Viewing a house is an exciting experience that gives us a chance to scout out new homes. While most people do try to approach purchasing a home, it can be easy to get swept away with excitement and forget practical matters. How sound the construction of the house is, is one of the most important aspects of looking at a house. Even after a home inspection you still need to pay attention, because there are some houses that will pass inspection despite the fact that they have construction deficiencies. We must rely on the data we see with our own eyes and the home inspection to decide whether the house would be a wise investment or not.

If you have a checklist of things you should look for before every going to see a house, it makes it easier to assess the situation. The following five items are essential when trying to gauge the structural integrity of a house.

1. The Walls and the Floor

 One of the easiest ways to check out the structure of the house is to closely examine the walls and the floors. For the walls, if there is any bending, buckling or waviness from close up or far away, that is a sign of larger problems. To check the floors, simply jump up and down in the middle of the floor to see if there is any give or it is solid.

2. The Roof 

Replacing the roof is one of the  more painful aspects of home ownership, and it is often a small motivating factor behind people selling their homes. Do a visual scan of the roof to see if there are any missing tiles, bald patches or other potential problems. If a roof looks extremely worn down, this can lead to other more serious and expensive problems, so buying a house with a badly out of shape roof is a potentially expensive proposition.

3. Insulation 

You want a house to have a decent amount of insulation whether it is a warm or cool climate, so you can live comfortably inside of it without having an insane electric bill. For moderate climates just 6” of insulation can suffice perfectly, but for colder climates you want at least a foot of insulation to help keep the heat in during the cold months.

4. The Details 

One way to indicate whether a homeowners care about the property or not is by looking at the details of the yard and home. If they are still living in the house, you can see how they clean and keep their home as a good indicator of whether they put work into the place or not, but be careful, some will just clean up for selling the house. Even if the previous owners are no longer residing in the abode, you can look at things like lighting fixtures, appliances, molding, landscape features and other small touches to see what sort of personal add-ons they did to the house.

5. The Slope of the Yard 

A yard with a slope can be problematic due to the water damage it can cause. If the yard is on a slope you will need to check for how water drains through the yard and also how water drains out of the gutters. You’ll want to check the house thoroughly for any indication that there may have been water damage in the past.