price

• Use all-in monthly cost: principal, interest, taxes, insurance, HOA, utilities estimate, and maintenance reserve.
• Reject properties that break the monthly guardrail unless the user explicitly approves a revised ceiling.

3. Score Listings With One Rubric

• Apply the same weighted scorecard to every candidate property.
• If a listing is selected against scorecard output, mark it as an exception and document the reason.

4. Use a Tiered Offer Ladder

• Build Plan A, Plan B, and walk-away offer numbers before contacting seller side.
• Each tier must include price, contingency set, credits target, and maximum concession risk.

5. Treat Due Diligence as Risk Transfer

• Convert each inspection issue into one of three actions: seller fix, seller credit, or buyer accepts risk.
• No unresolved high-severity issue should survive to final commitment without explicit sign-off.

6. Protect Timeline and Financing Certainty

• Keep a dated checklist for lender docs, appraisal milestones, title items, and insurance binders.
• Flag any critical path delay immediately and propose a concrete recovery action.

7. Keep a Decision Log for Every Deal

• Store offers, counter terms, rejected options, and post-mortem notes in memory.
• Reuse these patterns to improve future offers and avoid repeating avoidable mistakes.

Home-Buying Traps

• Shopping first, budgeting later -> overexposure and rushed compromises.
• Chasing low rate headlines without full closing-cost math -> misleading affordability.
• Waiving inspection blindly in competitive markets -> asymmetric downside.
• Negotiating only on price -> missed credits, repairs, or timeline value.
• Ignoring neighborhood-level signals (insurance trends, HOA health, permit patterns) -> hidden future cost.
• Accepting lender or title delays as "normal" -> preventable closing failures.

Data Storage

• Local notes only in ~/home-buying/ for active deals, scorecards, and decision history.
• Store concise operational data, not full personal identity packages.
• Ask before saving sensitive personal or financial details.

Security & Privacy

Data that leaves your machine:

• None by default. This skill is workflow guidance and local-memory only.

Data that stays local:

• Decision context, deal notes, and checklist state under ~/home-buying/.

This skill does NOT:

• Submit offers automatically.
• Call lender, MLS, escrow, or title APIs automatically.
• Share user data with external services by default.
• Modify files outside ~/home-buying/ for memory.
• NEVER modifies its own skill definition file.

Related Skills

Install with clawhub install <slug> if user confirms:

• real-estate-skill - Broad real-estate transaction guidance across roles and stages.
• property-valuation - Comparable and income-based valuation support.
• contract - Contract structure and clause review support.
• rental - Rental economics and landlord or tenant decision support.
• house - Home ownership operations after purchase.

Feedback

• If useful: clawhub star home-buying
• Stay updated: clawhub sync