I remodel and repair homes for a living. I've also bought and flipped a dozen houses and built and sold another dozen spec homes. When looking to buy a house, the most important thing for me is to know what the comps are in the area. Is the asking price a deal or will it be a money pit? How long has it been on the market? Are they still living there or have they already moved out?
Then it starts with the neighborhood. Do I like the drive to get there? What do the houses look like in the neighborhood? Are they kept up? Trashy?
I carry a notepad and a flashlight. I do this for homes I'm looking at for myself, but also with clients looking at their houses.
Curb appeal is huge. It doesn't have to have it for me to buy it, but it has to have the potential to have it. Some houses are just too ugly to mess with, others just need a few changes to look nice.
Before walking into a house, I'm looking at the roof to make sure it's flat. Does it have valleys full of leaves? Flashing where it's supposed to? Condition of the shingles and rot on the fascia. Trees over the roof? Then I look around the windows and foundation for cracks in the brick. If its covered in vinyl, I'm suspicious of what they are hiding. Is it freshly painted and if so, what are they hiding?
Once inside, I take a deep breath and hope it smells good. Lots of homes stink. Pets, smoking and dust are pretty common. Mold, mildew and funk are huge warning signs that I come across that home owners somehow don't seem to notice.
Walk every room, make sure the floors are flat and level, look for cracks in the walls, or repair jobs to hide the cracks. Look at the bottoms of the window sills for staining and leaks. Do the doors open and close properly and are they aligned with the trim?
Look under the sinks for leaks and armature plumbing repairs. Look all around the toilet for leaks. Funny how many toilets are not even bolted down and there is "stuff" behind them.
What does the electrical panel look like? Any modifications?
Poke your head into the attic and shine a flashlight all around. Look cracks in any of the lumber up there. Look for support beams that have been cut to get plumbing or AC ducts to fit. Look for staining on the decking. Make sure there is decking and note it's condition. I hate plywood decking because it tears apart so quickly from being nailed, but in older homes its usually a variety of 1x wood that has gaps. Sometimes those gaps are huge!!! Smell for animal droppings, look for vents and make sure the soffit vents are open. Is the HVAC unit up there? Has it been maintained? Is there water in the pan? How much insulation is up there? The new standard is 24 inches, but most attics will be lucky to have enough to cover the 2x6 joists.
If all is well, then I start to run the numbers on what it will take to remodel and update the house. Does it need remodeling or is it just like how you want it? Can you live with it for awhile? Some things like new flooring and paint can be negotiated into the contract when buying it. Find everything you can wrong with the house and write it all down with a value on what it will cost to fix or change it. A lot of the time they will take that amount of the asking price.
Most importantly, do not fall in love with it and go into it not expecting to buy it. I look for reasons not to buy a property. There will always be another out there, and in every case that I've come across a person who hates their house, it's because they bought too quickly. The longer you take to find the right house, the more you can save up for your down payment, or to have available for improvements.
If you find the house you want, take the advice that just about everyone has given and hire a professional home inspector. While most are pretty good, be careful of the one the realtor recommends or uses all the time. Every now and then one of them turns out to be a rubber stamp and does what it takes to get the house sold so they can continue to get jobs from that realtor instead of looking out for you.
NEVER TRUST YOUR REALTOR!!!! While most are great people, it's very rare for one to admit that they don't know something or they can tell you what's' wrong with the house. Worse is when they give advice on what it's worth or what it will take to fix it up. Repeatedly I've been told by clients that their realtor said the problem with the house was a simple fix, or something easy for a pro to take care of that wont cost very much. If you find something wrong that needs to be fixed, get several bids on it and know exactly what it will take to fix it from somebody who does that for a living.!!!
Good luck,
Eddie
