Buying a home? Save time with your search by knowing when to pass on a property.
The Lawhead Team would like to share the following red flags to be aware of when buying a home.
- Homes that are extremely overpriced. If you’ve looked at the average market value for the property you’re interested in and the home is way more expensive than other homes in the area for no apparent reason, it probably means that you’re going to encounter a seller who strongly feels that their home is worth more than it actually is. While that’s not necessarily a huge problem, it most likely means that you can expect to negotiate for a while and that offering the much lower market value price might result in them declining your offer and refusing to negotiate at all.
- Sellers that aren’t accommodating. Refusing last minute showings or canceling showings due to actual emergencies is one thing, but if you’ve tried to see the home and the seller continues to cancel or refuses access, that is a red flag when buying a home. Unless this home is your dream home and seems perfect on paper, consider moving on. Being difficult before you’ve even entered a contract can sometimes mean that the seller is going to be difficult throughout the entire home buying process.
- Poor communication from the listing agent. This red flag goes hand in hand with the lack of accommodation. If you’ve tried multiple times to get in touch with the seller’s real estate agent with no success, you can probably assume that things aren’t going to change after you enter a contract. This is a big deal because there are a lot of important deadlines that both sides need to meet, and if you can’t get in touch with the other agent, your contract might be terminated.
- Signs of poor maintenance. If the home that you’re interested in is a fixer-upper, then you should expect to put in some work. If not, this is a major red flag when buying a home. Poor overall maintenance can be a sign that the homeowner let major things go unattended to as well. Pay attention to details, and if you notice a few too many things that need to be repaired, think about looking at another home. If you decide to move forward and make an offer, be sure to have a home inspection completed on the property to reveal any larger problems that could be lurking beneath the surface.
- Inaccurate listings. If the listing includes features that aren’t at the home or incorrect information about the property itself (square footage, number of rooms, etc.), that should be an immediate red flag. That could mean that the seller is intentionally being misleading, which should make you wonder what else they’re being untruthful about. It could also mean that the listing agent didn’t bother to actually look at the home that they’re selling and, depending on the incorrect information, it could lead to a lawsuit. Either way, they probably aren’t people that you want to be involved with during one of the biggest financial investments of your life.
Source: Coldwell Banker
