The best way to not make a mistake when buying a home is through the use of a house hunting checklist. When buying a home it’s easy to get excited and let your emotions take over, if you’re not careful. A house hunting checklist will help keep you on track while keeping your emotions in check, because the do’s and don’ts on your checklist will be your pre-determined guidelines that you have chosen to follow. And since you developed your home buying checklist before you started your home buying journey, that will help bring you back to reality, if your emotions begin to run amuck.
But what if you don’t know where to start when it comes to developing your house hunting checklist? Well, that’s where it pays to spend a little time researching some of the most commonly overlooked issues when deciding on whether or not to buy your new home. Here are seven issues you should consider before buying any home, if you want to avoid a potential problem.
1. How Do I Detect not so Obvious Problems When Viewing a Home?
The best way to detect not so obvious problems when viewing any given home is to use all of your senses.
Sight. Take a look around, what do you see? Do you see mold or mildew, a black coating around the vents, cracks in the walls inside or out? Now look at the home’s staging in reverse, so to speak. Is the area rug covering up a potential problem with the flooring? Are the pictures covering up holes in the walls? Are there any doors missing that could be an attempt at trying to hide a foundation problem? Look up at the ceiling, do you see any stains that could be the result of a leak? Look at the entire house from a different point of view, rather than getting lost in your excitement. And if you don’t find anything, great, it’s time to make an offer and see what the home inspection uncovers, if anything.
Sound. When you pull up to a house and before you walk in, spend some time listening to the neighborhood sounds. Do you at any point hear a train, or planes flying over? Does the next door neighbor have a dog that barks excessively? Is there a busy road that emits a higher than the average road noise? Is there a school nearby that creates a loud noise at different times throughout the day while the kids are at recess?
Once you are inside the house, spend some more time listening for potential problems. Is there music playing a little louder than it would normally be? This could be an attempt to cover up some type of noise issue. Turn the music off, then think about what you hear, if anything. Do you hear water dripping? Is there a tapping inside the walls? Does the HVAC system make a strange noise when turning on or off?
Touch. As you tour any given home, you should consistently use your sense of touch to detect any potential problems. Touch all the walls, the carpet, the floors, under the sinks, etc. Are they wet? If so, that house could have a potential water intrusion problem of some sort.
Smell. Your sense of smell can be a powerful tool in uncovering potential problems in a home. Once you’ve entered a home, if you smell strong air fresheners or candles, etc., you should pay extra attention to the possibility that those scents are an attempt to cover up an odor issue or other potential problem. Take a few minutes to try and identify any underlying smells. Do you detect a pet odor? Do you smell gas or sewer smells? Do you smell any mold or mildew odors? Does the house have any hard to remove cooking odors such as curry, etc.? Is there a cigarette smell that could be ingrained into every square inch of the house and nearly impossible to remove?
2. Which Direction is the House Facing?
This is one of those questions most people fail to consider. The direction a house faces could be important for a number of reasons. For example, if you will be planting a garden, you will need plenty of sunlight. If you will be installing solar panels, you will need more sun exposure to power them. If the house is dark, an eastern or western exposure will help brighten the home without having to spend money on lighting. If you are concerned about a high electric bill, you might want to avoid an eastern or western exposure.
3. What Does the Attic Reveal?
Take a look at the attic. Does it have plenty of insulation, and if so, is that insulation in good condition? Is the attic full of trash and other debris that could contain rodents and other pests? Does the attic appear to have any stains or other obvious signs of water intrusion?
4. How is the Drainage Around the House?
You might have found the perfect home, but if it floods every time there is an unusually heavy rain, your perfect home has just turned into a health hazard. Always search for potential drainage problems by looking for high water level marks on the home’s exterior, on the garage floor, around the bottoms of the sheetrock, throughout the basement, etc. If the home has a drainage problem and you still want to purchase that home, have a professional landscaper come out to see if a few French drains would take care of the issues.
5. Are There Enough Plugs in the House and is the Breaker Box in Good Condition?
If you look around and see that the homeowner has extension cords and multi-plug boxes everywhere, there might not be enough plugs to accommodate the home, which could create a fire hazard or cause you to have to have some rewiring done. Also, a home’s breaker box can tell you a lot about that home. Does the breaker box look rigged or overwhelmed by too many new and old wires? Are there any burnt wires leading to the breakers or where any of the wires touch? If so, this should be some cause for concern and one you will have to address before making an offer.
6. Is the Home in a Flood Zone?
A home that is in a flood zone could be a huge problem. Not only will you have to worry about the potential for flooding, you will also have to pay higher flood insurance premiums for that home as well. And, if you have a mortgage, the lender will require you to purchase and keep your flood insurance in effect until the home is paid off.
7. What is the Future Development Plan for the Surrounding Land?
This question is huge. You might look at a home that backs up to a beautiful, serene, picturesque landscape. But what you don’t know could affect your future enjoyment of that home and your ability to sell it. You should check with the city’s building and planning department to inquire about the types of developments planned for that location and how it’s zoned, etc. If you don’t, you could find yourself living behind a new highway the city had planned or some type of big box store that would create an excess of traffic day and night.
What’s the Bottom Line
Buying a home is not something you should take lightly. It’s not just about viewing a home and deciding whether or not you like it. You have to perform a reasonable amount of due diligence before making any final decisions. If you don’t, you could end up hating the home you once saw as perfect and one that could end up costing you thousands of dollars in the long run.
2 Point Highlight
1. The best way to not make a mistake when buying a home is through the use of a house hunting checklist.
2. What if you don’t know where to start when it comes to developing your house hunting checklist?
