What do you look at when viewing a house for sale? (contingent, square foot)

[Meyerland]

Originally Posted by Pooks1976

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.

I agree. I will not see a home that has a deal breaker feature. If the location, lot, layout, and size pass muster, I will go see it.

I am looking for good air flow, energy efficiency, water pressure, structural issues, drainage issues, etc... I want to see how they owners cared for the home and what needs repairing.

I will open closets and cabinets for sure. If I'm extremely interested I might go in the attic. I will drive by the home at different times and see what the neighborhood and traffic are like.

I have passed on homes for these reasons.
1. AC struggled to cool home.
2. Standing water in a flood zone while other surrounding homes were clear.
3. Not enough storage in bathroom.
4. Foundation cracking
5. Not enough closet space for the home
6. Yard sloping to house in a flood zone.
7. Water damage
Etc...

[Nov3]

I do a demographic of political concerns. Most areas can pretty much tell you which party is running the rules. So I tend to look at that first.
Then I check the house structure,lot,and utility access. Any previous claims..For flooding,fire,or pests.
Then I look at the layout. I detest open floor plans.
Closeness to hospital or vets is key.

[ImmerLernen]

By the time I'm actually "viewing" a house, I've done whatever research I can about the house on-line (including property history, who lives there, who the neighbors are, schools, map views, etc.).

When viewing, I can't help but notice the smell, the sense of cleanliness, the light (or lack thereof), the room sizes and layout, garage size, general condition/updatedness...and outside, the lot features and their condition, proximity to neighbors/sense of privacy.

What I "look at" beyond that depends...I will open doors to see inside closets (coat, linen, broom, pantry, storage, etc.), I will open some kitchen cabinets to get a feel for the quality/condition (same in bathrooms), I will look at the windows to see if they look in need of replacement and I might open/close them, I will look behind a closed shower curtain or door if I can't see the condition of the tub/shower and fixutres, I will take note of the condition of the flooring, I will look up at the ceiling for any sign of water, I will look at the furnace, water heater, A/C unit, and any pool equipment. I may take note of rain gutters and signs of drainage problems near the house. My husband will look at the electrical panel. We'll also peak over the fence (if possible) to get an idea of the neighbors and walk a bit along the street (if there are a ton of barking dogs, we're out).

Things I won't look at are those items we would look at with an inspector once we're under contract.

We aren't concerned about your personal items or furniture (although some of those can be distracting or entertaining!) or anything that won't be staying with the house. If things are worn out or in disrepair, as long as they can be remedied and the asking price is reflective of those things, I'm okay with that.

[Thulsa]

The few times we were moving and thus house shopping, we planned on making multiple visits.
The first visit is a short one because we might have to check out many houses. We're looking for reasons to walk away from that house, and we don't spend any time looking further if we find something we can't handle.


We look for evidence inside and out water from roof or foundation, cracks in walls, trapezoidal doors, wall-floor gaps, obvious mold and mildew, leaks around window frames, leaks around toilet or sinks, and eye-catching stuff like that.
Take a glance at the electric panel. I don't want to deal with ancient wiring.
Take a glance at the drainage in the yard.
Does the house have bad siding?
We look to see if the master bedroom and its closet is large enough. Does it look like our dining room furniture will fit.
We don't open drawers and cabinets. Well maybe one or two in the kitchen.
We don't care about the color of the paint, ugly carpet, etc. We're changing all that anyway.
The kitchen needs a good look. Can we both fit in it at the same time? Does it need an immediate overhaul? If it's too awful, that can cloud our minds even though we know it can be fixed. Maybe that's because it would be a costly and time-consuming fix.


Plus, take a glance at the next door neighbors house and yard. Some unkemptness is OK; I'm not going to mow every week so why should they? Unusual things like chain-link fence dog cages, or silhouette targets nailed to the trees is a nope.

[just_because]

I never look at a house without detailed understanding of its location, etc. so I'll exclude those factors and I understand that you are interested in what you physically look at.

Once in the house, on the first viewing, I mainly do a brief walkthrough to determine if I'm interested in it. Along with this I also do a general condition check.

