When you are coming to an open house, always expect that all the lights will be turned on to maximize lighting. Always remember that the agent will be looking to sell you a certain expectation so that they could sell it to you. If you like the house, try to ask them for an inspection when the sun is lower or, try to see how natural light hits that property. Nothing beats a property that has a good amount of natural light.

When coming to an open house for an inspection, look at the exterior of the property. Is it uneven? Is it in a good spot? Does it fall into your liking? These questions will help fuel your first impression. Remember that people, especially family, friends and peers will see the outside part of your house first before the interior so, make sure that it is presentable and decent looking. A property that looks crooked can be a major red flag so try to find out the reason why because it might be due to the soil below one side of the  property becoming soft.

Door and windows are also as important as the walls, ceilings, and floors of the house so you need to check it as well.

First, let us talk about the doors. Termites could have fed on those doors without you knowing. Try to knock at the door and ask yourself these questions, “What do I hear? Should I be hearing this from a thick wood door? Is this the sound of a door that is termite infested?” After all of that, one thing is for sure. If you hear hollowness form the doors, take it as a red flag and try to look for pinholes where those termites go in and out from.

Windows play a very big role for natural lighting, cross-ventilation around the house, and at some point, they can offer you beautiful views of the neighbourhood but most importantly, their placements will be a key indicator of how hot your house is going to be in the summer. Having too many west-facing windows will most likely mean that it will get too hot in summer. Usually, experts will tell you that north facing windows are the way to go and south facing windows can also work if the design is right. However, west, and east facing windows should have little to no presence in the house.

The walls are some of the most important parts of the house and it is one of the costliest to be rebuilt if it has problems, so you better check it thoroughly to avoid regrets and loss of cash. When checking the walls, always look for cracks and make sure that it is not larger than 10mm because it can be a sign that the soil below is reactive as most properties are built on top of soil clay. Also check wooden parts of the walls for paint cracks and bubbles because it may mean that termites are infesting them. This happens because termites bring moisture, and the paint will react leading to peeling or bubbling but also remember to double check because it may just mean that the paint was applied poorly, or low-quality paint was used.

Floors should never have cracks nor produce squeaking sounds because they are underfoot and should be super durable so if you see one in an inspection, treat it as a red flag. If you see visible cracks, it might mean that the floors were built poorly, it is old, or that the land below it causes moisture penetration, and pressure changes.

If we talk about wooden floors, first and foremost, it should not produce squeaking noises. If this happens, it is not always a sign of termite. Sometimes, it may just mean that the subfloor began to separate from the floor joists causing the nails to squeak as they slide in and out from the floor joists. If you suspect termites, try to knock and again, if it feels hollow, consider that as a red flag.

Lastly, remember this when checking the tiled floors. If the tile floor feels hollow, it could be a sign that there is a void under those hollow sounding spots and may cause the tile to break easily than other parts of the tile floor. If it only occurs from a single tile or two from the floor, then it shouldn’t be that alarming but if you feel it in most parts of the floor, then that might be a problem in the future if you own the house.

You don’t necessarily need to go up there and check it so much, just look for bubbling and discoloration because it might mean that the roof has a hole for water to seep in. Also look for buckling, sagging or tiny wood pellets that fall off the ceiling because it might mean that a dry wood termite infestation is occurring in that part of the ceiling.

In inspections never hesitate to ask the agent to turn sinks on so that you would know how the water supply is in the area. Check the kitchen sinks, the bathroom sinks, showers, and check if the hot water system is fine. Also check where electrical sockets are placed and how many are available for you to know if you need to add more if ever.

Out of all the red flags, this might be the most critical because it may put you and your family in danger so check the property thoroughly for moulds and pest infestation. Always remember that mould itself attracts bugs such as cockroaches, millipedes, slugs, and the likes so keep an eye out for moulds because they can grow in a lot of places such as places with moisture, paper, and wood products and even in dust, paints, wallpaper, insulation, drywall, carpet, fabric, and upholstery. Take note that they might even grow in hidden spots such as cupboards, below the sinks and on corners so never leave it out of the red flags’ list you have.

