Things to consider when viewing a house, not in regards to inspection concerns?
My spouse and I were recently pre approved for a home loan; this evening, we will be going to look at a house for the first time. This will be our first house, and unless truly extenuating circumstances arise, we will not be looking to move or sell anytime soon.
There are plenty of existing threads and articles covering things to look for in terms of the state of the house itself, such as foundation cracks, new paint covering mold, water damage, etc; what I am looking for is more a question of things to consider potentially liking or disliking about a home, regardless of its state of repair, that we might not think of until it's too late.
For example, some things I've come across that are important and can't be changed about a house, but I wouldn't have thought to consider if I hadn't seen someone else mention them, include:
- whether we get good cell service when not using wi-fi
- whether the hallway is wide enough to move large furniture through
- what direction the house faces, and subsequently when/where light comes in
What other things might be easy to overlook about a property, but should be taken into account?
A good thing to consider is the quality of the neighbourhood:
All of these contribute as much to the enjoyment of where you are as the other things about the house.
With regards to the house itself:
A big one for us was: does the house enable you to do the things you need to do to exist comfortably?* This is a bit more personal, because you have to analyze what you want out of a home. We moved last year, and when we were looking for a house, we had a few things that we wanted:
And we had about a dozen more things as well, all tailored to our specific needs in a home that has to function both for entertainment, relaxation, and work. So I would recommend trying to figure out the things that you want to achieve with regards to your home; do you want to work out? Do you want to have a project room to do whatever you do with your spare time? Do you want to have people over for dinner parties? When we bought our fist house, we were pretty loose and didn't actually list all the things that we wanted, and as such, my wife didn't actually find our home to be a good place to relax or to work, which is why we ended up moving, so I recommend approaching it very mindfully and making explicit the things that you want.
When I lived in a city, I'd ask where the nearest grocery store was. For a house, I'd probably ask if the schools are bus or walking distance.
Noise level from traffic (and/or trains if applicable). This is especially true if you intend to spend a lot of time outside.
If possible, try to meet some of your potential neighbors. A bad neighbor can make even the best house miserable.
Size of the lot/how much mowing you may have to do. I hate mowing, fortunately my lot is tiny and I can mow + trim in ~30 minutes.
Can you get a pizza or other food delivered? It sounds cheesy (heh) but sometimes after a long day I just want food and don't want to even think about cooking.
How long your commute will be (if you have one) and remember that's 2x a day for 5 days of the week.
I'm sure there are others, those were just quickly off the top of my head.
Good points about traffic noise. I moved under a flight path and didn't know until moving day.
I know someone else already mentioned it, but I can't stress it enough: STORAGE SPACE!! We bought our first home 3 years ago, loved everything about it. Then we had to unpack... we're a family of 5, and didn't realize until it was too late that there's no closet near entries for coats and seasonal wear, no linen closet for our towels, closets that are far too small in the master bedroom, etc. We looked at the house in late summer, and never even considered the clothing, footwear, outerwear, etc, that we would have to store when it wasn't in season
In my personal experience, new build houses are AWFUL for cupboards/storage space. In the old houses I've lived in, there's all sorts of nooks and crannies.
I can think of a few reasons for this. First, so many things of a modern house are prefabricated. Doors are bought prehung on their frames. Cabinets are factory build rather than made in local cabinet shops or built-ins. Manually cut and braised copper piping has been replaced with injection-molded PVC fittings that are rapidly chemically welded to PVC pipes. Trim is bought prefinished and ready to install, let alone being hardwood trim that is manufactured on site by builders. Home designs are often even designed to be even multiples of 8' or 4' to allow the use of full-sized plywood sheets without any cutting necessary.
In this prefab mode of construction, it is very rare to actually build any custom built-in storage spaces. Taking advantage of every nook and cranny requires custom building shelves, cupboard drawers, etc to fit in small, narrow, or oddly shaped spaces. This can be done today. But buyers typically just want to get the most square footage possible for the lowest cost possible. Aside from some very wealthy buyers, few will purchase a home based on the presence or lack of these hand-built amenities. People simply aren't willing to pay for that. If they're going to spend an extra $30k, most would rather spend that on a slightly larger house, or one with a slightly larger yard or in a slightly better location.
Secondly, the impact of age can't be ignored. Does your house not have lots of cabinets and cupboards built into every nook and cranny? Can you identify dead spaces, currently behind drywall, that could be retrofitted into a cabinet or set of built-in shelves? Well it's your house. You can change things in it. You can learn how to do the work yourself (you don't have to be a master carpenter to pull off this kind of work,) or you could hire someone to do it.
