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So a lot of people are answering very generally about what they look for in terms of buying a house, but I thought the first couple of posts in the thread were more explanatory - I am asking specifically what you look at when you are in a house that you are viewing. Not location and price and all that, but physically where do you look? Do you open cabinets, do you run the hot water, do you flush the toilets? What else do you do as you are going through the house (or the yard, etc)
I specifically want a 50's- 60's ranch style home, preferably modern, not colonial. The inside can be old...I want to redo it to my specs. And I'd rather have real, old fashioned strip oak hardwood...none of that engineered stuff. So if that's down anywhere but the basement...I'm out.
So we drive up the 45 degree vertigo-inducing nosebleed deal breaker driveway, and people forget that when they get inside.
They decide they need to open the 5th bedroom closet to see if it is large enough.
And, I say, "Remember the driveway?"
"Oh, yeah. Let's go."
That is from personal experience with multiple clients, and an example of an agent doing a good job for clients.
Nope, you've entirely missed the question I asked. And why was the client inside the house to look inside any closet if the driveway was a dealbreaker?
1) location/price
2) condo vs. single family home
3) size/layout (I'd prefer at least 1,000 sq ft and an open layout for living areas)
4) taxes
5) condition of property (are things working, how much work would I have to put in to put up to code, etc.)
Water intrusion and mold is what I look for first. Water leaks can be expensive to find and fix and mold can grow fast and be expensive to mitigate. The first house we bought, in our 20s and when we were very naive, was a house that had a newly painted basement and disclosure that said "minor moisture issue in corner of the basement." There was also a strong air freshener sprayed in that area of the house (RED FLAG). We didn't think it was major and decided to buy. When we started to investigate, it turns out there was a very old foundation crack and tons of mold behind the newly painted drywall. It was all covered up by the seller. Cost us $20k+ to rip it all out, mitigate the source of the leak, do mold remediation, and redo the drywall. Insurance didn't cover the mold remediation.
Lesson learned. If the house has a basement, I always always go down and look for water damage. You would be surprised at what you find if you know what to look for. One house had an awesome, newly painted basement. RED FLAG!! New paint. So I opened one of the little closets which wasn't painted and lo and behold there was a water line about 3 feet high. Another house was on a small canal and had all new tile throughout the first floor. It was very nice but odd for the area. Sure enough, the disclosure showed major flooding to the entire house. Water issues are the worst and not something I would ever want to tackle again.
Most houses fail for me of location, lot, or layout.
If a house makes it through that I start checking other things. I pull up one floor vent to see what kind of wood the floors are. I feel the pile of the carpet. I run the water in the shower to see what the pressure is like. Go outside to check out the outside unit for the AC (I want to know age, seer, size, and brand). Check the outside for how much wood is rotting. Check the thickness of the framing. Open cabinets, check closets. Measure rooms and sometimes furniture, if I think they look a little small. Flip switches. I am intrusive, if I am considering a house.
My wife hates forced hot air, so for her it'd be an automatic fail. We do like recirculating hot water, but I could go either way--IMO I'd have less moisture problems with hot air, but my wife insists that her sinuses do better with hot water.
That would eliminate 95 percent of houses in southcentral Alaska!
Nope, you've entirely missed the question I asked. And why was the client inside the house to look inside any closet if the driveway was a dealbreaker?
Because they want to see what their money will bring them in the market.
Then, when the granite is purty, they start to fall in love and forget about the driveway.
When my clients want to see a house, I get them in. And I keep track of things for them.
I have never opened cabinets, run water, flushed toilets (well once I did because I absolutely had to go in the house, it was #1 I promise).
I tried to flush the toilet in one house we were looking at. After I had used it. It didn't flush due to the water being turned off. I looked everywhere for the water shutoff valve. Never could find it. Turns out it was outside, where it never occurred for me to look. In Alaska, the water shutoff is always indoors. The house was in Arizona!
That would eliminate 95 percent of houses in southcentral Alaska!
Bummer for her. But good for me. I suspect she'd love to move to Alaska, as she hates heat and humidity. But the older I get, the less I love the long winter nights.
I tried to flush the toilet in one house we were looking at. After I had used it. It didn't flush due to the water being turned off. I looked everywhere for the water shutoff valve. Never could find it. Turns out it was outside, where it never occurred for me to look. In Alaska, the water shutoff is always indoors. The house was in Arizona!
LOL, this house was lived in - there was a fake bloody knife in said bathroom left behind by one of the kids. Maybe that's what made me have to pee?
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I suspect she'd love to move to Alaska, as she hates heat and humidity. But the older I get, the less I love the long winter nights.
