The Seven Red Flags of Home Buying

When you're out shopping for a home, there are certain red flags that can cause alarm and make you think twice about the home you might have thought about buying. Always keep a vigilant eye peeled when looking at prospective homes for sale. You'll definitely save time in your search and you might just save yourself from potential problems that you don't know about. Home sellers can be crafty in trying to get you to buy their home. Use this guide for finding the red flags that might just save you from making a big mistake.

Curb Appeal before you even set foot inside of a potential home for sale, you can do a drive-by inspection. This can really save you time when you're looking at multiple listings. Check the neighborhood. If it looks like a scene from a street gang movie, then the curb appeal of the home just isn't going to matter. Bars on the windows, excessive amounts of garbage and graffiti all are red flags for any new home.

Neighborhood Curb appeal doesn't just mean bad neighborhoods or garbage. It also represents exodus homes. These are neighborhoods where everyone has left. If houses look abandoned or are boarded up, chances are everyone left. This can be a death blow for home prices in the area.

Foundation While you're outside, spotting foundation failures are a big red flag that you can easily check from a distance. Cracking block seams and crumbling brick are tell tale signs of foundation troubles. Check the walls and roof too. Gaps in siding and soffits are sure signs something is wrong structurally and it's not getting any better.

Windows This area of any home is easily visible from the street. Fogging cracked or inoperable windows can be a big no-no for home buying is a red flag. Leaking windows can host a multitude of problems from mold to structural damage.

Maintenance Maintaining any structure is necessary in keeping it functioning for years to come. Little or no maintenance can mean huge problems in the future and raises up red flags everywhere.

Smells Whether you're inside or outside this one is a red flag. Bad smells outside can mean septic problems, gas leaks or worse. Good smells that are over powering like freshly sprayed air freshener may be a sign that the sellers are trying to cover something up. And that stinks.

Fresh Paint While a nice coat of new paint throughout the home is a good thing, fresh paint on one wall may be signs that something was repaired behind the wall.