When you see an old home with all sorts of custom built-ins in every nook and cranny, what you see may or may not resemble the home's original new-built state. Sometimes homes were built with all those little storage amenities. Sometimes they were added piecemeal, one small project at a time over the course of decades. One owner turns the dead space under the stairs into a closet. Another builds a set of built-in bookshelves on one side of the living room. The original kitchen, which left dead space under the countertops in an inside corner, was renovated and replaced with higher-end cabinets that were built to make that space usable. The attic gets converted from a unusable mess of duct work and loose insulation into a highly usable storage space with a solid floor and built-in shelving. Each owner leaves their own little mark, and after several decades the home is filled with little custom details.
These are the two big reasons I would cite for why new homes have less storage spaces than older ones. For new homes, the industry has generally moved away from custom built ins to mass produced prefab fixtures. And older homes, even if built originally lacking lots of storage spaces, eventually have them added through decades of renovation and customization.
The biggest thing you cannot change is the neighborhood the house is in. Is the house close to a busy street? Are there lots of cars parked everywhere, or do people use their garages & driveways? Does it look like other homeowners are keeping up the outside of their properties or are there lots of overgrown plants & junk in the yards? Can you hear things like dogs barking, chickens, etc. that you would find objectionable? Has the city (or whoever) been keeping the street maintained, or is this neighborhood being ignored by the powers-that-be?
A red flag for me personally would be a neighbor who appears to run a business out of their house that involves a lot of trucks like hvac, plumbing, etc. They would likely be producing a lot of annoying noise early in the morning and late at night.
You can change a lot about the house itself (for a price), but I'd be looking for good storage- not just a closet in every bedroom, but things like a linen closet in the hallway, a laundry room with cupboards, a pantry, that kind of thing. Those are hard to add in later but so handy to have, and they help you keep the house tidier.
About the yard, you can change just about anything there too. But take a look at things like trees. If you value tall old trees and don't have any, you can't really add them yourself. Also if those trees exist in your neighbors' yards, they could cut them down later, dramatically changing the feel of your own property (this happened to me at my last house). If you want to grow a garden, be sure the lot gets enough light to do that.
I think the best advice I have is to try to see as many houses as you can and not to "fall in love" with a house. A good realtor should have no problems showing you lots of houses, and it is a great way to refine your must-haves and must-nots lists. You may not know you want something until you see it in person, so exposing yourself to variety is important in house hunting. Its worth your time to look at houses above and below your price range (within reason), or places that don't necessarily check all the boxes to give you a better handle on what you want.
Congratulations! I know the feeling, my partner and I went through this a couple years ago. Great insight to think about more of the intangibles.
Some important ones for us were:
Nerd questions about things which can be hard to change:
Things which are better to do early before you move in:
For everything else, there's a bucket of projects I expect will take me years to get through and aren't pressing. You'll probably get a similar list. It can feel overwhelming starting out, but for us all of the pleasant surprises and joys of choosing and creating our space outweigh the burdens. Best of luck in your search!
One of the things I always did was taste the water! I generally only drink water and there's no way I'm going to buy it bottled, so it was so so important to make sure I'd be fine drinking it on a regular basis. Fixing the taste of water can involve installing a water softener system or relying on filtration systems which can be a hassle. If the water is bad its not necessarily a deal breaker but it is definitely a part of the equation.
If you drive into work or commute in any way, check whether or not the sun is in your eyes both ways, apparently that's important. I work from home so it doesn't matter to me but some people have mentioned that to me before.
The other one is chat with your potential neighbors, see the vibe! I love my condo partially because the neighbors are great and I'm always happy to see and chat with them.
100% an issue, lol. Fortunately it's the exact opposite for me, but the few times I had to go into work in the afternoon it's like 30 minutes with the sun straight in my eyes.
Some basic stuff I considered before moving (the actual condition wasn't too much of a concern, I absolutely needed to get a new place asap, and I am just renting an appartment):
Closeness to work - if driving, is it going to be okay in all weathers? If you lose access to you car, do you have public transport, is it possible to bike? Similarly, do you have space for your vehicle?
Shopping - can you get basic groceries without needing to travel too much? In a pinch, can you go on foot for the really basic stuff?
Medical/Pharmacy - Is there a place to get those painkillers where you're in no shape to be traveling anywhere but your head is absolutely killing you?
