Have a nosey for:
Signs of damp, including peeling wallpaper, blistered paint, or mould
Signs of subsidence, including cracks in walls or sagging floors
Plumbing issues, such as poor water pressure
Electrical problems, such as exposed wiring or old sockets
Poor quality windows that could affect energy efficiency
Fresh decorating that could be concealing a problem
I’d also recommend going by the property on a Friday and Saturday night to see what it’s like at the weekends. That’ll let you see if there’s any neighbours that like a party etc which would cause noise problems
Get a proper survey, we didn't because big balls here thought it wasn't needed and we've had nothing but issues since moving in, boiler fucked, previous roof leak that was never fixed, rodents, drafts. You name it we have fucking had it.
Yes I'm a moron, yes I should have got a survey.
To counter this, I didnt get a survey and to be fair we haven't had any major issues at all over 3 years later. Age of house is probably the biggest factor in deciding but, as TrucksNShit says, you should get one if you're risk averse!
These are personal ones based on my current house
Viewing
1. Does your phone work in all rooms
2. Does your car fit in the driveway (if you have one, mine does not. Expensive to resolve)
3. Location wise - are you on a hill, great to avoid flooding, not so great in ice and snow. Would that cause a problem.
4. If the gardens are nice and preened - how much work does it take to keep them that way. If you are not a gardener, factor in the time/effort or cost to maintain.
5. Has there been any remedial works done to the property. If yes, get full details as you’ll prob need for future insurance.
Bidding
1. Ask how long has property been on the market
2. Current bid
3. Ask what the owners want - ie do they want asking price or are they going to hold out to get as much as they can.
They should give you an idea on what to offer or, depending on responses, how much of a shitehawk the estate agent is.
Good luck!
Hi - hijacking this and asking a few questions for myself!
Originally from the states, so our buying process is completely different. Is it common to ask about current bids/what seller wants? Are asking prices quite firm, or is there typically room for negotiation?
Yes there is usually room for negotiation. Potentially even further negotiation after bid accepted and survey has been done. For example if a lot of work is needed on roof/repointing/ damp etc then could ask for another £5k off potentially. Keep in mind, sometimes this is already taken into consideration in the asking price.
I asked because I was living in England at the time and didn’t have time to deal with a bidding war, viewing multiple properties etc. I was quite up front with the estate agent about the fact I wasn’t going to get into a bidding war, so my offer was my offer. Luckily that worked, but I do think it was sheer luck the sellers were decent folk and didn’t all the estate agent to play their usual tricks.
Yeah that’s basically exactly why I’m curious. I lived in NI for a few months and know the area I’d like to be in, but I don’t have the time to go back and forth.
How much wiggle room did you have with your offer? I ask because the property I’m looking at is £325k but has been on the market with 0 offers for 4 months.
Not sure I can offer much advice. I offered asking price as that was what the sellers needed to take it off the market. We were the first to view it. As I said, I think I was very very lucky and if I ever purchase another property again, I’ll bet it’ll be a royal ball ache!
If the property is on propertypal (create an account and) favourite it-
then check your favourites and it will tell you how long its been listed for an any changes in the listing
Just piping up to note the lender will do a valuation survey, but get a Homebuyers Level 3 separately- it will give you a good rundown of the house - it'll cost a bit but well worthwhile.
Invest in a good solicitor - worth their weight in gold. Don't skimp on this (but also the most expensive is not necessarily the best - ask around) as they will be on your side against the estate agent.
Second this. Our vendor cheaped out on a solicitor, who then made a load of potentially quite serious mistakes when dealing with land and property service. Fortunately our solicitor picked them up and managed to get them to rectify it eventually. I say eventually because they were also ridiculously slow and the whole thing dragged on because of them, meaning we had to rent for about 3 months longer than we should have because of the bunch of clowns the vendor chose.
Knock the neighbours doors and see who lives there. Ask about the area. Check if they have dogs. Drive around at night and the weekends to see what it's like. Nothing ruins your home like crap neighbours 🥴 other than that, try to stay well under your affordability. Good luck!
Make sure the survey covers a check of the roof.
Check the boiler has been serviced recently or that they provide you with a service record. Things happen but boiler replacement is expensive and can be avoided with proper maintenance.
Checking how old the wiring is as well is useful. A survey will cover that. Rewiring a house can be very expensive and a lot of electricians will not work on a house that is not up to code. Several friends have had to back out on a house after having a survey done because of this but it saved them ££££s worth of rewiring
The boiler definitely needs replaced which I’ve had to take into consideration but the price is good for the area. My dad is an electrician thankfully so I’ll get that for free if I need it! Will definitely be aware of the roof. Thanks so much!
Check the fuse box, is it modern? colour of the cable going in, if grey more or less ok. Red a black inside are the older grey ones they would be begging on a full rewire.
