House hunting, issues to look for? Crack in ceiling

I'm with the private home inspector. Call around and get some names. If you don't know that what you are looking at appears to be where two sheets of drywall join, then you NEED a pro so you don't get screwed on ANY house.

I have flipped three properties, soon to be five, i do my own renovations, plumbing, electrical, and I walked away from a house I was ready to buy because the home inspector found a structural issue I missed. I blew $300, but saved a $30,000 foundation repair!!!

 

I agree with the others. A visible drywall joint in a 70-year old house (obviously remodeled) is not much of a concern. I'd be more concerned about the condition of the areas under the visible surfaces (foundation, framing, floors, ceiling, etc). Unless you're on a truly serious budget, with the house really cheap, be sure to hire an inspector to check over those areas very carefully. Don't trust your own judgement, especially since you evidently don't know enough to distinguish between a drywall joint and more serious crack.

I'm also in the process of buying a house. My (pre-approved) budget is $300k, which is decent considering local property values (most priced below that).

Despite that, I've seen far worse (than cracked drywall joints) on much newer homes. While most have been great and occasionally even spectacular, there's also been a surprising number of duds - sagging floors or ceilings, cracked structural masonry or cement, visibly rotted wood, strange interior layouts, filthy, flea or bug infested, and similar. And, of course, many lessor issues - horrible paint colors (greens, reds, browns, etc), tacky wallpaper patterns (flowers, etc), gaudy tile colors or patterns (checkerboard, etc), barren landscaping (no mature trees, etc), and so on.

Anyway, we have narrowed it down to two or three properties. One is spectacular in a great neighborhood, but has a long list of things we'd want to do to make it even more spectacular (which will add to the price). Another is huge (7-acres in town, 14 large rooms, etc), but not as new and a bit too close to a school. Several others are adequate, but we're looking for a bit more (more interesting, etc) or a bit different (layout closer to what we want, etc).

Depends on where you live. I've just recently had owners offer to fix most anything (repaint house, remodel bathrooms, remove walls, add decks, change landscaping, etc), nearly all in addition willing to go below the original asking price.

 

ask ghost.


for a minute i thought he was the OP. lol