That pretty little home might hide a defect or two, just like your pretty little girlfriend or boyfriend. Source: livehome3d
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Visit the home during the rain
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Check out the faucets and electrical sockets
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Termites may nest within the foundations of your home
The time has come for you to purchase a new home. You must be feeling very excited with all that accumulated disposable income in your bank, ready to turn your dream home into a reality. And standing in front of you is a smiling real estate agent (they are always smiling), about to bring you around for the home inspection.
Is he hiding something behind that smile? Yes? No? How can we be certain? By performing our due diligence of course! Easier said than done. But how do we do it? We are going to need water, lots and lots of water (evil chuckle in the background).
1/ Water, water everywhere!
The ceiling may look solid until it rains. Source: canadianunderwriter
We love playing with water, whether at a picturesque beach, in a fast-flowing river amidst the tranquil forest, or even in a pool. But we can all agree that we don’t enjoy swimming inside our very own homes, especially when it rains.
A home may look completely fine when the weather is particularly dry. But visit it during a heavy downpour and you may just discover an unpleasant thing or two about it. The most obvious defect is of course, water leakage from the ceiling.
Also, dark damp patches may form on the walls, suggesting that water is seeping through the minute cracks within your structure. Left unchecked, the moisture will ruin your paint job and promote the growth of mould, which appears as unsightly splotches of black on the wall. Note that mould contributes to the respiratory problem of the occupants, besides making the home look ugly.
Next, we are going to pay attention to the windows since these serve as barriers to rainwater. And of course, we want to make sure that the windows are able to keep the water at bay, so observe if they are performing as expected. If you are unable to inspect the home during the rain, then simply test the integrity of the window with a bucket of water. Sure, it is crude, but it works.
2/ No water? Big problem!
Someone forgot to pay the water bills. Source: upgradedhome
Yes, we have just dispensed a lengthy lecture about keeping water out of our house, so isn’t the next lesson contradictory. Not necessarily so! We need water to enter the right places, like the bathroom, duhhh.
So Sherlock, head over to the kitchen, bathroom and toilet and start turning on the faucets. At the same time, you may want to inspect the quality of the water, which can easily be determined by its transparency, or rather lack of.
Following a similar principle, you will want to bring an electrical appliance, say, a hairdryer, to check out every electrical socket in the home.
3/ Terrible termites
My, what big teeth you have. Source: futurity
They are small. They are cute. But boy can they cause a huge problem, especially if your home is made completely out of wood. Fortunately, contemporary homes are mostly composed of bricks and cement. Unfortunately, some parts of our home are still made of wood, take for example, the ceiling or the attic.
If the home in question happens to be located beside the jungle or surrounded by it, then there is the possibility of a termite infestation. From the outside, it may appear as though the wooden pillar of your home is sturdy and strong. Yet, a simple poke is all you need to penetrate that seemingly solid object, revealing the hollow inside, complements to the voracious appetite of the termite.
So do some prodding around the wooden foundation like a minesweeper in the fields of Vietnam. Or, you could simply scan if there are holes festering the surface of the wood. That should inform you if the home has some uninvited guests.
Defects? What defect? That crack over there? Ohhh, that’s part of our…aesthetics. Source: vistacreate
I am certain the real estate agent will drop his smile after you have performed all the necessary due diligence. His evil schemes to sell you that house with hidden defects has been unravelled by your superior detective skills. Bring out the handcuffs, the pepper spray and a taser. No, I’m just joking. Just say thanks to him and be on your way.
He will smile again, with the next hapless home buyer. And one day, he might just find a customer who didn’t read this article. But not you! You got away!
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