NEVER Buy These Types of Houses in Georgia

Let's talk about the worst houses to buy in Georgia. Buying the wrong house can be a financial nightmare, an investment trap that drains your wallet and leaves you stuck with a property no one wants. So what kind of houses should you not buy in Georgia in order to protect yourself from owning a money pit? If we do buy this place and it turns into a money pit, I'm going to need to take my anger out on someone. Hi, I'm Sarah Maslowski with Keypoint Homes Group, a local real estate agent right here in the Northeast metro Atlanta area, and I specialize in helping clients from all over relocate right here to Georgia. I have shown thousands of houses over the years as a real estate agent, so I know exactly what details and characteristics people steer clear from after touring so many homes with clients throughout the years. There are certain home styles or details of a home that are major turn-offs to many buyers. So if you ever plan to sell the home and want to make a profit, there are a few things you might want to avoid. So let's talk about them. One of the first kinds of homes you should likely avoid is homes that are listed by a certain brokerage named Open Door. Open Door is a company that buys home directly from sellers for cash and then relists them after making a few cosmetic repairs. This in theory is great if a seller has repairs that they need done but they simply just don't have time or the money to make before being able to sell their home. So it's very beneficial for a seller. But that usually means that there are hidden issues that haven't fully been taken care of that will now become a buyer's issue. Now of course, I'm talking about all this from my own experience and this is my opinion. Open Door typically paints and replaces flooring, but there are usually other major issues that just don't get addressed or minimally addressed. I'm sure there may be some houses out there that are good homes, but if a seller needs to cash out quick and doesn't at least attempt to list their home on the market in a traditional way, it's likely indicative that there are underlying issues with that home that the seller is aware of but knows that fixing it would be too costly. Or if they're in a bind and they need cash quickly, typically it might be a homeowner that hasn't kept up with their home the best over the years. Or it's because the home is very unconventional and they know they would have a hard time finding a traditional buyer. I'm sure there are some quality homes that have been sold to Open Door, but I'm going to say 90% of the Open Door listings that I have seen in person were either very strange, in a bad location, or very clearly had issues that needed to be addressed. And there was evidence that Open Door had kind of addressed them, but if you look closer you realize it was shoddy craftsmanship or what we call down here in the South, lipstick on a pit. Another type of home that you may want to consider avoiding is a split-level home. A split-level home typically looks like this. When you walk in, you have a flight of stairs that takes you up to the main level of the house and then you have a short flight of stairs down to typically where the garage is located and some additional spaces. One of the first reasons many people may want to avoid it is because of the many different stairs that you have to go up and get into the house. The good thing about these homes is that they usually have quite a bit of square footage with the main amenities of the house upstairs and then the garage being downstairs. Usually the laundry is located down there as well and sometimes there's an additional kitchen in the basement area that a lot of people finish out or they modify the home to allow for an additional kitchen. And this can be a great ideal setup for multi-generational living. However, the issue here is that with a multi-generational family, that typically means there is a parent or grandparent living in one section of the house and if there are stairs to get into the house and more to get down or up into the main section of the house that they're living in, it can be a deal breaker for some. Another thing that you need to keep in mind is that with a split-level house, you are always carrying your groceries up a flight of stairs because your garage is located on the main level and the main living level and kitchen is located upstairs. For some people, a split-level is the perfect floor plan and it meets all of their needs. But when it comes to resale, it is not uncommon for me to hear from people that say that they do not want a split-level house because they don't like either the look of them or the layout when discussing their needs and wants. So this just might be something to keep in mind if you plan on reselling the home in a few years. The next kind of house you might want to avoid is a home with a very steep driveway. Here in Georgia, it is very common to have driveways with a steep climb up or down and backyards that are this way too. It's just the way the topography of the land is here. So we are very close to the mountains so it shouldn't be too much of a surprise that things aren't very flat around here. We've got some hills. If a home has a steep driveway but there is plenty of space at the top or bottom of the driveway to be able to turn around so you don't have to back up or down backwards, this is very helpful. But I have showed homes to many clients that have had very steep driveways that were an immediate no because of how steep it was. No, that's a big no. If the family has kids, they want to ride bikes or play and it's very tough to do that when the driveway sits at such a steep angle. I had a client once who was heavily considered buying a home but it was at the top of an extremely steep hill and he had knee troubles in the past. He ultimately decided to pass on this house because the thought of walking to get his mail, picking up packages and taking the trash out on a knee that likely could get worse as he gets older instead of better was enough for him to pass on this house. If you drive a small car, some of these driveways, they scrape the bottom of your car and it feels like you might just tip backwards and fall right over. This is a major deterrent for future buyers when you go to resell. The next kind of house you might want to avoid is one that sits right off of a busy road. I can think of dozens and dozens of people that turn down houses because we would go into the backyard and you could hear constant stream of traffic whizzing past the house. Houses would have a nice back deck or yard and potential buyers' feedback would always be, oh yeah, I can sit out here and drink my coffee and listen to the cars fly by. This is one criteria that I have seen many times that completely kills a house for a potential buyer. Everything will be perfect until you open the door and hear the road noise, especially when you can hear it from the inside. I once showed a very high-end luxury home that was completely custom and they had thought of every single extravagant detail, but it sat right off of a busy road. They claimed it had specialty insulated windows so you couldn't hear any road noise, but as we walked through the bedrooms of the house, we could very much hear the road noise. Plus, you could see all of it well from that high vantage point. It was a major deal breaker for my client. Honey, that's a deal breaker for me. Speaking of that same house, every detail of that house was custom designed by a European designer and the stone throughout the house had apparently been flown in from Italy and the stairs were made by a German designer who specializes in floating staircases. Sounds very luxurious, right? Well, it was beautiful, but despite all of those details, the location still killed it for my buyer. Plus, we saw