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Thursday, November 21 News

Buying a new home? Here's how to avoid buying a house that might soon need major repairs

Some easy tips: Use the 'sniff' test and bring a marble with you

So you've looked at what it appears to be your dream home and think you're ready to put in an offer. But, before you go all in, you want to make sure what may look perfect on the surface won't leave you struggling with major repairs and renovations much sooner than you expected.

Bryan Hulen, a broker with Compass in Seattle, said he's seen a lot of houses in the area that have gone through quick flips. People who are flipping houses will oftentimes try to make a house look as nice as they can as quickly as they can. So, they'll fix up a lot of the more cosmetic things to capture attention, and cover up many of the underlying issues.

“They’ll really just try to pretty things up just so they can show better and really just try to create a wow factor,” he said.

Paint can cover a “multitude of sins,” Hulen warned. He said when people walk into a house, there can be a number of defects that may be glossed over by the owners. The challenge? "Actually trying to identify them.”

Jess Nelson, a home inspector and owner with Nelson Building Consulting, similarly warned a lot of these defects aren't always easy signs to see. He said there's a lot of deception with flippers doing shoddy work.

"Some of it's almost comical, except unfortunately people end up with these homes and are stuck with these big bills," Nelson said.

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Here are some things to look out for when you're buying a new home in the Seattle area, and ways to ensure you aren't closing in on a home that just underwent a quick -- and maybe careless -- flip that could leave you dealing with major and expensive issues in the near future.

First, a big one to watch out for in the Pacific Northwest: water. People will sometimes just cover up water damage, Hulen said. One of the big things he looks for when walking up to a house is signs of water intrusion in the home. He'll look for inconsistencies in texture in the siding to try to check if there's any evidence issues were just filled in and then painted over.

Another good indicator something isn't right is if you see bubbling paint, he said.

“It may look good and glossy and fresh and clean, but it’s no good if you have to repaint in a year or two,” he said.

Paint can hide a lot of things. When you walk into a house, it's good to check out the paint job inside, too. A lot of times, there will be mildew or staining or rotting that comes as a result of water intrusion in the place, which flippers will attempt to hide with paint. Hulen said you can notice bits of water staining along the wood paneling or baseboards in a home. Another good place to look is concealed spaces.

“A lot of the times, the flippers, they’ll just paint right over the top of it and hope the paint will cover up what was there,” he said. “When in reality, that material should have been replaced.”

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Bleedthrough and discoloration indicate something has been covered, Hulen said.

Electrical issues are something else to watch out for when looking to tell if a house was a quick flip. Oftentimes, homes that are being flipped are going to be older homes, Hulen said. Homes that have outdated wiring can be unsafe. As house flippers go through the home, they’ll sometimes piecemeal together some of the wiring. So even if you see new wiring in some of the more accessible places, it doesn’t necessarily mean the entire system has been updated.

He suggested checking with the city or county to get more information about permits and electrical issues.

Plumbing is another one that Hulen said he sees issues with often. Even if newer materials are being used in more visible areas, it again doesn’t necessarily mean the entire systems have been updated.

Nelson warned plumbing is a "big hidden one" that sometimes doesn't turn up until "they smell something, which can be months down the road."

A good tip Hulen recommended to check if the plumbing of a house has been updated is to turn on the faucet and shower at the same time, while also flushing the toilet. If it’s older, galvanized plumbing, then you will see a noticeable drop in water pressure when running that diagnostic test, Hulen said.

He also recommends that clients interested in a home get the sewer line checked out. People should look for any cracks of breaks in the line. A sewer repair can be one of the greatest costs to a buyer, he said. Even houses that are newly constructed can sometimes have sewer line issues, he said.

Roofing and flooring could also be done poorly with a quick flip -- and might be in need of repairs in the near future. Sometimes, flippers will try to reduce the cost by putting a new roof over an existing roof, which will reduce the lifespan of the roof, Hulen said.

Flippers might also put floor covering over floors that were rotten, which Nelson warned is far from a permanent fix. Poorly installed doors can also indicate issues with the way a house was flipped.

In general, Hulen said, one of the things he looks for is just a lack of attention to detail. 

"You can oftentimes just tell that they've overlooked things," he said. "When you see outlets that just seem to be askew, looks like things are misaligned, flooring that wasn't run properly ... it's an indication someone wasn't paying attention to the quality of the work they were doing."

Hulen recommended a few tips for people looking for homes to make sure they don’t fall victim to the quick flip.

First off, bring a marble with you. “You don’t need to have an inspector drop a marble on the floor and see if it rolls really fast toward a wall,” he said.

You can tell if something wasn’t done correctly if the marble rolls fast in one direction, showing there are uneven floors.

Another tip, he said, is to take off your shoes when you're looking at a home. This makes it so people can more easily feel some variation in the floor.

Next, the sniff test. “You learn to trust your nose,” Hulen said. “A lot of the times, especially down in the basements, that’s when you smell some of the moisture.”

He said when you smell moisture, it's a good indication there's been something going on. Even if a house is freshly painted, he said, a lot of times when you walk in, you can smell the mildew.

He also suggested people look for any access points for rodents. Rodents can sometimes do a lot of damage, to things such as wiring -- much more than can be seen on the surface, so people should make a note if they see any places where rodents might be able to enter.

Pulling up the previous listing of the home and taking a look at some of the differences could also help avoid falling victim to the quick flip. If you're buying a home that's been flipped, oftentimes it was sold shortly before. People can pull up the previous listing and look through the photos. With that, someone might be able to get a sense for what has been done and was was permitted.

Nelson said people should look toward permits, check in to see if permits were pulled for structural or electrical work. If a seller doesn't have the proper permits, Nelson said he'd often advise buyers to find another home.

Hulen said he's always most impressed when sellers provide all of the documentation for the work they have done. It demonstrates a degree of care and professionalism you don't often see with flips, he said.

And in any case, Hulen recommends people buy a home warranty if they're at all worried. They can provide an extra bit of comfort for buyers.

Hulen and Nelson both said they have seen some really good and thorough flips -- but it's important to watch out for people who are doing the job poorly.

Hulen said he sees houses that have been flipped all over, but is starting to see them more in neighborhoods including Mountlake Terrace, Lynnwood and parts of Edmonds. Nelson said there was a time where they were seeing more and more quick flips all around, but now, he's seen it calm down a bit.

"I think a lot of the flippers weren't making the money they thought they were going to make," Nelson said. "A lot of them were so inexperienced. I had one flipper that went from selling car insurance to flipping homes and had no construction experience."

It's important when looking at a home to be aware of all of these potential issues and have someone who can point out possible defects with a home. Hulen recommended potential buyers look around at multiple homes and make sure they know a home's pros and cons before buying so they can find the perfect fit for their lifestyle.

And be wary of a home that might look perfect on the surface.

Becca Savransky|Reporter/Producer