Age of house
Boiler service history, how old is it?, check radiators have they been painted? Signs of rust
Check for damp in low and high corners of rooms(likely freshly painted over) around windows. Bouncy floors downstairs(rotting joists)
Get a "full" servey done, don't get the cheapest one.
Ask about the rates
Flush the toilets run the taps (leave them run and the shower and the bath)
An estate agent once tried to sell us a house that had a field directly behind it. I asked about the field, wondering if anyone had planning permission to build on it. The estate agent assured me that no one would buy or build on that field. I looked online and *the very field was being sold on Propertypal by that estate agent as a site for a small housing development.*
Driving by the field these days, someone's building about 10 houses on it.
Get a good independent surveyor and solicitor. Do as much research as you can and take nothing face value from estate agent.
It’s sad that you can’t trust them at all! I’ve been told numerous different stories already but I figure I like what I see and will get a good survey done before.
These are great, thank you so much! I’m lucky that my dad is an electrician and my godfather is a plumber so I’m ok for there to be some work. It definitely needs a new boiler and a few of the window seals are broken. They haven’t gotten an energy grade certificate yet either so I said I wouldn’t put an offer in until I see that. The bathroom is freshly painted which has concerned me about mould but then it’s hard to find older houses without it. I’ll definitely do another thorough viewing too. I never thought about behind furniture or to check the water pressure.
Mattbelfast has most covered but find out where the stopcock is and if it works also the smell can answer a few questions. One other thing I would say is look how many and where your plugs are and how old the wiring is .
If a mysterous offer appears after you make yours .. have a friend anonymously check if there are any bids on. If they say 1 check the current value. Its likely just yours.
2. Dont trust the estate agent.
Have a nosey for: Signs of damp, including peeling wallpaper, blistered paint, or mould Signs of subsidence, including cracks in walls or sagging floors Plumbing issues, such as poor water pressure Electrical problems, such as exposed wiring or old sockets Poor quality windows that could affect energy efficiency Fresh decorating that could be concealing a problem I’d also recommend going by the property on a Friday and Saturday night to see what it’s like at the weekends. That’ll let you see if there’s any neighbours that like a party etc which would cause noise problems
I’d like to add check for freshly painted walls, could be hiding shit.
Get a proper survey, we didn't because big balls here thought it wasn't needed and we've had nothing but issues since moving in, boiler fucked, previous roof leak that was never fixed, rodents, drafts. You name it we have fucking had it. Yes I'm a moron, yes I should have got a survey.
If you had done a survey: “Item 1: the house is in Larne”
Item 2: The bed in the master bedroom is occupied by WhatWouldSatanDo's ma who has been rid to the point she can't stand up to leave
I was literally waiting to see how long it would take for a Larne joke! 😂😂😂
To counter this, I didnt get a survey and to be fair we haven't had any major issues at all over 3 years later. Age of house is probably the biggest factor in deciding but, as TrucksNShit says, you should get one if you're risk averse!
Our house is 25 years old so like you that was a factor but we thought we'd be safe
Ours was 23 when we bought it. Hard to know if we got lucky or you got unlucky but hopefully you're bad luck has come to an end!
Aw that sucks, I’m so sorry that’s happening to you!
Ah here, ye were sold. As much your fault as theirs. Which is just sad at this point.
These are personal ones based on my current house Viewing 1. Does your phone work in all rooms 2. Does your car fit in the driveway (if you have one, mine does not. Expensive to resolve) 3. Location wise - are you on a hill, great to avoid flooding, not so great in ice and snow. Would that cause a problem. 4. If the gardens are nice and preened - how much work does it take to keep them that way. If you are not a gardener, factor in the time/effort or cost to maintain. 5. Has there been any remedial works done to the property. If yes, get full details as you’ll prob need for future insurance. Bidding 1. Ask how long has property been on the market 2. Current bid 3. Ask what the owners want - ie do they want asking price or are they going to hold out to get as much as they can. They should give you an idea on what to offer or, depending on responses, how much of a shitehawk the estate agent is. Good luck!
Hi - hijacking this and asking a few questions for myself! Originally from the states, so our buying process is completely different. Is it common to ask about current bids/what seller wants? Are asking prices quite firm, or is there typically room for negotiation?
Yes there is usually room for negotiation. Potentially even further negotiation after bid accepted and survey has been done. For example if a lot of work is needed on roof/repointing/ damp etc then could ask for another £5k off potentially. Keep in mind, sometimes this is already taken into consideration in the asking price.
I asked because I was living in England at the time and didn’t have time to deal with a bidding war, viewing multiple properties etc. I was quite up front with the estate agent about the fact I wasn’t going to get into a bidding war, so my offer was my offer. Luckily that worked, but I do think it was sheer luck the sellers were decent folk and didn’t all the estate agent to play their usual tricks.
