Individual deal breakers vary.
When I bought this place, the septic “system” was a pipe running from the house into a 50 gallon barrel buried out in the yard. No leach field. From the stench, even in March, that barrel had filled up years before and so had the ground around it. (At least, since it was well away from watercourses and in the middle of 80 acres of farm fields none of which were growing crops at the time, there probably hadn’t been any downstream damage. And the people who put in the new system dealt with the barrel.)
In addition, the roof had been leaking badly enough to bring large parts of the ceilings in a couple of rooms down onto the floor.
When I first saw the house from the outside, I nearly wrote it off. Then I took a second look and thought, ‘Wait a minute, the roof line’s still straight.’ Turned out the house was quite salvageable.
I had, however, turned down several places due to a lack of relatively level ground, to an excess of level ground as in I didn’t want to live in flatlands, to soils only suitable for pasture and wetlands, to being on what by my standards was a main road, and/or for having the neighbors described above. Most or all of which might well not have bothered somebody else, or even been considered an advantage. Consider what suits you.
– Write up a list of everything you’d want in an ideal place. Do not, repeat not, expect to get everything on the list. But it’s useful for comparison purposes; and, thinking about it, you’ll get a better idea what are actual dealbreakers for you, and what you’re willing to fix if possible or work around or live with if not.
Yes indeed. And also in the basement.
One place I looked at, I tried to go down in the basement; and was told that I couldn’t because the stairs weren’t safe. I said “Let me know when you’ve got them fixed” and went on my way. (No, I didn’t hear from them again.)
That may depend on the basement. I wound up with the type of basement in which the water comes in one side and goes out the other. I tied the exit into the field tile lines and that’s worked just fine. But this old fieldstone-walled dirt-floor basement was constructed on the idea that water could get both in and out – many aren’t.
ETA: If the basement, or worse the main floor, shows evidence of a high water line – run away fast. And if the house sits anywhere near a lake or a stream, even what looks like a tiny stream – check where the last high water line was.
