Beware flashy upgrades that may hide many sins
Quick-and -dirty makeovers could come back to haunt homebuyer who fails to do research
When you’re buying a home, you’ve got a lot of questions to ask yourself. Among them, do you want a new-build home, an older fixer-upper, or somewhere in the middle? By that I mean a home that’s showing its age in a few places, but has generally been well taken care of by the previous owners.
The problem is, there’s a difference between a house that simply looks good and a home that was properly taken care of and upgraded.
Often, flippers who are attempting to make a quick profit on a sale will rely on their potential buyer not being able to distinguish the two.
If you’re walking through a
home that looks good at the surface, here are a few ways you can be more secure, knowing that the stuff you don’t see behind the wall has been given the same care:
SPOTTING QUESTIONABLE RENOVATIONS
It’s not out of the ordinary for homeowners to make necessary upgrades to a home before they list. This can give the seller more power when it comes to the negotiation.
A new roof, an upgraded furnace or a new full set of windows is not only attractive to potential buyers, it gives them peace of mind that the home they’re buying has been properly maintained. For owners who have been in the home for a long time, these upgrades likely happened slowly throughout the years.
If you’re walking through a home and the realtor boasts that both the kitchen and the bathroom have been recently renovated, to me, that’s a huge red flag. Why? A renovation done right takes time and it costs money. Ask for more details about the renovations — specifically about the timeline. If these projects were completed in a few short weeks, I’d certainly want to take a much closer look at the quality of the work.
Other hints that can alert you to shoddy, quick work are cheap materials used through the renovation, poorly done trim and sloppy paint jobs. In fact, if you notice only a few spots on the walls with fresh paint — it could even be a quick job to cover up instances of water damage.
LOOK AT THE SALES HISTORY
How long has the current homeowner been in the house? If it’s less than a year, that’s a pretty good indicator that the home was a flip — someone who tackled some lipstick- and-mascara renovations, without paying much attention to the structure of the home who hopes to drive up the value of the property quickly.
As a potential buyer, if you see a home with a lot of flashy upgrades that give you cause for concern, do a permit search on the property. You’ll be able to see if the homeowner got the proper permits needed for these renovations. If the permits are there, it means the project was at least completed to code and signed
off on by the city inspector. If no record exists, it’s an indication that the homeowner may have cut corners on the renovation in a rush to get it done and on the market.
Ask about the home’s renovation history. When was the roof last done? When was the furnace replaced? If these systems have been ignored and the homeowners instead opted for esthetic upgrades, you may find yourself ripping out those beautiful finishes sooner rather than later to run new ductwork, or have your wiring upgraded. At the end of the day, you may wind up having to redo that kitchen a lot sooner to correct issues that were covered up.
Finally, and this is true whether the home is one month old or 100 years old — don’t skip the home inspection. The few hundred dollars you spend on the inspection is nothing compared to the total cost of the home — and it can alert you to any major deficiencies that your eyes can’t find.
The best way to protect yourself when buying a home is to arm yourself with as much knowledge about the property as you can. Knowing its sales history, the general state of its internal systems, as well as its past permits will give you the ammunition you need to either make a good offer, or know to walk away.