First House Visit Checklist

By Ken Bond

One major difference between investing in land and
investing on houses is the need for in-person visits. With houses, you need to
have what we call “Boots on the Ground” (BOG for short). If you’re just
starting out and looking in areas near you, you are likely serving as your own
BOG. If you’re looking in other areas that you can’t get to quickly (like us),
that’s when you’ll need to enlist some help. Your BOG is who will be in person
handling anything to do with the house – inspections, showings, etc.

When your BOG (or you) make your first visit to a
house, it can be daunting to know what you’re looking for. This visit is
preliminary to determine if you want to move forward, and from here you’ll
order an inspection if you decide to move forward.

Here are the things that you or the BOG should be looking out for on their first visit to the property-

1. Foundation cracks

You’re looking for anything super obvious for slab-constructed properties, but small cracks that are fairly level are fine. Cracks with separation ¼ – ½ inch with a lip on one side are certainly worth concern depending how old property is. Also look for heavy driveway cracks as this is an indication of soil shifting/erosion.

2. Doors not shutting properly

This can indicate heavy house settling. The same goes for staircases with obvious tilt to one side – this is also an indication of heavy house settling.

3. Water damage

Check for water damage under the kitchen sink, bathroom sinks, around the water heater, shower pans, foundation erosion outside, outside yard fence problems (typically from drip or sprinkler systems). Also check house soffits for water damage from damaged/depleted roof gutters.

4. HVAC system

Since HVAC systems are obviously costly to replace, you want to make sure both the AC and heater/furnace (if applicable) is in proper working condition. Typically, these are found during home inspections but feel free when you’re at the first house visit to check for proper operation right off the bat.

5. Improper building add-ons

This is incredibly common. As an example, someone converted the attached garage into a living space. This is against code due to slab elevation requirements, egress, and fire code in some places. Other add-ons can be improper construction material/technique and sometimes takes a professional eye to catch. (should be caught in a home inspection)

6. Electrical

Anything exposed like missing receptacle and light switch plates, or even missing receptacles altogether would indicate that there has been some electrical problem. Also make sure you look for proper gfci in the wet areas (kitchen, bathrooms) as this is code anywhere in the country.

7. Roof condition

Age of the roof, wear and tear, things like missing shingles/tiles, hail/wind damage, etc.

8. Obvious tree problems on the property

Heavy limbs over the top of the
house/neighbor’s house, invasive root damage at sidewalk, driveway, or by the
house slab.

If you use this list and it “passes your tests” here,
then that is a good indication that you should move on to the next step with
this deal and order the inspection. As you or your BOG gets more experience,
this will come easy to you and you’ll be able to quickly decide which houses to
take to the next level.

For more documents like this that will help you on
your investment journey (including a BOG distribution example), check out our
House Academy forum under “Templates and Documents.”