Within the second viewing I will always:
-take hd photos of roof, chimneys and other internal and external features of the house. When in the comfort of your home, reviewing pics, you can often see things that you can't during a viewing. Also take photos of the electric panel, hvac, etc and view at home and google makes/models of components if I'm really getting serious.
-check attic/loft looking out for water damage, moisture, insect damage, etc. Smell is important too.
-Basement if it has one - similar to the attic, I look for anything that appears 'funny' - cracks, leaks, moisture, mold, general condition, etc. Check any exposed pipes, wiring, duct work, etc. Basements and attics are often places where you can see how well the house has been maintained. Often the home interior is painted, cleaned, tidied, problems hidden through cosmetic repair, etc. But the attic and basement are often overlooked in home sale preparation so can be a better indicator of things. Signs of rodents?
-closets - depending on location and age/construction of the house, closets (particularly on outside walls) can often be moldy. I also check for anything 'funny' - e.g. structural cracks or water stains on the walls (may not have been fixed up like the rest of the walls if the owner was prepping for sale so can be a better indicator of 'hidden' problems than the visible walls). Smell test is important here too.
-hvac equipment, hot water tanks, etc. - I'm not an expert but look for general age, tidyness, inspection/service stickers, anything that looks 'funny' like signs of leaks, burns, repairs/work that looks unprofessional, etc.
-electrics - similar approach to viewing as for hvac.
-foundations - walk it looking for cracks or anything that looks funny.
-bathroom tile - inspect closely for signs of underlying water damage. Push on tiles - do they move or are they solid? Is the grout fully intact?
-check under sinks in bathrooms and kitchen - anything funny? smells, leaks, signs of insect or rodent infestation?

I also check for the following:
-Washer/dryer space, hookups and location. Particularly with older homes, you might need to figure out where you can put a dryer, for example.
-Addition possibility. If it needs another bathroom or bedroom, I consider if/how that can be done
-measure size of parking/garages. Again, in some older homes and in urban locations, you can't take this for granted.

To repeat myself, taking pics of each room can really help so that you can think about things later with a clearer head. Since staging (which is usually minimalist) is so common now, simple problems with layout and space for everyday things can be difficult to judge. With minimalist staging, everything looks so tidy but that's not how most people can live - where do you put the cat's litter box, the microwave, all the furniture required to make a room usable, etc?

[eastcoastguyz]

I don't even bother to see a home in-person, unless I've decided from the Google satellite view that the home has enough property and it is a quiet area. Anything else inside the home can be fixed or replaced provided the asking price is reasonable. The amount of land, and where it is located is most important, because those things can't be improved with money.

Beyond that, the house must have "good bones" to it. Which means the house needs a good layout and rooms large enough for our needs. I stay away from so-called "custom" homes which is another way of saying a DIY without listening to a good architect totally screwed up the home.

It is also important the home either has central AC, or it can be added easily.

As for decor, molding, doors, flooring, kitchen and baths, it doesn't matter so much because those things can be torn out and done correctly.

The stupidest thing I see, is a nice piece of property with lots of land and the idiots built the house right-off the street or 30 feet from the house next door instead of centering the home in the property so you can take advantage of being out in the country.

[glamatomic]

When we were house hunting, we initially just walked through the houses to see if the layout and space would work for us. If that ticked the boxes and the house was a contender, we would then:

•Open every cabinet door and every drawer. Look inside to ensure there was no rot or evidence of insect or rodent infestation
•Open every closet
•Turn on every faucet to check water pressure and temperature
•Turn on the AC/Furnace
•Turn on lights and ceiling fans
•Check the appliances that conveyed
•Check the blinds (assuming they conveyed)
•DH would ensure the garage was big enough and that the door opened, closed and locked
•Check to ensure the windows open, shut and lock with ease. Same with all doors.

With the house we eventually chose, we had an inspector do an unofficial inspection prior to putting in an offer so that we would have a ballpark on what the repairs would cost, which factored into our offer.

We also met and spoke with the neighbours about the house, area etc.

We were probably at the house for hours that day.

With houses that immediately felt wrong though, I didn't bother with any of the above.

[johngolf]

The first thing I look at is am I impressed by the surrounding neighborhood as we drive to the house. If not, I could care less about the house. The second thing is the curb appeal of the house. If it does not appeal to me, I never even go inside.

[Redraven]

Originally Posted by MikeJaquish

Location.
Setting and orientation.
Floor plan, room sizes, natural light and flow.
Structure.
General maintenance and care.

This.
and then;
Is there a Homeowner's Association? If the answer is yes, probably no sale.
What are the CCRs? If there is more than one page, probably no sale.
Is there room on the land for my toys? If no, no sale.
After rejecting a couple of places for the above reasons, we found a nice house on 1.69 acres, no HOA, minimal (2/3 of a page) CCRs, and good neighbors.
Of course, without the HOA, the CCRs are not enforceable anyway.
We have been very happy here for over 10 years.

[Atlwarrior]

You contact your trusted Home Inspector. I have learned that everything that glitters is not gold. Outside find other in that neighborhood, that may have used the same contractor to see if the unhidden stuff was done.