House pests on the other hand can be a lot hard to fend off so check for signs of pests and pest infestations so that you will not face these big problems if you ever intend to buy that property. Remember that your safety is also as important as your satisfaction so never neglect a single mould or pest when inspecting a house for sale.

Spending on inspectors can cause you a lot but you should always think about properties that interest you the most and you should not hire an inspector every time you go on open houses. The best time to call them is if most of what’s mentioned above are visible in the house that you are interested in. They will be giving you more knowledge about the property than what you found out so the results that they will be giving you will be an indication if you should push through with the property or just leave and look at other properties. Just take not that they may give you a long list of problems that the property has but, most of it should be minor problems. If major red flags outnumber the minor problems, then, do not hesitate to leave that property out of your pick list.

When checking the property, don’t forget to check the title and documents of it as well. Check the ownership history and find out if the property has a record of high turnover rate for ownership because it may mean that something is wrong in the property, neighbourhood or the whole area itself.

When doing inspections, never forget to ask the agent about any easement that is applied to the property. If you don’t know, an easement gives a person the right to use another person’s land without actually having ownership for it. It means that you might have a shared driveway, electrical, water or sewerage services that might include sewer pipes and stormwater drains. You need to be aware that if the property has a stormwater easement, the local council has the right to dig up the drain below your property at any given time. This also means that you cannot build sheds, pools, or any structure on top of the easement so it is vital that you have knowledge of any existing easement with the property.

Although easements are on our list for red flags, you should not worry about it too much as this can be removed legally. If you bought the property and wished it to be removed, contact a real estate lawyer so that you could have additional knowledge about it and if you would like, they can even give you advice regarding easements.

Of course, if you are looking for a property that you wish to buy, you also need to consider the area around it. You should not forget that when you buy the property, the neighbours, community and the council might also have a role in your life, and I am very sure that you wouldn’t want dangerous, hazardous and unsafe neighbourhoods. Try to feel the neighbourhood, talk to your potential neighbours, the council or even some friends you have around the area. Nothing say’s red flag more than an unsafe neighbourhood especially for you kids and that is one of the major red flags because if a property has a problem, you can fix it by yourself or have professionals do it but if the problem is within the neighbourhood, I am pretty sure that you most likely can’t fix it by yourself or any professional by themselves.

When prospecting houses, you should also check if the property is close to important facilities such as police station, fire station, hospitals, and the likes. You should also check how close it is from schools, train stations, malls, and grocery stores because you wouldn’t want to live in a neighbourhood where you need to travel far for food especially when you are tired, ran out of food, and all you want to do is rest. You can also check your personal favourite facilities such as leisure parks, entertainment centres, movie theatre and whatever you like.

Although this is not a major red flag, you need to consider it because these simple necessities may be essential to your daily lives, and you don’t want to experience any hassle just because of the distance of basic necessities.

Signs of development are also a good sign to move in the area as it can have multiple good impacts to the property. If you are a potential investor, you can buy the property and earn a lot from rental. If you are just looking to buy a new house, it can also be a sign of good employment and pay rate within the area that you could benefit from. If this isn’t the case for the area around the property you want to buy, that is not so much of a problem anyways as long as the area’s value is not degrading then you could still live there, just make sure you secure a job near the area or make sure that it is near your workplace.

This last topic is something that might be alarming, so you need to take this into account. Oversupply of houses has become a problem for some suburbs around Australia and you do not want to live around these areas. If you are an investor, do not invest in a property in that area because if there are a huge number of unpopulated properties, the economy of that certain area will most probably be low. This is a big red flag because if you wish to own a property in these types of area, you might face difficulties in finding a job, and this might fuel a financial crisis for you and your family.

The biggest question above all of it is, “Should you buy it or not?” Although these red flags can be a lot, you should not feel hopeless in your quest to find a new home. You should remember that this is only a guide, and you should only be focusing on the red flags that are important to you and your family. If you have secured a job and is just looking at suburbs that have less residents, than you can buy from suburbs that have an oversupply of houses because the prices will be lower provided that it is near your workplace to avoid stress and hassle for you as well. Not all red flags in this list are for you so don’t be too critical with some of it.