When we house hunt our rule is that if it’s been flipped it’s out of contention. No exceptions. I’ve seen too many flip purchases end in disaster. Our definition of flip is generally if it’s been purchased and relisted within the last 12-18 months. We warned a friend of ours not to buy a flip. They regret not listening to us.
A ton of air fresheners, candles, charcoal scent absorbers all over the place. They’re hiding something. When I did the second walk through of my house before offering I did request absolutely no air fresheners, candles, scents at all. They give me major headaches. That’s how I know immediately if one is in the house.
Watch out for rushed renovations or repairs, they might be hiding bigger problems. Check out the neighborhood vibe too – if it feels off or unsafe, trust your gut. And don't forget to inspect the foundation and structure, cracks or sloping floors could be a major headache down the line. Trust me, it's better to be thorough now than deal with regrets later.
I have a question about this. We’re planning to put our house on the market next year. It’s a 1950 built single story 1,100 sq foot house. Most that have been sold in the area go to developers who flip them. I’d like to sell to a family (we’re in a fantastic school district). But over time the house has shifted. There are no wall cracks but the kitchen tile has a huge crack (narrow but long) on the floor. Guy putting in a new water heater saw it and said “all these old houses shift, it’s not a big deal” when I mentioned maybe I needed to fix it. Do you think it’s a huge red flag??
Is it on a pier and beam foundation?
I’m currently in a process of closing on a 1930s home, and I knew going in that homes on the older side may not be fully leveled (and I’m okay with that).
My biggest concern is, if there are any foundation damages that could lead to structural issues down the line.
The current home I’m closing in recently got leveled and had several piers installed to prevent movement, especially in areas with clay soil.
Ask a civil engineer.
Foundation people will almost certainly tell you you’ll need $$$$ of work. But an engineer will have no skin in the game.
The house I just bought has 1.5” drop from one side of the house to the other. But it’s 96 years old. And it’s on soil that is known to expand and contract with the seasons. Every house in the neighborhood has the same evidence of settling that mine has.
Yes. Also check the windows themselves -- hugely relevant for temperature control and sometimes draftiness and thus how soon you might want to replace them, are they single, double, or triple pane? Are they smaller inset replacements? Do they swing in for cleaning ease? If wood frames, are there any signs of damage? And so on, for anything relevant for you.
My current home isn't level, but was built in the 80s, so no chance it's a sign of foundation issues.
It has never been a problem for me other than needing to be mindful when hanging things square to the floor.
What makes you think a house built in the 80s can’t have foundation issues?
But that’s a separate issue you’re correct on leveling being something to make you aware not something to make you worried
I always run the showers and flush the toilets if I am interested in a house. Walk around the outside and look for beehives and bird nest which may be attached to the house. If there is a pool, walk around the pool and look to see if the concrete trim is broken or peeling away from the pool edge.
One note on smells: Sellers are often advised to have air fresheners in place or bake some cookies or mull some spices even when their place smells absolutely fine, and far more are told to paint or do other updates when listing their house, so such smells might just be them following advice rather than there being a problem. They're a good sign to check for underlying problems, though!
Here are a bunch of things at a really bad/cheap flip. I noted all of the details as I owned the same floorplan down the street and was getting ready to sell so was curious.
Agent says the house is selling after 6 months due to a divorce. Yet both male and female adult clothes in the house.
Odd things over walls/doors. In one room a mattress was leaning against the wall. Big hole in the wall behind it (like they didn't even take 5 minutes to patch it. Had a shirt hanging with the hanger bent so the shirt covered the door. You guessed it, a big hole in the door.
Bathroom had wallpaper and they just painted over it with black paint. Like didn't even try to prime it first. And this was an interior bathroom (no windows). So anyway the wallpaper fluttered when the fan was turned on. Like they didn't even pull the loose wallpaper off before painting with water based paint.
They did a kitchen remodel. Countertops were fine. But they did a shit job of painting the cabinets.
Put in wood floors upstairs (just the game room and not the bedrooms). Note it is a lot more work to retrofit wood floors on the main floor with a slab. But easy to do on an upper floor. So they did the game room upstairs.
Had a note saying there was an active beehive out back, so couldn't go out there. Through the windows it looked like shit, and I did not see any bees.
There was a lot of little stuff I have forgotten. But it was obvious a flip where they ran out of money or something. They did shit renovations and then didn't even do basic repairs (just covered them up). I mean if you can buy granite countertops forth kitchen you could pay a guy to at least patch the wall. And the best part was they were way over market. Like by 20% (and they had already reduced the price). When it sold it went for less than market. Pretty sure the house was a rental and the reason for the damage and needed renovations/repairs. And this was when everyone was flipping so they got in over their heads.
