Dignowity Hill: Rehabbing a house? Attention to detail is a must.

As a REALTOR I get to see so many odd things people do that I started to take pictures, and I will continue to add them to this blog post. These pictures come from different houses all over San Antonio. Unfortunately, I missed many opportunities over the years, but I'll do my best to take a picture of every oddity I come across from now on - so stay tuned.

When a potential buyer comes to look at a house that has been restored, remodeled, updated, etc. he's going to look carefully and notice any flaw.

If the most visible work doesn't look good, isn't done right, for example if the painter was sloppy or the electrician cut two face places and connected them together rather than use a double plate - one can't help but wonder about what's behind the walls. What about all the work you can't see? Buyers will walk away, no, RUN away if they notice that the contractor didn't put all the care he possibly could put into the visible details of his project.

Take the picture to the left. The original wood floors were stained, but you can still see glue from the vinyl tiles that used to cover the wood. What happened there? The glue wasn't completely removed and the floors weren't sanded. Someone thought it was OK to stain those floors. Who was in charge of that project? Was the same person in charge of choosing the electrician who rewired the part of the house that had burned because of an electrical fire?

This looks pretty good, right?

But take a closer look at this paint job...

See what I mean?

And the ceilings? This is just a small sample what you can see throughout the large dining room where the sheetrock comes together - it's coming apart at the seams.

I see this way too often.

A homeowner pressure-washed his bare exterior wood. It's not easy to see here, but all of the wood grain is raised - badly. He may have created more work for himself...now he has to sand down all this wood...