Investigate Your Potential Home Using All Five Senses

The title says it. You can use each of your sensory organs to scope out potential problems and identify things you like about each property that interests you in order to determine whether or not it will be the right fit.

• Sight –Look around the home fully. Notice any cracks in the ceiling, walls or foundation. See if there are any other defects that might lead to further problems down the road or if they might only need some cosmetic work. Take note of what you like about the quality of the floors, the size of the rooms and the details of the home such as crown molding, wainscoting, tile, paint color and floorplan.

• Hearing – Listen to the sounds of the home. If it is windy outside, do you hear the wind coming in through any of the windows? Is the home near a BART station where you can hear the train as it passes? Can you hear any traffic noise going by? What about loud neighbors or fast cars driving with their windows rolled down and music blaring? You might need to hang around for a while in order to fully investigate this, but it is something to think about if you are considering living there for several years.

• Smell – Use your nose to sniff out any potential problems such as stained carpet padding from pet urine or smoke soaked wallpaper from in-home smokers. If these are problems, you can likely negotiate with the seller to either make the necessary repairs or issue you a credit to have them done.

• Touch – Feel the materials throughout the home. The siding on the home may look like wood, but feel it to find out. It could be vinyl. Touch the countertops, do they have a nice smooth finish or are they cut and cracked? Take notice of the floors underneath you. Do they slope? If they do, you can feel it with your feet.

• Taste – Okay, this one is more elusive, but it can apply here using it in a different, more esoteric way. You know the expression “it left a bad taste in my mouth”? This is how you can utilize taste to investigate your future home, in the sense of instinct rather than literally tasting (I certainly don’t advise you to go around licking surfaces). How does the home feel to you? Does the energy strike a cord with you or do you feel turned off by it in general? Are there certain rooms that make you happy? Do others depress you? Pay attention to your intuition regarding the home. Your gut reaction to most things are almost always right.

Using all of your given faculties will help you to make an informed decision during the investigation process. If you happen to be lacking in any of these senses, no worries! As you know, the rest of your senses will take over for the one that’s missing. Happy hunting!