After walking through hundreds and hundreds of homes over the years, there are certain things I can tell you most people notice almost instantly when they walk through your home.

Some are good signs. Some are not.

Here are a few:

Smell This is one of the biggest ones, and underrated in my opinion. Water intrusion, smoke, pets, mold, old carpet. Houses have a smell, and after a while you start associating certain smells with certain problems. More importantly, this is something that does not come across online when you’re looking at the pictures.

Natural light Some homes technically check every box on paper but just feel dark and depressing inside. Natural light changes how a home feels more than people realize.

Cheap flips You start spotting them immediately after a while. Gray vinyl floors, everything painted white and black, the cheapest possible finishes, and usually something hidden underneath the cosmetic upgrades.

Deferred maintenance Sometimes it’s not one major issue. It’s ten small things at once. Peeling caulk, old water heaters, stained ceilings, rotting trim, dirty HVAC filters. Usually if the small things were ignored, the big things were too.

Layout A smaller house with a good layout almost always feels better than a bigger house with a bad one.

The “feeling” of the house This sounds weird until you start touring homes constantly. Some houses just feel good to be in, and some do not. When you find the right house, you’ll know.

One thing I’ve learned is that residential real estate can be more emotional than logical sometimes. There is a “here’s what recently sold” numbers and math side, but there is also an equally important emotional, artistic, je ne sais quoi side.

Finding the balance between the two and putting a value on that is an art in itself.