I want to talk to you about today what
should you look at in a home when you going out and seeing homes. Especially,
these pre-owned homes that have been used or like this one we're in right now. That
was built in 1970' s...1977. A lot of things you should look for that you know
you don't see in these new built homes. Especially in this area with a lot of
new construction. These homes are different. They got vintage, they got
character. The rooms are smaller, they're not
a open concept, they're cut off. You got to imagine what can be possible for
that and what you want and what resonates with you. So, what I like to do
is go take you on a tour and tell you what to look out for. What signs that may show
some problems with foundation, what's cosmetic, what's structural, all that. And
just let you know what to look out for before you purchase at home so you know
what you're getting and the upgrades you want to make. Let's go check it out! Alright, so first thing you want to look at when you go see a house, is when you pull up to a house, you want to just look at the neighborhood. You want to see if you
like it or not, because if you don't even like the neighborhood, there's no point
of going inside and seeing the house. Even if you like it. I mean you could go
inside and get ideas but it's just a waste of time and you want to get as much
homes in as possible. Maybe you work during the weekend, during the weekdays
and you want to go see them at after work. So, if you pull up to a home and you
just don't like it, just tell your realtor to move on and go see another one. Alright, next thing is to look at the outside. How's the landscaping? Which ain't a huge issue because you know a lot of people get
lazy and just don't do landscaping. But if they do have a nice landscape and it
could tell you a lot about how they keep the house, what the inside the house
gonna look like, and it could tell you about the foundation issues. Now,
sometimes you can't help it but in Texas you got to water around the foundation to
keep it moist. Keep the ground moist without it, it causes soil
movement and causing foundation issues. So very important. Next thing you want to
look for around the house is see if they have any cracks, dangle cracks. Which
indicates foundation issues. Now you will see almost every house in Texas has
cracks on a corner. That does not mean there is foundation issues. it's just
what they do, cracks on the corner. Another thing to look at is around the outside of windows, See this one needs to be resealed, re-updated. Something to look
at on foundation issues. It could have large gaps between the window and the
brick. You can see that the house has moved at some point. Now the other thing
to look at in a house, checking for foundation issues. If you look down you see the
lines. If they're off a little bit you see they're wiggly, that's fine. But if
they go and move in a lot, that is a sign of foundation issues. Another good thing
you want to make sure, well it's better if a house has irrigation set up.
Especially in Texas, again with the soil moving and everything. It is a huge
problem. 8-10 times the house will have foundation issues in its
lifetime. So here's a good example of looking down to brick. Seeing if they
have any foundation issues. Now, I know for sure this house has been inspect.
and it does not have foundation issues. Alright, so when you walk in the
door. The first thing that hits you, well it hits me,
is the smell. What did it smell like? A lot of homes, the worst ones,
smell like pets, especially cats. That is hard to come out and you might
even smell that smoke smell. The smoke set smell would always linger in carpet. Now you could deep clean these carpets but it still probably won't even
get it out. So new carpets, if the smell is horrendous, which I've smelled plenty
of times. You want to remove carpet or you can negotiate with the seller for a
carpet allowance. Or you could get them to remove it themselves. It's usually
better you get the carpet allowance. They give you some money, you got rip out the carpet and you can put some hardwood floors or whatever you like. alright, next thing to look at it all along the wall they have any stress
cracks or anything. That could be a sign of foundation issues. Also, all the
doors and windows. Let's see, example like this one. If they do not close properly.
See that this one closed pretty good. But the ones with foundation issues, the
frame the door will not be level and it won't be able to close. That's a huge
sign of foundation issues as well. Moving back. Going look in the house, as you can imagine this is the older house. Built in 1977. So it's going to have rooms separate, not an open layout. What you want to imagine, see right here. That is
the kitchen. So imagine this is all that's standing in
the way to open layout. This wall. removing this wall, obviously the kitchen might need a update. You might like it right here but you can add an Island. Just
put a island right here and have this whole area opened up.
But that's up to you and how you want it. I'm saying just imagine when you go and
look at these homes what could be the possibility. If you have a
little wiggle room in your price range for it. You might run into these.
Some people do this a lot and you can see the issues and the folding of
the carpet right there. If you don't want to spend the money, this is for sellers
also. If you don't want to spend the money for a new carpet, which a lot of
buyers will want new carpets. What you have to do is stretch this carpet.
People will come out and pull it to just make the carpet tighter and get rid of these
wrinkles. Always note where the attic is. Also for extra storage. Another thing to
look at is the floor. So when you come in a floor if you feel uneven floors... kind of right here, kind of feels uneven. That could be a sign of
foundation issues. Also cracks in the floor. You can see they might have a
little grout missing right there but that does not mean there's foundation issues. Could
just mean that its needing grout. The next thing we'll check is the hot-water heater. Make sure
everything is good and if they got central air or not. So obviously this
house is old. Usually their units are going to be located in the
attic. Make sure there's easy access and clean. AC units are a big deal. Your
temperature if it's not working properly, they could run your monthly
bill high in those high summer months. Trust me I know. Just happened. Make sure everything is good always check, always request the seller to get an
inspector/AC guy out there to inspect the units. Check the age of the units,
check the temperature. If everything is good, make sure they give
them the whole run-through cleaning. Clean them up and make them all look
good. A/C is definitely a must check when looking at homes. Remember that
it could cost you a lot of money. A/C companies are good and they have bad ones. But make sure you check them out and it can save you a ton of money!
Another main thing you want to look at when you go and look at houses,
especially here in Texas where we get these huge hail storms. Like baseball
sized hail, you want to check the roof. If you knew well you got ask your realtor if you don't know, but if you know that was a recent hailstorm.
Like in the past two years that hit this area. It pretty much damaged all roofs
around here. Make sure they have a new roof before you purchase a home. If there was roof damage. Because they can use their insurance to fix the roof. Which
should be cheap. But if you go and buy the house you would have to pay pretty
much full price for a new roof. So be look out for that. Now look at this roof. The owner has told me it's only a year old. So it's good.
One way to tell a difference between a 20-year, 30-year, and
40 year roof, is to see if they got layers. If it has a 3D look, it is 30 or
40 year roof. If it's just a flat shingle roof, that is normally a 20-year
roof. Alright, so that's about it when you go and look at homes. I mean there's
a lot of other things that are important to you. That might not be important to
everyone else. But remember it's all about you. You could negotiate anything you want. So you can get the fridge. Usually the fridge doesn't come with the
house, if you didn't know that. Always negotiable. Everything's negotiable! These are pretty much the basic things to look at in the home that saves you
thousands of dollars in repairs, if you don't know what you're looking for. Your Realtor should know and when you do get a inspection. Which everyone
should get an inspection. The inspector should let you know what to look for. Again, they're not going to go in depth. They're gonna go in depth with little
things but they're not a foundation expert, they're not
electrician, they're not a plumber. But they will tell you if you got a leak or
not. That is a few things to look for when buying home. If you want more information and home tips and home tours around the DFW, hit
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