Now you know you have your little wish list in your head, memorized and mentally waiting to be checked off as you sail from home to home, trying to find the right fit. People buy certain homes for vastly different reasons, whether it’s for sheer space, or features like garages and renovated kitchens. The one thing people often forget is to actually test a home if they are interested in it.
Test the home
Sure! Do what you’d do if you lived there. This will help you determine if you may be facing some cosmetic fixes if you buy or it, or if some more expensive problems are on the horizon. Here are a few things to do when you are walking through a home that you want to put an off on:
Open and close all the cupboards and drawers. This will tell you if any hinges, doors or inside paneling is broken or in disrepair.
Open and close all the doors, including closets. Doors are expensive to replace, particularly in quantity. Make sure all the doors are hung properly by opening and closing them. It should be smooth and they should latch easily.
Turn on the water. This will demonstrate how good the water heater is, and indicate if there are any loud pipes. This is also a good time to flush toilets to make sure they are functioning correctly.
Check the windows. These should open easily and not require much effort. Visually inspect that the locks aren’t broken.Â
Be mindful of electrical outlets. There is nothing worse than realizing you don’t have an electrical outlet in your bathroom, or that there is only one in your entire living room. The same goes for cable junctions. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the house-hunting excitement and make an offer prematurely. You don’t want any surprises when you move in and there is nothing worse than surprise expenses.
Posted by Gurpreet Ghatehora on
Leave A Comment