Housing with Hannah | Part Five - What to look for when viewing a house
Other than the things you have on your own tick list there's quite a few things I would recommend looking out for when trying to buy a house.
1. How many other houses are for sale in the area? If there's not many to me that's a good sign, people are likely to be more settled meaning usually that they like the area.
2. The people nearby. Bear in mind the time of day you visit the house, but the people around gives a good indication of lots of things. If there's lots of children around it may be noisy in the evenings which may not be what you want when trying to relax!
3. Anything that might be being hidden in the house and I don't mean things like personal items! Is there a cupboard placed in a specific place on purpose to hide a dodgy fixture? or damp? People who are trying to sell their house may go to lengths you wouldn't realise in order to help do this.
4. Flat roofs. When it rains a lot, if these haven't been done properly you could be in for a shock. Lets be realistic, living in the UK it rains frequently and so you'd hope shoddy jobs don't happen but it's better to be safe than sorry.
5. How many locks are on the door. Sounds silly, and yes some people are just very cautious but if there's a lot of locks is this because of how safe the area is or something else?
6.Wall paper coming off a wall/discolouration to the wall. This could be another sign of damp. Depending on what work you are planning to do to a property, damp may not be a huge issue. For me as a first time buyer, I'm put off by properties with damp as I don't really want to have to do any work. I'd like to be able to move straight in to somewhere with as little work as possible! Damp for me is a massive put off as it can add a lot of extra costs and takes time.
7. Boilers. How long have they been there? Legally they're meant to be serviced before sale but has the owner kept on top of regular services or not? Think about where you want the boiler to be? To me it'd be better not in a bedroom but obviously moving the whole thing isn't a small job.
8. What storage space is there already there? I don't mean so much the obvious. Some fitted wardrobes are nice, others in my opinion utterly hideous and I'd rip them out in a heartbeat. What I mean by this more is under the stair space etc. What spaces are there that could be turned into storage? You don't really want your ironing board and hoover on show (well, I know I don't)!
9. Fireplaces. If there's been any fireplaces that have been boarded up, you want to know this has been done properly. One place I visited hadn't been done properly and vents had been put into the empty fireplace. This meant there was quite a draft at times.
10. Ventilation - in the bathroom. Might sound silly but you're more than likely to find damp in a bathroom. Different damp to the usual though, but it's good to see if there's some proper ventilation because noone wants to deal with damp, no matter the kind.
11. Fake walls. Not that this is necessarily going to be an issue but it is good to know. If you decide to do some work to the house in the future it's good to know exactly what you're working with - the same goes for fake ceilings.
12. Any serious work that has been done whilst the current owner has lived in the property. This could be indicative of any potential problems there may be in the property but also are good to know as if there's work been done hopefully it's less likely to happen again in the near future.
1. How many other houses are for sale in the area? If there's not many to me that's a good sign, people are likely to be more settled meaning usually that they like the area.
2. The people nearby. Bear in mind the time of day you visit the house, but the people around gives a good indication of lots of things. If there's lots of children around it may be noisy in the evenings which may not be what you want when trying to relax!
3. Anything that might be being hidden in the house and I don't mean things like personal items! Is there a cupboard placed in a specific place on purpose to hide a dodgy fixture? or damp? People who are trying to sell their house may go to lengths you wouldn't realise in order to help do this.
4. Flat roofs. When it rains a lot, if these haven't been done properly you could be in for a shock. Lets be realistic, living in the UK it rains frequently and so you'd hope shoddy jobs don't happen but it's better to be safe than sorry.
5. How many locks are on the door. Sounds silly, and yes some people are just very cautious but if there's a lot of locks is this because of how safe the area is or something else?
6.Wall paper coming off a wall/discolouration to the wall. This could be another sign of damp. Depending on what work you are planning to do to a property, damp may not be a huge issue. For me as a first time buyer, I'm put off by properties with damp as I don't really want to have to do any work. I'd like to be able to move straight in to somewhere with as little work as possible! Damp for me is a massive put off as it can add a lot of extra costs and takes time.
7. Boilers. How long have they been there? Legally they're meant to be serviced before sale but has the owner kept on top of regular services or not? Think about where you want the boiler to be? To me it'd be better not in a bedroom but obviously moving the whole thing isn't a small job.
8. What storage space is there already there? I don't mean so much the obvious. Some fitted wardrobes are nice, others in my opinion utterly hideous and I'd rip them out in a heartbeat. What I mean by this more is under the stair space etc. What spaces are there that could be turned into storage? You don't really want your ironing board and hoover on show (well, I know I don't)!
9. Fireplaces. If there's been any fireplaces that have been boarded up, you want to know this has been done properly. One place I visited hadn't been done properly and vents had been put into the empty fireplace. This meant there was quite a draft at times.
10. Ventilation - in the bathroom. Might sound silly but you're more than likely to find damp in a bathroom. Different damp to the usual though, but it's good to see if there's some proper ventilation because noone wants to deal with damp, no matter the kind.
11. Fake walls. Not that this is necessarily going to be an issue but it is good to know. If you decide to do some work to the house in the future it's good to know exactly what you're working with - the same goes for fake ceilings.
12. Any serious work that has been done whilst the current owner has lived in the property. This could be indicative of any potential problems there may be in the property but also are good to know as if there's work been done hopefully it's less likely to happen again in the near future.
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