House Hunting Dealbreakers
When it comes to house hunting, there are very specific things I’m looking for, and several dealbreakers. A house is so much more than just a structure to live in – I could certainly elaborate on the topic of what a home is. But one aspect that often gets overlooked is the health of a home. This goes well beyond cracks in the foundation, drafty windows, or roof damage.
If we rewind seven years, we bought our first home in early 2018. We had just had our first child, I was returning to my full-time job soon, and I was eager to move from our apartment into a house. While I was a few years into my personal health journey and quite health-conscious, there was little more that motivated me in the home buying process beyond a space I loved and could see ourselves growing into and having friends over.
There were actually several reasons we ended up selling that home in the summer of 2019 (a big one being we wanted something different for our family, and Ember was a big fruit of that change!), but home health was something we could not ignore.
There were actually several reasons we ended up selling that home in the summer of 2019 (a big one being we wanted something different for our family, and Ember was a big fruit of that change!), but home health was something we could not ignore. The house had been a flip when we bought it, and we moved in accepting a non-disclosure agreement. At the time the market seemed impossible (which is truly laughable looking back, now going through it in 2025), and to find a home that checked off our boxes felt like a unicorn. But in our short time of living there we experienced many problems, not the least of which was leaking in several spots (it was clear this was not a new problem).
Long story short, we moved into a 2-bedroom duplex rental as we navigated going back to school, starting businesses (in the midst of 2020 😅), having two more babies, and also watching the market get more hostile to normal people – praying there would be a correction (us Austrian economics lovers have really struggled the past decade or so 🙈). Well, here we are in 2025, the housing market is actually significantly worse (very low inventory, high home prices, higher interest rates) and it now feels like instead of looking for a run-of-the-mill unicorn, we’re hunting for the lochness monster.
This is partly due to the economy, but also because of my list of red flags I’ve acquired over the past several years. I’ve known several families personally in the last two years who, because of debilitating illness or sudden chronic health issues in the family, have had to move out of their home or spend absurd amounts of money on remediation. Because of mold.
To be clear, I do not live in crazy fear of mold. I am confident enough in mineral balancing as a proactive approach to dealing with environmental issues. And to be honest, we’ve most likely been living in a moldy situation for the past six years (we also had significant water damage a few years ago that I’m fairly certain was not handled properly) and, while our health hasn’t been perfect the whole time, it hasn’t required us to make immediate changes either. Everybody will react differently, and different environments will have different impacts.
My goal is not to find the perfect house; that does not exist. But I am not ignorant, and cannot walk into a home that I know, from the beginning, is going to have problems.
So I would say I am your above average health-conscious homebuyer (my husband too, of course – but I’m the one more educated in this area). I know the basics of what to look for and what to avoid, but I am also willing to compromise on certain things because, let’s be real, I am due with baby #4 in a few months and would really love to be in a house. Given the current landscape of housing in our area, I’m not super confident that will happen, but the novenas to St. Joseph are in progress, and we’re petitioning all the religious we know to pray for us!
Now that our backstory is out of the way, what are MY red flags? What aspects of a house are absolute dealbreakers for me? (Note: they may be different from yours and that’s OKAY!)
No stucco homes.
Oofdah. This one is hard for so many reasons. First, there are more stucco homes in the Twin Cities than any other midwest metro area. While stats tell me it’s about 30% of single family homes in our particular city, it truly seems like about 70% of the homes on the market are stucco.
The second problem? Most of them are super cute and so hard not to look at! My theory, though, is that they all require a good deal of remodeling because of water damage – so of course when they go on the market they look great. And why are so many for sale? Ugh, doesn’t matter. I won’t look at them.
I first heard stucco was a problem a few years ago, and since reading more on the topic it’s just a home material I won’t consider. Nearly every family I know plagued by mold has been in stucco. A city nearby actually did a study on all the stucco homes in its vicinity, and as of 2011 (the final time they would update the study), 67% of the stucco homes were structural failures, largely due to moisture problems. And of those homes, a significant amount needed to be foundationally redone more than once.
No flips.
