Investing In A Better Home

The first time you step inside your next potential home, you usually have a single walk through before you decide to make the owner an offer or move on to the next one. Look for these 3 things to help decide if the house is a good buy or a dud.

Signs of a Quick Flip

While it is always nice to buy a home that is ready to move into without needing to do any work, you do not want to buy a home that was clearly a quick flip for the seller. Look for signs the previous homeowner may have taken short cuts when doing the home renovations.

• Electrical outlet and light switch covers that have been painted over are a sign that the paint job was rushed.
• Cabinets that have been painted shut show that the time wasn't taken to remove the doors when painting them.
• Cosmetic upgrades with ancient utilities show that the guts of the house could be very old.
• A new shower with separate cold and hot water handles is a potential sign that the fixture was replaced but the old plumbing was not.

If the previous owners took shortcuts that you can easily see during a walk through, think about what other shortcuts they took that you can't see.

Clutter

When you are looking at a home that is currently being lived in, you can gauge how livable the home is based on how much clutter is around the home. If the home has plenty of storage and it is working well for the homeowners, it should look relatively clean. If there is clutter around the entire home, it could be a sign that there is not enough storage to hide everything.

Clutter can also be a sign that someone doesn't take pride in their home. If they are neglecting basic cleanliness, they may have been neglecting maintenance items over the years.

Strange Smells

It's not normal for a basement to have an odd smell to it. Strange odors mean that there is a possibility that the home has a problem with mold or mildew. This could mean that you will need professional waterproofing done to stop moisture from getting inside, and there may be damage to the foundation.

While these 3 tips can help you identify problems, they won't help you catch all of them. Working with a local realtor can help you identify a great home when you visit it for your initial walk through. Visit a site like www.deeevans.com to find a real estate agent near you.