Theoretically, you could change a lot of things about the house or even the property.
All the theorycrafting in the world can't change the surroundings though. Zillow and its cohorts have neighborhood meter kind of features to give you an idea, but nothing beats spending some time in the neighborhood with boots on the ground to really get the vibe of a place.
Is walkability important to you? It never occurred to me that the house I bought has nothing within a mile that isn't woods, a beach, or someone else's house; and it's another mile still before I get to a convenience store or a typical downtown area.
I would have bought it anyway since this is kind of what I did want, but still I underestimated how often I would randomly go out for a walk in my previous neighborhood.
Noise, like others have mentioned.
Traffic! If anybody in the house commutes to work or school during rush hour, try to cruise around the neighborhood during those hours and do a trial run of the commute. It's amazing how easily one shitty left turn can somewhere can create a backup that makes it take 10 extra minutes to get out of town every single day (or maybe worse, get back home in the evening), and you won't see it during Sunday's open house when the neighborhood is quiet.
A few things we took special notice of before picking our house:
What direction were the majority of the windows facing, but must importantly, what direction were our bedroom windows facing. This also impacted how I could lay out all my plants, because a house without the right windows can be a killer to plant growth.
Was our room seperated from the rest of the house, specifically the other bedroom I would be using as my office. We lived in 500sqft for like 8 years and my wife has put up with the sound of me gaming for long enough. She wanted the master bedroom to be on the opposite side of the house to my office.
Is the main bathroom(s) close to living room? Both of us have stomach issues and we absolutely hate using a restroom close to where everyone is. Maybe TMI, but yeah we don't want anyone hearing the sounds of us pooping and we definitely don't want any smells wafting.
Are there enough outlets. Some houses are loaded with them, some have none. But even more important, where are they all. Sometimes you stand in a room and think "Yeah I can lay it out this way..." then you realize there are two outlets and they're both on the same wall.
If you're able, check out the house and the neighborhood at different times of the day to get a better feel for what it's like to live there. If you have a viewing during the day, check it out at night.
Neighbors are also a major factor that will have an outsized effect on your life. Shitty neighbors are no fun, and good neighbors are a treasure, but they're not something that are going to show upon a real estate listing for obvious reasons.
Water pressure. Turn the taps on full. Is it good? Does it drop a lot of you turn on the tap in kitchen and bathroom at the same time?
Normally it'll be okay. But if you notice it being bad... You can only do so much with in-house solutions.
I've lived in new builds where the local main water lines wasn't updated to match the need of all the new builds. So despite being brand new, you'd think it was practically hand pumped on demand from a backyard well.
Try getting soap out of your hair with a less than enthusiastic water stream. Oh, you wanted to take a shower before work? So does all your neighbours.
Or getting water in the kitchen, only to hear your partner screaming in the shower from the sudden temperature change.
Think about what season you’re looking at the house in. If it’s a hot summer day and the house is pretty cool, is that because of good insulation or is it because the house is drafty and therefore freezing in winter? Here in sydney older houses are notoriously drafty and lacking insulation, and I’m sitting here in winter having to sleep in thermal socks and jumpers.
You didn't mention what country you're from, so I'll assume you're from somewhere where cars are needed.
If you own a car, please, please, please, for the love of whatever is sacred to you, check out what your parking space, drive way, parking lot, etc., looks like and if it's surrounded by trees, power lines, cable lines, etc.
I made a mistake with this and my drive way is partially under a tree and partially under a power line. Guess what's always hanging out and taking shit on power lines? Birds! My car is covered in bird poop. It's driving me insane. The power company isn't going to move the power line because of my car so my only choice is to wash my car three times a week or spend thousands to build some sort of a car port or a garage. Not only is the power line in the way but so is the tree that's nearby. The tree is sooooo big that whenever there is the smallest wind, a million twigs, leaves, branches, end up on my car.
Ouch, no room for a carport canopy? (<$300, not too hard to setup)
Tried one of the cheap ones, I think it was about ~500 from Home Depot. Unfortunately because the cover itself was not metal, it got damaged by all the sap from the tree/branches above it as well as the bird droppings. It started leaking about seven months in.
The only thing I can add to the long list of good suggestions is internet. You mention cell phone coverage but is there a good internet connection available. My current house came with very crappy service due to older communication lines in the area. It did get upgraded recently so its good now. In a similar vein, consider that some cell carriers will accept calls over WiFi. I have poor cell reception in parts of my house buy as long as I have WiFi I still get calls.