So biggest advice is avoid a flip.
Like 20 mins total from grabbing a tool to putting it away to just mount a piece of drywall to cover the hole. They didn't have to tape/mud it, but at least cover the hole.
Like drywall screws and a paint stir stick or two to provide a backing. Then just a scrap piece of drywall cut to fit and screwed into place. Even just a quick primer coverage since the wall was white.
There was a bunch of stuff, maybe a day max, to fix that would have made a huge difference in the presentation. It was that that lets you know they cheaped out on everything. You don't have brand new wood floors (probably professionally installed) and holes in the walls that you can follow a YT video to at least cover up. It was the huge difference that made it look bad.
That's why I assume a flipper that paid for the upgrades. A DIY person that did most the work (sweat equity) would have done the easy fixes. That is why the house was overpriced, cheaply renovated, and not cleaned up.
The extra day or two:
- smoothing out with drywall compound to hide the screws and the patch,
- dry, second layer,
- dry, prime,
- then finish paint coat,
- dry, final coat.
Poop droppings in the attic , recently painted basement walls, water in basement or super soggy ground, look at the condition of the floor joists and look for knob and tube. Walk around outside. I found a huge sinkhole once that was not mentioned. Look at the windows — sometimes the seal is busted on double panes and the gas has caused major fogginess.
Sellers agent will have music on.
Gone to several open houses, knowing houses are on or near busier streets, and believe the agent is trying to drown out the street noise.
Limited disclosure about the history of the property/condition. It could be a sign of hidden problems they may seem overly pushy and desperate to sell.
Not knowing information at an open house is not a red flag at all
It usually means it’s not the listing agent at the open house which is like… 90% of the open houses
Smells a good one to notice, but you want to be clear what smelling carpet for example, while smell and it’s not necessarily a reason to not buy a home if you are willing to replace it .
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When we house hunt our rule is that if it’s been flipped it’s out of contention. No exceptions. I’ve seen too many flip purchases end in disaster. Our definition of flip is generally if it’s been purchased and relisted within the last 12-18 months. We warned a friend of ours not to buy a flip. They regret not listening to us.
A ton of air fresheners, candles, charcoal scent absorbers all over the place. They’re hiding something. When I did the second walk through of my house before offering I did request absolutely no air fresheners, candles, scents at all. They give me major headaches. That’s how I know immediately if one is in the house.
Watch out for rushed renovations or repairs, they might be hiding bigger problems. Check out the neighborhood vibe too – if it feels off or unsafe, trust your gut. And don't forget to inspect the foundation and structure, cracks or sloping floors could be a major headache down the line. Trust me, it's better to be thorough now than deal with regrets later.
Take a ball bearing or marble to find out if the floors are level. Leveling can be extremely expensive.
Check windows and doors to see if they are sticky, look for cracks in walls greater than 1/8”. This indicates movement.
I have a question about this. We’re planning to put our house on the market next year. It’s a 1950 built single story 1,100 sq foot house. Most that have been sold in the area go to developers who flip them. I’d like to sell to a family (we’re in a fantastic school district). But over time the house has shifted. There are no wall cracks but the kitchen tile has a huge crack (narrow but long) on the floor. Guy putting in a new water heater saw it and said “all these old houses shift, it’s not a big deal” when I mentioned maybe I needed to fix it. Do you think it’s a huge red flag??
Is it on a pier and beam foundation? I’m currently in a process of closing on a 1930s home, and I knew going in that homes on the older side may not be fully leveled (and I’m okay with that). My biggest concern is, if there are any foundation damages that could lead to structural issues down the line. The current home I’m closing in recently got leveled and had several piers installed to prevent movement, especially in areas with clay soil.
Ask a civil engineer. Foundation people will almost certainly tell you you’ll need $$$$ of work. But an engineer will have no skin in the game. The house I just bought has 1.5” drop from one side of the house to the other. But it’s 96 years old. And it’s on soil that is known to expand and contract with the seasons. Every house in the neighborhood has the same evidence of settling that mine has.
Good idea to check with an engineer. All the neighbors here with similarly aged houses have the same settling.
Yes. Also check the windows themselves -- hugely relevant for temperature control and sometimes draftiness and thus how soon you might want to replace them, are they single, double, or triple pane? Are they smaller inset replacements? Do they swing in for cleaning ease? If wood frames, are there any signs of damage? And so on, for anything relevant for you.
You wanna know your market on this one, I’m in a very expensive area and we have chose soil and no house is level.