This one is also difficult. Flipping homes has been an incredibly lucrative business, and we seem to live in a time when you have 2 options: a super cute remodeled home OR a ridiculously outdated ugly home (the 3rd option, far more rare, is a tastefully updated home with a consistent homeowner history). Now, I will deal with an outdated home if it’s been well-maintained and has good bones. But the flips (there are so many!) are so tempting. But the problem is: you cannot know what you cannot see. And in a fully remodeled home, there is a LOT you cannot see.
A fresh coat of pain, updated flooring, and new appliances can make a home look immaculate. But underneath the neutral colors is often a shady story. And because flippers often have non-disclosure agreements, you have no way of knowing what may be going on underneath. Short of getting a really qualified inspector (really a whole team of professionals that can investigate mold, HVAC, attics, etc.), you’d be walking in blind.
Mini-Split Systems Throughout the House
This actually just came to my attention recently as we were house hunting – I had no idea what these were or that they would quickly become a dealbreaker. Since air conditioning is not a given for a lot of homes in Minnesota, particularly older ones, many older homes either rely on window units for hot summer days, or owners have installed mini-split systems.
A mini-split is that clunky thing you’ll usually notice higher up along the wall of a room – there is an outdoor system and one or more indoor units. I’m sure there is a good deal I don’t know about these, but the problems seem to arise from 1) these systems require much more frequent maintenance than traditional a/c units (like, filter changes every few weeks), 2) high humidity areas (Minnesota is quite humid), and 3) because they are ductless they are much more prone to trapping debris and the like.
Now, if I see one mini-split, it’s possible I’d be flexible. But if they’re in most rooms, including bedrooms, that’s a no for me.
Garage under Living Space
Okay, this one I just don’t understand. But somehow it pops up all the time. I recently saw a home that was the worst case scenario. At first, I wanted it because the house was SO beautiful. So, so beautiful. But then I realized there had to be a reason a home of this caliber would be priced within our range 
. So I drove by, and noticed that the driveway was on the side, sloped down towards the garage, which sat under the living space (and from what was visible on the listing, the garage connected to a suspiciously clean remodeled basement).
All of the problems with this should be obvious, but there was a time I wouldn’t have thought too much about it. The sloped driveway means any heavy rain or snowfall ends up in the garage. With the garage next to the basement, there is likely water spilling into the basement. With a repeated offense like this, mold issues are inevitable which creep their way up into the living space. Hard pass. Dealbreaker for me.
Close Proximity to Environmental Hazards
This one can be tricky when you live in a big metro area, but things like golf courses, industrial plants, highways, or cellular towers (this one is inevitable and I’ve accepted I can only control so much) are all things I consider with housing location. As someone who would love to have a somewhat edible garden (I doubt I’ll ever be a robust homesteader as much as I fantasize about it) and wants her kids playing outside, I’d like to minimize emf/air/soil pollution as much as I can control.
Most of these things will take some digging around in your particular location. Obviously, golf courses are pretty obvious. But for others, you’ll need to do some research. This site can tell you how about cell towers in your area. But for most EMF resources, I default to Tech Wellness and utilize many of their strategies to minimize my own family’s risk.
Does a good home exist?
I sure hope so! Certainly many of these things are frustrating when you combine the desire for a healthy home with the desire for a decently nice home in a good area (I don’t think I have it in me to ever buy fixer-upper status). But my trust is in the Lord, and even if the home He leads us to doesn’t check all my boxes, we will trust that all is in His Providence.
Have you been through the process of searching for a healthy home? Or have you gone through the experience of discovering some of these problems in your living space? What are some of your house hunting dealbreakers? We’d love to hear from you!
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In December, my husband and I sold our townhouse and purchased a bi-level in a more open and wooded portion of the same suburb. It was not what we had been looking for eventually, but the Lord really came through! Have hope, the Lord is never outdone in generosity!
As we were looking, we also came across houses that should have been way out of our price range and most of the time it was due to power lines in proximity. That is also when we discovered that the location we were living in was closer than is thought safe! After doing some research we found that in terms of emfs, it is generally considered safe if the house is >700ft from the power lines, but emfs don’t decrease to background level until >1300ft. You can use a tool like this one to measure the distances of things from your house or prospective house https://www.calcmaps.com/map-distance/#google_vignette
So glad you found something great for you guys! And good point about the EMF’s! So much to consider 😅