Keep in mind that you may not be able to tick all these boxes and sometimes you realise what will end up bugging you about the house.
Also, if something just feels off then sometimes you've gotta trust your gut or your partner's.
Some things that I never thought about until I didn't have them: are there trees in the area? Where I live there are no remotely tall trees. I don't know if they cleared them when they built the neighborhood or if it was a farm before or what but there is no shade, no green other than grass, and it just makes me a bit sad.
Also, even if you don't run, what would it be like to run in the neighborhood? There are other ways to phrase this question, but basically can you just enjoy being outside of your house without driving somewhere? I live in a very quiet neighborhood but it's pretty small. Walking around it is fine. Not particularly nice because there aren't trees or anything, just house after house, and because it's basically just a few connected cul-de-sacs, you're just going in a small loop and the curves feel a bit tight and if, say, children are playing in one cul-de-sac, it feels like a deliberate choice to go past them. It feels a bit restricting. The only other places to walk/run are along either busy roads or roads with bad sightlines for cars and no sidewalks because they were built just as a way to cut between farms.
And yeah the closest business is like 2.5 miles away and it's not a very nice walk even if you felt like walking five miles roundtrip just to get a shitty pizza or Subway. So yes, the official walkability stats are bad, but that was taken for granted when we moved here, but it also just doesn't feel like a particularly appealing place to walk in general.
I'd be looking for how much sun the yard & windows get and how wide the window sills are since I like to garden & have potted plants. Also too much shade in areas that get plenty of rain or humidity means more issues with water, fungus, moss, slugs and spiders. Trees to the north aren't so bad, but trees to the west, east and south will mean shade. My sister's backyard has her house to the west, trees to the east and a row of tall hedges to the south so the back yard was rather shady and the front really sunny. Trees can also help shade your house if the summers are hot so it's important to check where the shade lands no matter the weather. :)
Lookup what type of trees you'll have. Fruit trees sound great, but you'll need to pickup the fruit - rotting fruit aside, wasps like fruit. If you have an ornamental pear, they stink badly for a few weeks every year. Gumball trees will leave spiky balls everywhere.
Check if there's fresh laid sod. I've heard of people getting a new home where someone slapped down some sod on rock hard, toxic or unhealthy ground and it died not long after. Sod isn't necessarily bad, it just needs to be done right and you'll want to keep it watered well for a few months if it was just put down.
Have a watering system in an area that freezes in winter? You'll need to check how to winterize it, might have to hire someone to blow the lines out or learn to do it yourself.
Trees above the house = clogged gutters for sure. Tho there are a lot of systems to prevent it (I like the brush type).
Hmm I think I saw water pressure mentioned already, as well as water quality.
Other small things I'd check:
Does the mailbox lock? (this is easy to rectify, but good to not be surprised)
Check if there's a light pole right outside your bedroom window.
Check if there's a garage door opener & do you have the remotes for it.
How old is the hot water heater (my sister had to replace her's after only a couple years :/)
This is really inspection but I can't resist: check for dirt tunnels or remnants of them on baseboards (termites make those)
Does it get good airflow?
What type of heating and cooling is there?
Is the general layout of the house something that works for you? Remodels are very expensive.
Is there good privacy from nosey neighbors (assume the worst as you'll never regret privacy).
If cars other than the realtor and people touring are parked outside that's a flag that your neighbors will be parking in front of your house and there's nothing you can do.
How close is it to the freeway both for noise and convenience.
How well has the home been maintained - does it look old? As the guts will be worse if the facade is bad.
Is the property sloped? If so, towards our away from the house? What grade? This will affect gardening and letting kids or dogs out to play, especially if it shows and ices over on a hill...
What condition are the rest of the houses in the neighborhood?
If there's undeveloped land next door, who owns it will give you an idea of potential for development.
Look up city ordinances for the area - and if it's a corner house make sure you check the fence restrictions as where we used to live they changed the code after we started building our 6' fence - any new fences were limited to 3' tall for corner lots. This won't be an issue for a home with an existing fence until you have to replace it.
Good luck!
Tree roots. We've all been through neighborhoods where tree roots have grown beneath the sidewalk and cracked it/made it bumpy. Well, guess what? They can do the same thing to your house's foundation.
Lots of great thoughts here. One I didn't see was which way the driveway faces. It never occurred to me in our last house, but if your area gets snow in the winter a south facing driveway will be easier to shovel. You'll get lots of sunlight that may help melt it down for you. Our neighbors across the street were not so lucky.