The Checklist For Property Viewing You Where Waiting For
Buying a house is a mix of stress and excitement. You get to dream a little about the home you could have and look around other people’s homes. Yet, when viewing your property, you need to apply a careful and logical mind to the experience. The purchase of this property represents a significant long-term investment, and you need to be sure your money is being well spent. Consider a Checklist for Property Viewing and get some peace of mind.
There are certain things you know you need, like a certain number of bedrooms and the size of the garden. You will then have hopes and dreams for the property, like a specific location or underfloor heating. However, beyond looking for your hopes and needs, you also need to make sure you check out those small details for potential problems and concerns when viewing your property.
Checklist For Property Viewing : Getting started
Before you even open your browser for your first internet search, you need to be sure of your finances. How much can you afford to spend on your new home? It will help if you are also honest about how much the basic requirements for a home will cost you. The numbers are big when purchasing property, and you need to assess if your expectations are realistic. Being aware of the costs is also a great way to motivate yourself to spend more time looking closely at a property.
Looking for the big things
There will be things that you see that will immediately tell you to walk away. The first and most pressing is if the property is structurally sound. It would be best if you walked around the property looking for big cracks. While there may be hairline cracks in extensions or the walls of end-of-terrace homes, these should be minor. Anything significant or any bowing in windows or walls should be considered a significant structural problem, and you need to ask questions of the estate agent. Even if you buy such a property, you will have problems with the mortgage company’s surveyor down the line.
It would help if you also looked at the roof. A roof usually lasts about 20 years when you will need to replace membranes and tiles. Therefore, you need to look in the attic for visible leaks or other problems and ask questions about the last time work was done on the roof.
Damp is another concern. Look for any mould or any flaked off plaster. Watermarks on the walls and ceilings should be concerning enough to challenge the estate agent. The owner may be attempting to cover up damp patches, so look behind furniture and close to skirting boards, where the problem is harder to mask.
Other potential dealbreakers
These more significant issues are likely to stop you from buying the property, as the cost to put them right on top of the house purchase will be prohibitive. However, other issues could impact you. For instance, the difference between the north and south-facing garden is significant – it is a part of your home, and you want to use this space too. Also, storage – or the lack of it – could stand in the way of you loving the property.
Then there will be those things that will become genuinely annoying, such as the number of power points and the water pressure. Make sure you turn on the taps and flush toilets to ensure you are not inheriting a problem.
Finally, bad neighbours should make you think twice. It might be that the owners of the house are unwilling to disclose problems with next door. However, if they have had to report a neighbour to the police, they need to tell you about this. You probably should walk around the area at different times of the day to get a feel for the community you will be moving into.
Other things to ask
Now the big things are done, it is time to check the more minor details, such as transport links and the chance of low-flying aircraft. You will want to know about traffic levels and the quality of the local takeaway and pub.
When walking around the rooms, you will want to know if everything smells right and if the lights work in every room. Consider if you will need to decorate and change the flooring and how overlooked you are by others. Open and close some of the windows and see if there is a bath or just a shower. How much work will you have to do in the garden, and is this a usable space? The state of the gutters is a giveaway to how well maintained the house is generally, as is the amount of maintenance done to the garden. You want the current owner to have been careful with the property.
Checklist For Property Viewing : Ending with the best advice
Ultimately, you need to take your time viewing the house and go to see it more than once. The first time you see it with your heart and your head will be engaged the next time. Use all your senses in the house and be sure to check out the whole neighborhood, as you will be living close to a lot of other people.
