Buying a House Tips: The Ultimate Exterior Inspection Guide
A home is typically the largest single investment you’ll ever make, and you’ll likely spend a lot of time and energy searching for the perfect place. By the time you’re ready to buy, you’ll already know a lot about the house. However, it’s a good idea to follow these buying a house tips and do a little more detective work. Asking investigative questions will provide additional peace of mind and help you avoid hidden costs.
Asking the right questions will not only help you get the information you need, but it may also reveal issues you didn’t even think to ask about. In this guide, we will focus on the replaceable portions of the structure: the roof, windows, guttering, siding, and more.
Essential Buying a House Tips for Exterior Inspection
1. The Ceiling and Roof
Is the popcorn or textured ceiling freshly painted? This is often done to hide brown spots or dots caused by condensation from the previous year.
Regarding the roof, you must ask: How old is it? Always request an invoice from the company that performed the work. You need to verify who did it and if the labor and material warranties are transferable. While material warranties are usually easy to transfer, labor warranties often are not.
Be cautious of “cash jobs.” A roofer who works for cash typically will not provide a labor warranty. Furthermore, check if it was a “cosmetic” roofing job. These roofs often fail because contractors reuse valley flashing, roof vents, plumbing boots, or goosenecks. It may look good to a homeowner or inspector, but these hidden details are critical for performance.
2. Windows and Doors
When considering different buying a house tips, the condition of the glass and frames is often overlooked. How old are the windows and doors? If they are over 20 years old, pay close attention. If they were high-end products originally, they might still be in good shape. However, if they were from an economic series, you should start budgeting for a replacement. Remember, quality windows and doors are not cheap!
3. Siding and Decking
Another one of our top buying a house tips involves a deep dive into the home’s envelope. How old is the siding? If the home has cedar siding, its lifespan depends entirely on maintenance. If well-maintained, it will last; if neglected, the wood splits and rots, making it unrepairable.
When inspecting the deck, check if it is wood or composite. Even if a composite deck looks great on top, the joist structure underneath could be rotting. For membrane decks (like Duradek®), ask about the age of the membrane. If it is 10 years or older, you must consider a replacement before leaks cause unseen structural rot.
Conclusion
When you are buying a house, you are ultimately responsible for everything—even the issues you didn’t know about at the time of purchase. Use these buying a house tips to ask lots of questions so you can be as happy with your new home in the long term as you were at first sight!
