"House Forensics"

Caveat, Sellers

It's not an ironclad rule of house hunting, but in general I think it's safe to say that more sophisticated Buyers head to the basement -- er, lower level -- first.

Why?

That's where they can inspect the foundation (or at least the part of it that's visible), the mechanicals, and look (smell) for water intrusion.

So, that's what I assumed my client this morning was up to when he headed downstairs.

It turns out, though, that his first stop was the utility room, where all the old paint cans were stored.

He wanted to see to see if there was any fresh paint, and if so, presumably what had required attention.

And?

There was a very old can of Rustoleum, but otherwise nothing that could be considered incriminating (if you have a sense of smell -- which I don't -- anything freshly painted is also pretty easily detectable).