If you are house hunting in Southeast Tennessee from out of state, it is easy to get dazzled by beautiful listing photos. But after years of walking through homes in Chattanooga and Cleveland—and even personally rebuilding a house that had burned to the ground—I’ve learned that some properties are better left to someone else.
Avoiding buyer's remorse starts with knowing how to spot a "money pit" before you ever make an offer. Here are the five types of houses I tell my relocation clients to steer clear of.
Watch the full video below to see these red flags in action and hear about the one house I’ll never buy again:
1. The "Flip With a Secret"
I am not anti-flip, but I am anti-shortcut. When a house has been renovated in just a few months, you have to look past the granite countertops. I always check for "soft spots" in new flooring or door frames that lean like the Tower of Pisa. If a flipper spent all their money on the "lipstick" (cosmetics) and ignored the "bones" (knob-and-tube wiring or rotting subfloors), it’s a hard pass.
2. The Shared Driveway Situation
This might sound minor, but shared driveways are a special kind of headache. They require shared responsibility for paving, maintenance, and snow removal. If your neighbor decides to park a boat trailer in the middle of it or refuses to help pay for repairs, you’re stuck. It doesn't just make living there difficult; it makes the house much harder to sell later on.
3. Structural "Band-Aids"
In older homes near downtown Chattanooga and Cleveland, foundation issues are common. A proper fix involves jacking up the house and installing real footings. A "Band-Aid" fix involves stacked piers sitting on top of dirt or self-leveling concrete poured over a dirt basement floor to hide settling. If there isn't a permit and a receipt for structural work, it’s usually best to walk away.
4. The Over-Customized Home
We all want to make a house our own, but there is such a thing as loving a house "too much." Hyper-specific features—like professional-grade car lifts in the garage or a 12-seat home theater—actually shrink your buyer pool. When you go to sell, you rarely get back the dollar amount you spent on these custom niche upgrades. The best homes for resale are the ones that allow the next family to imagine their life in the space.
5. Unpermitted Additions
If you find a house with a beautiful sunroom or an extra bathroom that doesn't show up on the county records, you’re looking at an unpermitted addition. This creates a chain of problems: it might not be safe, your lender might refuse to finance it, and your insurance company might not cover it if something goes wrong. Buying someone else’s unpermitted shortcut is a risk you shouldn't inherit.
Make an Informed Move
Buying a home is about more than just finding a nice view; it’s about making a smart investment for your future. My goal is to help you see the reality of a property—not just the highlight reel—so you can move to Tennessee with total confidence.
Are You Ready for the Move?
If you can value people for who they are rather than the flags on their trucks, you’ll likely find Southeast Tennessee to be one of the most rewarding places to live.
Thinking about making the move to Chattanooga or Cleveland, TN?