1. Roof - A roof beyond its service life is one of those things like a car's fan belt: you don't know it needs replacing until it's way too late. In the roof's case, those telltale brown spots on your ceiling are the way in which you'll likely find out about it, along with a faint overhead "tap" whenever it rains.
How to spot it - Fortunately, those little brown rings on the ceiling are also the way to tell if the roof leaks long before you buy the house. Just look up when you're walking through the first time, and not necessarily only on the house's top floor is this important. Stray water takes a strange path through a house - it can end up on a two-story house's bottom floor sometimes, too. Other signs to look for are: buckling shingles, especially on the edges of the roof, and if you have a keen eye, little flecks of asphalt from the shingles can be spotted on the ground below a roof that's taken a beating from heavy storms, hail or those random once-every-80-years meteor showers.
2. Other water leaks - The roof isn't the only place water can get in, unfortunately. Old or improperly installed plumbing, improperly sealed foundations or standing moisture in the house's crawlspace are like the Trojan horse that can destroy your home from the inside out. And though remediation companies like Servepro can work wonders on a flooded house, it's best not to use them if you don't have to.
How to spot it - Much like a roof leak, you will want to look around the house for water stains, but water coming in at ground level will also appeal to another of your senses: smell. Take a whiff in the basement, if the house has one, and anything rotten will smell accordingly. If there's not a basement, hire an inspector that you trust, and that actually likes crawling under a house. Strange, we know, but they are out there. A good inspector will provide a thousand-fold return on his inpection fees by saving you untold amounts of repair money (not to mention grief).
3. Lead paint, asbestos, aluminum wiring or radon gas leaks - It's hard to believe that there was a day, long ago, that people actually thought these were safe building materials (except for radon gas, of course). These items are like the architectural version of bell-bottom jeans, except that bad fashion rarely kills people. The scariest factor of all of these items is that you can't see them, and wouldn't be able to even if you knew what to look for.
How to spot it - Any inspector worth his salt will be on the lookout for these items, and state and federal regulations have been enacted to remediate lead paint. But, if you have any doubts, consult these resources:
- Lead paint: http://www.epa.gov/lead/
- Asbestos (which was used in ceilings, drywall, flooring, insulation and exterior siding): http://www.epa.gov/asbestos/
- Aluminum wiring: http://www.inspect-ny.com/aluminum/aluminum.htm
- Radon gas: http://www.epa.gov/radon/pubs/citguide.html
4. Structural issues - When people get old, they start to bulge and sag, but a house that's even 100 or more years old, if built and maintained properly, should only have minimal settlement. Oddly enough, though, you can come across foundation issues just as commonly in 20 year-old houses as in those that were built when Lincoln was alive. Buy a house with structural issues and it'll still be moving as you're moving out. You'll go insane trying to pinpoint the causes, or you'll go insane trying to figure out which kidney you're going to sell to have it remediated. It's better just to find it and have it taken care of (or run like hell from it) before you sign the purchase contract.
How to spot it: Look for vertical cracks on the interior walls, or excessive sagging along the house's main axis. Step on a weak spot in the floor? Dig deeper. You won't have to look terribly hard to spot foundation issues, and your inspector will probably notice them before he even gets out of his truck.
5. Heating/air-conditioning - It's a good idea to have an HVAC technician that you're good friends with. Why? Because they'll accompany you on one of these walkthroughs before you buy, and they can inspect ductwork, the furnace, the fan, every component of the heating and air system in a house. Give him a Macaroni Grill gift certificate every now and then and he'll immediately tell you if the unit is large enough to heat and cool the house without straining your power bill, and whether there is any energy loss in any room in the house. If the unit is not dead yet but is starting to have "senior HVAC moments," he'll spot those too. A really good HVAC tech will tell you when the unit is past its service life and what will be under warranty or what won't. And all of this should be translated out of HVAC language and into humanspeak.
How to spot it: Leave the details to a trusted expert, but if the outside unit is rusty enough that even Fred Sanford wouldn't salvage it, you might be in for an overhaul.
6. Plumbing system - Probably a great idea to bring a plumbing contractor along as you grow more serious about buying the house. Not one of those guys with dollar signs in their eyes, either. Everyone knows someone who knows a plumber they recommend in good faith, and they usually have a "this guy saved me thousands of dollars" story to accompany the recommendation.
How to spot it: The saying is that, like the house's electrical system, a standard walk through a house will only reveal 1% of a house's plumbing. The rest, those lengths of supply and waste pipe, are behind the walls and under the house. A plumber will test for leaks and pressure by cutting on the water with a plumber's key and walk through and crawl under a house to see how things are working. Old galvanized steel or lead pipes, should the house be old enough to have either, can be a dealbreaker, should they need replacing.
7. Electrical system - If a house has cloth or tube-and-knob wiring, or if whatever it has is frayed or improperly wired to begin with, this house may kill you. Wiring is often the cause of house fires, and they don't always wait until you go to work to flare up. That's the worst of it, but that's not all. Some electrical panels weren't enough to carry the house's electrical load when they were put in. Strain a house's electrical capacity and you'll also put yourself and your family in harm's way.
How to spot it: An inspector will pick up on it right away. Indicators like burnt wire around outlets, a panel that's full of fuses (with no space for any more), outlets without third-prong grounds, or a service wire (the one that connects at the outside from the utility poles from the road) that looks like it has some age - these are signs that the house's wiring will need another look. Personally, I look at plate covers - those little plastic screw-on covers for the light switches and electrical outlets. If they look pretty old, then what's underneath them is likely equally ancient.
8. Outdated windows and/or doors - It sounds elemental to fix this, but you'd be shocked to find out how many people fixing up their house will spend $40,000 on their kitchen cabinets or $10,000 laying new, exotic hardwoods, only to leave single-pane windows on the house that don't form a tight seal and let out hundreds of dollars in energy each year. Most doors can be brought up to date with an inexpensive roll of weather stripping, but it'll cost more than a visit to Starbucks to replace a rotten wood window.
How to spot it: Just as easy as you think. An old window just looks old, and holding your hand up to a window or door, you'll feel a temperature difference. Even a slight one. If you see light around the seal of a door, it's got gaps.
9. Wood-boring insects - Foundation issues are one thing, but termites can sometimes elicit an emotional response. These are living things with an agenda, and it's like they are personally out to make your life miserable. But they aren't. Your line of work might be preparing taxes or cutting hair, but termites exist just to devour the 2x4's that hold a roof above your head. It's just what they do.
How to spot it: A termite letter from a qualified, reputable and highly recommended company is a good start. If you see those in-ground sentricon systems in the dirt around the house (they look like sprinkler heads, really close to the foundation), they might've been put in proactively, but it could be a reaction to an existing infestation. And wood that runs from the house all the way to the ground, as opposed to a brick foundation, is like a welcome mat to termites. Wood-to-earth contact = major lure to termites.
10. Zoning/easements - It's important to ask the right questions on the front end. "Are there trains that run nearby?" "Are there commercial developments planned for right around the corner?" "Isn't this where that sacred Indian burial ground was?" There are forces larger than you at work in your city, and while the path of progress is great, trying to hear Seinfeld over the recently-constructed Interstate a block away, well, that sucks.
How to spot it: Neighbors are put on this earth to tell such tales. Ask around. And as a backup, you may want to pull a professional survey or even such measures as a zoning opinion letter, flood plain classification or environmental certification letter (all from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development) to ensure that you aren't buying the house that hundreds have passed on because the local nuclear plant buries their radioactive waste next to what will be your herb garden.
Happy hunting!
--Auben Homes
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