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Everything about buying a house is fraught. There’s the money, of course. And the research. And the emotional toll of trying to translate the needs and dreams of your family into a pile of bricks and drywall. But one of the most exhausting aspects of looking for a new house is visiting all those prospective homes and trying to determine whether buying it is a good idea or a mistake that will ruin your life.
A solid real estate professional on your side is a necessity, but you can also eliminate a lot of properties right off the bat if you collect enough data. Any time you visit a home you might want to buy, it’s an opportunity to kick the tires, so to speak, and look for obvious problems that might help you narrow down your choices. But that requires data, and data requires tools—physical tools. Here are the essential house hunting tools you should put into an “open house kit” and bring with you to every home you visit on your quest for a dream home.
Tape measure
There are a lot of reasons you should be able to measure stuff when walking through a house you might buy:
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To ensure that the listed square footage of the home is accurate. It’s not unheard of for there to be major discrepancies between reality and listing, so measuring as you go is a must.
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To be certain the furniture you’re bringing with you will fit through doors and up stairs, and will ultimately fit in the room it’s destined for. This applies to stuff going on the walls, too—including that enormous television you just bought.
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Appliance spaces in the kitchen and laundry areas, if you’re bringing your own or plan on replacing some older models.
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Closets. If you’re told you’re buying “walk in” closets, they should be a minimum of four feet by four feet. You might also want to compare them to your current ones to ensure you can fit your stuff.
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Vertical space. There’s a huge psychological difference between eight- and nine-foot ceilings.
One thing to note: You can use an app on your phone to take measurements, or a fancy laser measure, and that will be fine if you’re just looking for a rough measurement. If you need to be somewhat accurate, you should use a good old-fashioned metal tape measure.
Moisture meter
Water damage and leaks can be hidden pretty easily—some quick drywall or flooring repairs, some paint, and even a rug or a carefully arranged pile of boxes in the basement can make a damp house seem dry. Moisture problems aren’t always obvious to the homeowner and can develop quietly inside walls or up in attics for years before they’re noticed.
Instead of relying on your eyes and the cross-their-heart declarations of the person selling you their home, bring along a good moisture meter and take some readings as you walk through a house. You might need to take a reference reading in a spot you know to be dry, but most moisture meters have a scale that goes from 1 (bone dry) to 100 (wet). Generally speaking a moisture reading over 17 is cause for some concern, with your level of alarm rising with every point.
Pocket level
Very few homes—even new-ish homes—are truly square. Houses settle, materials warp slightly, and minor mistakes can exist that are invisible to the eye. So you shouldn’t expect to find perfect 90-degree angles and perfectly plumb floors in any house. That being said, severe sloping on floors, warping on walls, or off-kilter kitchen cabinets can be serious warning signs that this house may be a money pit.
A pocket level can be whipped out in every room for a quick inspection, alerting you to major issues that might indicate foundation problems or similarly disastrous situations.
Camera
This one might be obvious: But always bring something you can use to snap photos. Your phone will be fine, as long as you take the time to organize the images and label them clearly for future reference. Take a lot of photos from different angles so you can refresh your memory when it’s time to make a decision. This is important because you don’t want to rely on the photos provided in the listing, which can often be carefully staged if not outright deceptive.
Flashlight
A pocket-size flashlight will get a lot of use when touring a house. There are going to be dim spaces behind and under furniture and appliances, dark basements or crawl spaces, and weird crevices you’ll want to check for spiders, mold, or portals to alternate universes. Shining a bright light can also get rid of shadows that might hide (or be mistaken for) problems.
Water pressure gauge
It’s a cliche, but it really is a good idea to check the water pressure when you’re thinking about buying a house. Water pressure affects many aspects of your life—low pressure means taking a shower will be a longer and more frustrating experience, doing laundry will take longer (and might require extra rinse cycles), and might indicate a problem with your plumbing.
That’s why a pressure gauge is a good idea. These typically screw onto a hose hookup, and measure the water pressure in pounds per square inch (psi). The normal range is between 40 and 80 psi, and the sweet spot is around 50 psi. Anything outside of that range is a concern that you should look into before you make that down payment.
Outlet tester
You won’t be able to see through the walls of your potential home purchase, and just because the outlets look new and modern doesn’t necessarily mean the wiring is. But you can at least pop an outlet tester into a few receptacles to ensure things look right. You want to see about 110 to 120 volts on each normal outlet, and, of course, you don’t want to see or hear any alarms when you pop that tester into the outlet.
Buying a house is a big deal. Carrying these tools when you go to an open house or check out a property with your real estate agent can save you a lot of time and trouble by catching problems before they become your problems.