What do you look at when inspecting a house?

[newbury]

The first thing I looked at when we were buying our present house was the tradeoff between price and what I thought it would take to get it into a comfortable liveable safe condition.

We looked at a LOT of houses between 2005 and 2011. Since we were going to retire I planned on fixing a lot of things up rather than spending the $$ for a house that was in pristine condition or new. My main focus was a sound "good bones" house and a willing seller. We found several but there were always "problems". Two we just about bought but the owners were difficult to deal with.

But that saved me about $60K compared to the house we finally bought in 2011 with 70 acres, and 5,500 sq foot of shops.

So most important to me are things that CANNOT be fixed, poor topography, bad unfixable layout, railroad train going by every hour.

Plumbing, electrical etc. if installed properly can be repaired, upgraded. Just know how bad it is going in so you can plan on fixing it.

I've had one house for almost 40 years and just last year put in an entire new kitchen and bath, I've three others that need new kitchens.

In this day and age an older house is usually woefully inadequate with respect to electrical outlets so plan on upgrading.

 

[ultrarunner]

Location, Clear Title and Value for the Dollar.

Almost no basements around here so the basement question never comes up.

As others have said... botched repairs, add-ons and remodels are a red flag.

I would rather buy an unmolested home in a great location than one dressed just to sell.

 

[mjarrels]

Wheel chair access... I'm not getting younger every day. I own two houses now and both are not wheel chair friendly.

yellow dot

 

[sixdogs]

Agree with the first part six dogs but don't understand what you said about builder quality and materials availability. I've lived in New England most of my life and don't know of any limitations to building or rehabbing houses---I've done both. The greater Boston area is too costly and crowded for me though.

We lived in Northern new England and there were many unqualified tradesman doing crap work, from shoddy builders to shoddy everything. It seemed New England, especially the rural area had more than it's share. My experience was that a quality build was not as common as in other areas of the country.

Familiarity with and proper use of materials can vary widely as well and what works in one part of the country may not work in another. I've actually seen soft pine, which is an interior wood used for external fascia boards on a 2 1/2 story house. When they rotted out in a few years the cost to replace was enormous. Or use the thin copper on water lines that have hard water and the cracks pop up at the corners in a couple years. That kind of thing has been my experience.

You build or remodel and know what you're doing but other owners of a house may not have been so experienced.

 

[forgeblast]

If I was looking now.....I would check the windows (see how many panes), check the electrical box, insulation in the attic, take a key and push it into the floor joists in the basement make sure it doesnt sink in....(had that happen to one house we looked at). I would also look at court/police records to make sure it was not a grow or meth house.

 

[Gary Fowler]

All the items on the newspaper checklist are low dollar item, compared to foundation repairs or black mold removal. A good foundation is essential for any building and should be the first thing checked, then wood in the foundation/ walls etc, for rot and termite damage.

Black mold is likely the most expensive thing to clean up of all items to look at and usually the hardest to find. A professional with proper test equipment like the powered air testers that suck in a sample of air from all over the house then check the filter for the spores is the best but visual inspection is also needed. Any wet area in slabs or wall is a deal breaker as if will for sure have mold in wet areas.

Check the area for risk of flooding- any risk of flooding is too high and need to move on from those areas.

Roofs are easily repaired and usually can be made for a deduction on selling price to replace. HVAC units that are over 15 years old are not nearly as efficient as new models even if when they were installed they were the best available (this would be a rare thing to find as the cost is double for highest rating compared to next to highest. Adjusting price of house according to HVAC unit is common.

Painting of exterior can be a fairly costly project, much higher than most folks realize if you have to hire it done. Peeling exterior paint is very high dollar to repair when done correctly. Even interior painting of high ceiling areas can be costly.

Upgrading of electrical to furnish enough power for todays electrical needs is common especially on houses more than 40 years of age and should be looked at closely.

 

[dave1949]

The solar electric potential should be evaluated. Is there a good southern exposure to work with?, type of mounts needed, etc.

 

[davrow]

We have only a few mandatory rules/things we look at/inspect. Basement isn't really a concern here - can't find one in these parts.

1) Location. This is number 1 for us, if it isn't where we want it, why inspect it? Almost anything except location can be fixed (see #5).
2) Single story. After a broken ankle caused so many problems in a split-level we agreed - entire house on one floor. Period.
3) It must be recently occupied. We found lots of things (especially wells, pools, septic) deteriorate rapidly if not in constant use/maintenance.
4) Adequate electric - panel and outlets. Our 1927 house in WA had 1 outlet in a 20x30 living room. One outlet. Never again.
5) Neighbors. This is more important than many expensive to repair items like carpet and a new kitchen. Wacko neighbors are a nightmare.

I don't look at foundations, or standing water or how it was constructed. That's what I'm paying an inspector for - I'm not an expert.

 

[doxford jim]

We have only a few mandatory rules/things we look at/inspect. Basement isn't really a concern here - can't find one in these parts.

1) Location. This is number 1 for us, if it isn't where we want it, why inspect it? Almost anything except location can be fixed (see #5).
2) Single story. After a broken ankle caused so many problems in a split-level we agreed - entire house on one floor. Period.
3) It must be recently occupied. We found lots of things (especially wells, pools, septic) deteriorate rapidly if not in constant use/maintenance.
4) Adequate electric - panel and outlets. Our 1927 house in WA had 1 outlet in a 20x30 living room. One outlet. Never again.
5) Neighbors. This is more important than many expensive to repair items like carpet and a new kitchen. Wacko neighbors are a nightmare.

I don't look at foundations, or standing water or how it was constructed. That's what I'm paying an inspector for - I'm not an expert.

Therein lies the conundrum - most of the house inspectors are not experts.
I have bought houses not inspected by anyone else but me and have done fine. Bought a house inspected by two different inspectors only to find out later, that they didn't know what they were talking about.
You will find on their contracts that " they are not liable for any mistakes made in evaluations" - experts my a*se.
Unfortunately it boils down to research and effort of the buyer. If you make the effort to determine what constitutes a good house, you will be rewarded for your efforts. Expect to make some wrong assumptions (mistakes) but the general condition should stand out easily when you look hard enough.
Biggest mistake is falling in love with a potential property without the walk through and thorough inspection. Usually there are trade offs and one has to determine what they should be, to suit there individual needs.

 

[mfreund]

A good home inspector is worth his weight in gold. My 300 inspection fee got us a check for 9800 at closing for roof repairs.

My sister and bil bought a new house and chose not to do inspection because the house "was new and had a warranty" long story short they had over 3000 in repairs because the builder would not come back and fix the problems. Builder said they were "homeowner maintance items". How is not insulating a whole section of attic is beyond me. How not installing fire blocking above a fire place is beyond me.