Fortunately, prospective homebuyers don’t have to be professional home inspectors to be able to identify certain problems in a home.

Regardless of whether you are the “handy” type or more of the “book” type, you’ll be able to spot certain problematic areas with a little bit of guidance. Thus, if you’re going through the home purchasing process and you’re viewing different homes, keep yours eyes open for some of the following.

NOTE: to better prepare you before heading to your next open house, go on the Internet to look up images regarding some of the problems noted below (e.g. water damaged ceiling, termite damage, flooded basement, mold, cracked foundation).

1) Discolored Walls and/or Ceilings

Discoloration on walls and/or ceilings is usually indicative of water damage or mold. Neither one is good for the home. If you see this, make a note of it.

Water damage could result from leaky pipes, broken pipes, improperly installed window flashing, or even a leaky roof. Each of these can be quite expensive to repair. Where there is excessive moisture, there is a chance that mold will grow. This is especially concerning since mold exposure is linked to certain health concerns. Mold can also cause structural damage to any property it inhabits.

2) Wood Damage

If there are hardwood floors in the house be sure to look for any signs of damage. More specifically, look for lines that resemble trails of some sort. This can be indicative of damage caused by termites or other wood-destroying insects.

In addition, if you can observe wooden beams in the basement, be sure to have a close look for any impairments. Damaged wooden beams can also be attributed to a wood-destroying insect.

3) Dampness in Basement

If the home you are viewing has a basement, look for any signs of excessive moisture while you are down there. Such dampness can mean that the basement floods or that there is water seepage during rainstorms. It can also lead to the growth of mold, which thrives in dark and moist environments.

4) Drafty Windows

While you’re in the house, run your hands across some of the windows to feel for any air getting through. On a hot summer day this will be more difficult, not impossible to do, but try it anyway.

Windows can become a much bigger headache than most people think. Repairing windows can be rather expensive, depending on the type and quality you’re seeking. This doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll have to repair the windows; there are some inexpensive remedies that work well. But, having this knowledge prior to making your purchase permits you to take it into consideration when deciding whether or not to place a bid.

5) Cracked Foundation

At some point before you leave the house, be sure to look around the exterior of the property for signs of damage to the outer structure or foundation. Sometimes there will literally be a large crack going across a section of the home’s foundation. Although this doesn’t always indicate a serious problem with the house, it’s worth knowing about and looking into.

Closing

These are just a handful of home inspection tips that you should keep in mind when you are viewing different prospective houses. The benefit is that you can identify some problems on your own and possibly eliminate certain houses from your list that you weren’t too sure of in the first place.

Once you have found a home that you feel comfortable with, have a professional home inspector conduct a thorough inspection. This will ensure that you have all of the information you need regarding the actual condition of the home to make your final purchasing decision.

Most millionaires made their fortune investing in real estate. Investing in real estate foreclosure is considered an intelligent and well-thought strategy for gaining money and getting rich. The mortgage foreclosure procedure provides two opportunities in real estate foreclosure when a suitable agreement can be made. You can opt for buying a home in the pre-foreclosure phase and second option is in the auction phase. In any of these phases, you transact with property owners that have to sell their property or have to otherwise lose it without getting anything.

So as they are running out of luck, they are eager to agree to large discounts. Moreover, the risk involved with real estate foreclosure is low as you have adequate time to do research, work out on sales comparables and judge the property. The competition is less severe and you don’t mess up with dealers when purchasing foreclosure property. So if you strike on a good deal, you can save significantly. So if you plan to purchase a real estate foreclosure, then you must scan all the available investing opportunities via this process, in depth. If you are heading towards foreclosure with a “pre-foreclosure” stage this stage requires a straight contact between the seller and the investor. This is a ‘no-lose’ occasion as both parties linked with the deal are keen to reach their aims. A significant discount, low cash down payment and compliant sales agreements makes the real estate foreclosure a huge investing occasion. The drawback of this approach is that first of all it is difficult to find a foreclosure homeowner and secondly, you can face a tough competition, which might increase their rates.

The second purchasing method is the auction or the sale of a foreclosure real estate. The auction forms the successive logical step when the sale is not made out during the foreclosure process. You can consider the auction as a weapon with a pointed blade; you can either hit the bonanza or lose everything. When there isn’t much competition, the biggest advantage of a foreclosure real estate is the potential profit it can provide at the auction, specially because there isn’t a great deal of competition for foreclosure real estate sold at auction. However, the threats in the auction are from over-bidding, the unfeasibility to examine the foreclosure real estate, to pay the sale amount in time limit or to expel the tenants staying in the foreclosure homes.

However, after the auction if the real estate foreclosure still fails to sell at auction or the scenario is that the lender ends up as the highest bidder, the property becomes REO, or real estate possessed by the bank. The banks then sell these REO properties on the open market mostly through a real estate agent or through some third-party marketing company. Here also you have a great scope to purchase the property at rates lower than market value, thus a chance to turn foreclosure estate to your personal real estate. There are a lot of on-line web sites that provide tryout memberships, they introduce a number of foreclosure listings sites and examine the ones that provide the finest strategies. On the Internet, you can search for various websites for the state, county, city, and zip code, wherever you are interested in purchasing.