Showings are one of the most exciting parts of the home buying process, but it’s so important to make sure that you look at a home wholistically when you visit it, not just get taken in by pretty new paint or a backsplash. Here are the 5 things we think get the most overlooked that are extremely vital to notice during.

1. Floor plan:

We thought long and hard which of these items to put first, but we decided the floor plan was the most important because so many of our buyers overlook the feasibility of actually living in the house they think they might love because they see finishes they like. One thing we always like to do with our clients to make sure they end up with the exact right house for them is to have them think through which pieces of their furniture they would put in each room, what changes they would have to make to their daily routines to adapt to make this new house their home. If they can’t picture themselves living day to day life there with the floor plan as it is or could be with changes they can make right away, it probably isn’t the right fit for them. 

2. Roof leaks:

Too often when people look at a house, they forget to look up. When you don’t look up, there are many things that you can miss, including everything from yellow signs of roof leaks or plumbing issues to bacterial growth gathering on the HVAC vents. While an inspector will certainly find these issues upon their own inspection of the house, it has always been our team’s mentality that the more prepared a buyer can be of the potential flaws of a home before they go under contract, the less likely they are to waste money on an inspection only to have to back out of the contract and keep searching. So, make sure you look up when viewing a house, and be sure to choose an agent whose end goal is making sure to get you in a house you’ll love, not just to sell you a house as quickly as possible. 

3. AC Unit:

While there are a few more expensive projects a new homeowner can have to deal with than an AC unit, it’s certainly nothing to laugh about to have to spend 4-6 thousand dollars to replace a unit right after you’ve just spent a large chunk of cash on your down payment and closing costs. So, when you’re out looking at a house, just make sure to also sneak a peek at the AC unit and do a quick once over for elements like rust, strange, out-dated systems, or systems that should be active but don’t seem to be working. Again, there’s no sense in paying for an entire inspection if you can find the big no-gos yourself!

4. Smells:

Your nose can be your most valuable tool other than your eyes during a showing. Make sure to take a few deep breaths when you first step in a house to see what you notice. Healthy air can make a huge difference in the livability of a home, and we try to make sure that we’re always noticing damp smelling air, smokey smells, or anything else that might be bad for your clients’ lungs or resale value. Keep in mind that there are ways to fix these things, but as with everything else, noticing a problem is always the first step to fixing it or deciding that it’s not worth fixing and might not be your forever home. 

5. Uneven floors and unexpected cracks:

We hear clients talking about “foundation issues” in hushed, fearful tones whenever they see a small crack or feel a certain slant in flooring. While these fears can sometimes be blown out of proportion as according to Atlas, the standard foundation repair only costs around 1K-9K to entirely fix the issue, the higher end of that range is certainly not an amount to scoff at, which is why we always look for the items listed here as warning signs that something might be going wrong with the house. Keep in mind that it always takes a foundation professional/structural engineer to fully evaluate the problem, but items such as dramatic stair-stepping in exterior brick or noticeable flooring issues may be cause for concern! 

We hope that this list has helped you keep in perspective some of the main things that it is vital to notice when you are viewing a house that might become your own. If you have any follow up questions that you think we can help with, please reach directly at (678) 242-9981 We look forward to helping out however we can!