What automatically makes you say “not buying it” when looking for a house?

Bad neighbors. Dealing with neighbors that steal our parking spot, probably is causing a flea infestation currently by keeping/breeding hella dogs. They have about 5-10 cars for 1 house. I see at least 3 kids and more than 5-6 adults living there = nosy and sometimes loud music and drinking all night. I just saw an empty glass bottle of Modelo next to our house. I am tired of it.
— notyouravgjane

Cracks in the walls/ceiling, visible water damage, bad plumbing/electrical/insulation, demonstrable foundation damage. You can easily remove hideous wallpaper or bad carpet or ugly cabinetry, but anything involving the "bones" of the house is going to be a more expensive/complicated problem to solve. get a structural engineer to look at the house- don't trust the inspector.
— Gandalf444

Evidence of DIY repairs or the previous owner just not giving a shit, i.e. paint over wallpaper, "creative" plumbing solutions, poorly kept yard, dirty house.
— ostentia

When I was house hunting, it was exorbitantly high HOA fees with not much included. For example, I'd see $500 - $600 HOA fees, but you'd have to pay for most utitlities and parking. Like what the fuck is that money going towards? I currently pay $450/month for HOA fees, but I have all utilities included (even Internet AND cable) and free parking. I also have a pool and fitness room. Other instant "not buying its" wereif it was in a bad neighborhood or if my commute to work was going to be bad. I'd find some units that either turned out to be in sketchy neighborhoods (and that's being kind) or they weren't accessible to public transportation -- or were really long-ass commutes.
— CoolLordL21

Look in the furnace room. Usually lots of wiring and pipes end there, it can give you some indication of how much effort went into the construction of the house. I know furnace rooms aren't meant to be pretty, but I've been through million dollar new construction homes that have pipes held together with electrical tape, sagging pipes held up with wire, exposed wiring. etc. if they cut corners in here there's a chance there's stuff elsewhere that's shoddy
— mocha_master

No yard space whatsoever. You know what I mean, those huge mcmansions built to encompass every square foot of the lot they're on, leaving a strip of front yard and a tiny square in the back just barely big enough for Jimmy's swing set and maybe a shed for the push mower. When my wife and I were house hunting, we were shown one home that was beautiful inside; all real tile and hardwood floors, lovely garage with ample storage, near the back of a quiet neighborhood. Take a step out the back door onto the porch and find the miniscule backyard sloped steeply into the woods with not even an inch of level ground. The image of our dogs tripping out the door and barrel rolling down that hill into the trees made us laugh hysterically, and we said no to that house.
— darumaka_

When my wife and I were looking for our next house, one of the places the realtor showed us had damage to the front door. The realtor insisted it was "just a few scratches", even though someone had obviously pried it open with a crowbar. Yeah, no thanks.
— captainmagictrousers

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