Key Pointers for Inspecting Prospective Homes to Buy

While there is no short supply of potential houses for you to buy, hunting for the perfect home can be rather daunting, considering you’ll be investing quite a lot of money on that property. Whether you’re leaning towards Oceanside CA homes for sale or the beautiful vacation homes in Florida, here are a few useful tips to help you take advantage of home visits and inspections of prospective properties:

1. You can’t rely on superficial first impressions. If your main goal is to build your own house from the ground up, and you merely need a temporary place to stay in until the construction of your new home is finished, then opting to rent a secondhand house with minor defects might just work for you. But, if your plan is to buy a house and make it your permanent residence, then making sure that the foundations are still intact and that there are no serious damage on the structure should be a priority.

You can’t really depend on first impressions alone when it comes to houses. Albeit having a good vibe upon entering a home may help a little in the decision-making process, you can’t really be sure if the house is the right one for you by simply basing it on how you feel about the property, not when there’s a significant amount of money at stake. Besides, you’ll most likely be renovating and extending the home later on, so superficial appearances like color schemes and other cosmetics don’t really count for much when inspecting a property.

2. Take your time when having a look around the property. Sometimes, when figuring out what’s wrong with the house, you’ll need more than your eyesight. When you’re making an inspection of the property, try to use all of your senses; your sense of smell, hearing, and touch may just find something that your eyes could not. Hear those squeaky noises on the porch steps, the wooden flooring, or the staircase? There might be something there worth inspecting further.

The important thing to remember is that although there might be a few quality features of the house that realtors and agents are only too eager to show off, you shouldn’t just ignore the minor details that you might find unsettling, like the small dark stain on one corner of the kitchen floor, the hairline cracks on the bathroom wall, or the loose tiles on the swimming pool.

3. No matter what they say, curiosity never killed the cat who’s shopping for a new home. When you’re visiting prospective houses, it’s okay to be curious and ask questions. Agents and realtors are going to talk and talk and talk about the property like there’s no tomorrow. They’ll be describing images of what it’s going to be like once you live in the property, what potential extensions and possible changes you can do to make the house even more beautiful.

But, even with all the smooth talks, everything boils down to what you really think about the property. While listening to the agent talk, you should make a few observations on your own; don’t hesitate to ask questions. Why is the previous owner trying to sell the property? What’s wrong with it? Or, what are the neighbors like? It’s okay to be bold when asking questions about the property; it’s your investment after all.