Ask your neighbor whether there has been any construction or problems at the house you are buying (or have bought...)

The neighbors of a house being sold sometimes know quite a bit about what damage or construction has occurred there.  If you are considering purchasing a house, you should canvas the neighbors on either side of the property and behind it.  Often times, they see activity that has occurred and neighbors are always curious about what is being done because they wonder if they will have to do it as well.  

In one case I had in Houston, the neighbor asked my client who had bought and moved into his house why he bought it knowing about the flood.  My client said he was told by the Sellers and their agent that there had been a foot of water in the garage.  The neighbor exclaimed, "A Foot of Water?" and immediately went into his house and returned with photographs showing my client's house with four feet of water running through it like a river.  He then plugged in a videotape and showed the sellers walking through waist deep water with life vests on while rescue boats and helicopters evacuated people out of the neighborhood. 

At trial, the jury preserved his diminished market value but he could have avoided the entire problem if he and his wife had asked the neighbors about the house. 

I, of course, love these types of cases but it is never good for the homebuyer to purchase a home unwittingly.  ASK the Neighbors!!!!!