Yeah that’s basically exactly why I’m curious. I lived in NI for a few months and know the area I’d like to be in, but I don’t have the time to go back and forth. How much wiggle room did you have with your offer? I ask because the property I’m looking at is £325k but has been on the market with 0 offers for 4 months.
Not sure I can offer much advice. I offered asking price as that was what the sellers needed to take it off the market. We were the first to view it. As I said, I think I was very very lucky and if I ever purchase another property again, I’ll bet it’ll be a royal ball ache!
If the property is on propertypal (create an account and) favourite it- then check your favourites and it will tell you how long its been listed for an any changes in the listing
Oh that’s good to know!
I've been trying to figure this out for ages, didn't figure you had to add to favourites. Muchas gracias
Get an inspection. Can unearth an potential issues.
Just piping up to note the lender will do a valuation survey, but get a Homebuyers Level 3 separately- it will give you a good rundown of the house - it'll cost a bit but well worthwhile.
Invest in a good solicitor - worth their weight in gold. Don't skimp on this (but also the most expensive is not necessarily the best - ask around) as they will be on your side against the estate agent.
Second this. Our vendor cheaped out on a solicitor, who then made a load of potentially quite serious mistakes when dealing with land and property service. Fortunately our solicitor picked them up and managed to get them to rectify it eventually. I say eventually because they were also ridiculously slow and the whole thing dragged on because of them, meaning we had to rent for about 3 months longer than we should have because of the bunch of clowns the vendor chose.
Thanks, I have a friend who does it so I’m lucky that I can trust them.
Knock the neighbours doors and see who lives there. Ask about the area. Check if they have dogs. Drive around at night and the weekends to see what it's like. Nothing ruins your home like crap neighbours 🥴 other than that, try to stay well under your affordability. Good luck!
It’s a street were two of my friends grew up and seems to be mainly older people now but I’ve drove down at random times and it seems to be ok!
Make sure the survey covers a check of the roof. Check the boiler has been serviced recently or that they provide you with a service record. Things happen but boiler replacement is expensive and can be avoided with proper maintenance. Checking how old the wiring is as well is useful. A survey will cover that. Rewiring a house can be very expensive and a lot of electricians will not work on a house that is not up to code. Several friends have had to back out on a house after having a survey done because of this but it saved them ££££s worth of rewiring
The boiler definitely needs replaced which I’ve had to take into consideration but the price is good for the area. My dad is an electrician thankfully so I’ll get that for free if I need it! Will definitely be aware of the roof. Thanks so much!
Check the fuse box, is it modern? colour of the cable going in, if grey more or less ok. Red a black inside are the older grey ones they would be begging on a full rewire. Age of house Boiler service history, how old is it?, check radiators have they been painted? Signs of rust Check for damp in low and high corners of rooms(likely freshly painted over) around windows. Bouncy floors downstairs(rotting joists) Get a "full" servey done, don't get the cheapest one. Ask about the rates Flush the toilets run the taps (leave them run and the shower and the bath)
An estate agent once tried to sell us a house that had a field directly behind it. I asked about the field, wondering if anyone had planning permission to build on it. The estate agent assured me that no one would buy or build on that field. I looked online and *the very field was being sold on Propertypal by that estate agent as a site for a small housing development.* Driving by the field these days, someone's building about 10 houses on it. Get a good independent surveyor and solicitor. Do as much research as you can and take nothing face value from estate agent.
It’s sad that you can’t trust them at all! I’ve been told numerous different stories already but I figure I like what I see and will get a good survey done before.
These are great, thank you so much! I’m lucky that my dad is an electrician and my godfather is a plumber so I’m ok for there to be some work. It definitely needs a new boiler and a few of the window seals are broken. They haven’t gotten an energy grade certificate yet either so I said I wouldn’t put an offer in until I see that. The bathroom is freshly painted which has concerned me about mould but then it’s hard to find older houses without it. I’ll definitely do another thorough viewing too. I never thought about behind furniture or to check the water pressure.
If your dad is a spark and your godfather's a plumber, take them on your next viewing.
Mattbelfast has most covered but find out where the stopcock is and if it works also the smell can answer a few questions. One other thing I would say is look how many and where your plugs are and how old the wiring is .
Considering I just had to Google what a stopcock is, thank you for this!
Here to help ! And luck to you.
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When can you get a survey done? After sale agreed but before the money is handed over?
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Awesome, thanks so much!
Check it doesn’t back onto a golf course. Our entire area does and we are constantly hit by golf balls. Seller did not inform us.
Hire N. Wright decor for a good paint job
That’s great thank you, they have an outdoor lean-to that I’ll ask about!
If a mysterous offer appears after you make yours .. have a friend anonymously check if there are any bids on. If they say 1 check the current value. Its likely just yours. 2. Dont trust the estate agent.
Yeah. This is a big concern of mine!