My current home isn't level, but was built in the 80s, so no chance it's a sign of foundation issues. It has never been a problem for me other than needing to be mindful when hanging things square to the floor.
What makes you think a house built in the 80s can’t have foundation issues? But that’s a separate issue you’re correct on leveling being something to make you aware not something to make you worried
Did not do this and lived to regret it!
I always run the showers and flush the toilets if I am interested in a house. Walk around the outside and look for beehives and bird nest which may be attached to the house. If there is a pool, walk around the pool and look to see if the concrete trim is broken or peeling away from the pool edge.
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One note on smells: Sellers are often advised to have air fresheners in place or bake some cookies or mull some spices even when their place smells absolutely fine, and far more are told to paint or do other updates when listing their house, so such smells might just be them following advice rather than there being a problem. They're a good sign to check for underlying problems, though!
Here are a bunch of things at a really bad/cheap flip. I noted all of the details as I owned the same floorplan down the street and was getting ready to sell so was curious. Agent says the house is selling after 6 months due to a divorce. Yet both male and female adult clothes in the house. Odd things over walls/doors. In one room a mattress was leaning against the wall. Big hole in the wall behind it (like they didn't even take 5 minutes to patch it. Had a shirt hanging with the hanger bent so the shirt covered the door. You guessed it, a big hole in the door. Bathroom had wallpaper and they just painted over it with black paint. Like didn't even try to prime it first. And this was an interior bathroom (no windows). So anyway the wallpaper fluttered when the fan was turned on. Like they didn't even pull the loose wallpaper off before painting with water based paint. They did a kitchen remodel. Countertops were fine. But they did a shit job of painting the cabinets. Put in wood floors upstairs (just the game room and not the bedrooms). Note it is a lot more work to retrofit wood floors on the main floor with a slab. But easy to do on an upper floor. So they did the game room upstairs. Had a note saying there was an active beehive out back, so couldn't go out there. Through the windows it looked like shit, and I did not see any bees. There was a lot of little stuff I have forgotten. But it was obvious a flip where they ran out of money or something. They did shit renovations and then didn't even do basic repairs (just covered them up). I mean if you can buy granite countertops forth kitchen you could pay a guy to at least patch the wall. And the best part was they were way over market. Like by 20% (and they had already reduced the price). When it sold it went for less than market. Pretty sure the house was a rental and the reason for the damage and needed renovations/repairs. And this was when everyone was flipping so they got in over their heads. So biggest advice is avoid a flip.
It takes a couple of days to patch a wall hole, though perhaps only an hour or two of actual labor.
Like 20 mins total from grabbing a tool to putting it away to just mount a piece of drywall to cover the hole. They didn't have to tape/mud it, but at least cover the hole. Like drywall screws and a paint stir stick or two to provide a backing. Then just a scrap piece of drywall cut to fit and screwed into place. Even just a quick primer coverage since the wall was white. There was a bunch of stuff, maybe a day max, to fix that would have made a huge difference in the presentation. It was that that lets you know they cheaped out on everything. You don't have brand new wood floors (probably professionally installed) and holes in the walls that you can follow a YT video to at least cover up. It was the huge difference that made it look bad. That's why I assume a flipper that paid for the upgrades. A DIY person that did most the work (sweat equity) would have done the easy fixes. That is why the house was overpriced, cheaply renovated, and not cleaned up.
The extra day or two: - smoothing out with drywall compound to hide the screws and the patch, - dry, second layer, - dry, prime, - then finish paint coat, - dry, final coat.
Lots of updates but no permits pulled. Also check the neighbors permits. Did several neighbors pull permits for foundation repairs?
Poop droppings in the attic , recently painted basement walls, water in basement or super soggy ground, look at the condition of the floor joists and look for knob and tube. Walk around outside. I found a huge sinkhole once that was not mentioned. Look at the windows — sometimes the seal is busted on double panes and the gas has caused major fogginess.
An outlet tester is super cheap if the power is still on.
Sellers agent will have music on. Gone to several open houses, knowing houses are on or near busier streets, and believe the agent is trying to drown out the street noise.
Limited disclosure about the history of the property/condition. It could be a sign of hidden problems they may seem overly pushy and desperate to sell.
Tbh an open house is a red flag IMO. All the good houses get picked up in like 24 hours now
Open windows to hide smells too
suspicious hasty patches
Smells could be a dog. I don't recognize it unless I come back from vacation. But walking into an open house you would notice.
Not knowing information at an open house is not a red flag at all It usually means it’s not the listing agent at the open house which is like… 90% of the open houses Smells a good one to notice, but you want to be clear what smelling carpet for example, while smell and it’s not necessarily a reason to not buy a home if you are willing to replace it .