many homes that were equally as beautiful with the same grandness and beautiful design, but for hundreds of thousands of dollars cheaper because they didn't splurge on the most expensive stone for the fireplace or kitchen counters, yet they still were very high-end but didn't drive the price up to a crazy cost in order for the seller to make a profit on their German staircase, even though it just looked like a regular staircase in all of the other comparable homes. I've also had clients who bought new construction homes and they picked the highest level of finishes when they went to the design center in a high-end builder's community. They spent many thousands of dollars for the highest upgrade flooring, upgraded window package, and spent thousands of dollars on extra outlets and other personal upgrades. Now, these type of upgrades are nice and it's a great choice to have great flooring and things like that, but spending $40,000 on a window package that looks nearly identical to what was already designed in the home with the same grade of windows that come with a standard package is not something that is going to bring you a return when you go to sell. This was a conversation that I had with them as they were consulting with me in terms of their selections. I said, hey guys, if this is really important to you, go for it, but just know that you're not going to see this money on the back end when it's time for resale. If you care about these technical details as a buyer, but as a seller, you're not going to see a return on this. On the flip side of that, if you are looking at a more practical price point and not into the multi-million dollar range, it is more cost effective to buy a home with a higher level of finishes than the basic lower grade touches. By this, I mean things like carpet and flooring. So let's say that you're buying a new construction home that has the base price and it's including a really low end carpet and linoleum flooring. This is a time when spending that extra money that is then paid for by just a few bucks in your mortgage each month as opposed to making the upgrades in the future out of pocket is really going to be worth it. If you go the most basic route with low end flooring, future potential buyers will come in and say, we really need to replace this carpet and upgrade to an LVP style flooring. Not to mention that carpet is going to look like it's 10 years old in just a year. It's the cheapest of the cheap stuff that they can put in. They're also going to be thinking about how much money it's going to cost them out of pocket to do that when it's time for resale. Going with a higher grade flooring and using as little carpet as possible will avoid these hesitancies when you go to resale. When you are buying a home, it's more likely that you will opt for the home with nicer finishes anyways, but having these touches for you already will be great when it's time to turn around and sell the home in the future. I know I mentioned just a few minutes ago about a seller not making a return on these finishes, but you are somewhere in between the lowest end and the highest end. This investment will be worthwhile. Another type of home that you should avoid here in Georgia is one that sits right next to power lines. Now, this isn't super common. You're likely won't come across a home in your search that does, but I have shown homes to buyers that were right next to power lines and those were an immediate turnoff for them. And it's a great reason why a home would sit on the market for months without selling. Another type of home that you may want to avoid is a home with a very small backyard. This is less of an issue for homes, say, you know, $400,000 or less and of course townhouses, but the more expensive the home, the bigger the issue becomes. If someone is paying a high price tag for a home, they would anticipate having room to utilize in the backyard. For example, recently I toured a nearly $2 million home here on my channel and there was virtually no usable backyard space because they had such a steep and extreme drop off at the back of the lot. I think this seller is going to hear a lot of feedback that says for $2 million, I should have more yard. I have a listing currently that the main feedback we are getting is that there is not enough yard space for the price point. It does make sense though, if you have a big house with a lot of square footage and bedrooms, that whoever buys the home is likely going to have kids. So having outdoor space to play would be very important. Another piece of feedback I hear time and time again is something that's more common in newer construction homes, but when you go in the backyard and you can see the backs of all the houses on the other side of the street, this lack of privacy really bothers a lot of people and again, immediately knocks the house out of the running. And lastly, this last style of home that we have here in Georgia that you should consider not buying or personally that I would not buy is a home with a drive under garage. Now a drive under garage is meaning that the garage is going to be in the basement. So the driveway goes to the basement, you park your cars in the garage and then there's a set of stairs that takes you up to the main living level. Now this type of floor plan can give you a lot of additional space on the main level because it's not being taken up by a garage. However, this means that every time you go to Costco and need to unload your haul of groceries and goods, you are having to take them up a flight of stairs. Every single time you need to get into your car, you're going down a flight of stairs. So if you come across a master on the main home where having that primary bedroom on the main level is so important to you, but you have a drive under garage that defeats the purpose of having a house with a primary bedroom on the main level. Now if you are a younger type of buyer who doesn't mind and is in great health, this type of floor plan may not bother you. However, as you get older or as you go to resell this house, there's going to be a segment of the population that will never consider this type of home even if it had a primary bedroom on the main level because of the fact that you're always having to go up a flight of stairs. This is the type of floor plan that I often run across with families that I'm working with that want a primary bedroom on the main home. And they'll send me this house and say, Hey Sarah, this seems like a great house that would fit us. Let's add this to the list that we want to tour. And I'll take a closer look at that and I'm saying, Hey, this one didn't show up in your search because it has a drive under garage. And oftentimes you don't pick up on that in the photos because it just looks like a normal driveway with a garage. Obviously all of these things are items or styles of homes that people live in and absolutely love their home. And what you like is more important than what the future owners will like. But these are also very important to keep in mind if you know you're going to need to sell the home in the future and hope to have an easy time selling it. At the end of the day, you know what is best for you. But if you are concerned with your resale potential, these things might keep you from doing just that. Let me know what you think in the comments below. Are there any features in a home that would absolutely keep you from buying it? Or have you come across a style of house here in Georgia that you're absolutely like, no way. Let me know in the comments below this video. If you are considering making a move here to Georgia, I want to be your real estate agent. You can reach me by clicking the link in the pinned comment below this video. If you're still trying to figure out where in Georgia you should move, make sure you check out this video next.