As you stroll through the South Carolina home for sale that caught your eye online, you notice that some of the floors seem to slant. You also notice that several of the doors stick when you try to open or close them. Not a big deal, right? Think again! Slanting floors and doors or windows that stick are often signs of one of the 7 home buyer deal breakers—an uneven foundation.
The foundation is the core of a home’s infrastructure. The issues mentioned in the previous section, as well as other noticeable problems like sagging ceilings or large cracks in the walls, are red flag issues when you’re considering making an offer on a house. Keep reading this post to learn about six other home buyer deal breakers that should make you think twice before signing closing documents.
Don’t rush into an offer if you notice these home buyer deal breakers
If you disregard the home buyer deal breakers included in the following list, you might wind up sinking a lot more money into a new home beyond the asking price:
- The property has flooding issues, either inside or outside the house.
- The roof on the house is in bad shape.
- You’re looking at an older home, and the electrical system is outdated.
- Low water pressure, leaky pipes or damaged floors around a toilet suggest plumbing problems that might be expensive to repair.
- The homeowner did his or her own remodeling work, and you’re not sure it’s up to code.
- An appraiser issued a value that is much lower than the asking price on the house you want to buy.
Just because a home for sale has one or more of these issues, doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t buy it. However, all the problems mentioned in this post are potential home buyer deal breakers, especially if the seller refuses to make repairs or resolve the issue before going to close.
How to determine if you should move forward on an offer or walk away
If the problems you discover while touring a house for sale in South Carolina are mostly cosmetic or are easily (and inexpensive) to resolve, it might still be worth your while to make an offer. On the other hand, if the seller isn’t willing to negotiate a solution, and if the issues at hand require major repairs (and a lot of money), it might be best to check out some other houses in the area instead.