Second Viewings - what to look for

hamblettamaud

i think it's only polite to ask the owner if it's alright to look in cupboards before sticking your nose in. god knows what they shoved in there before you arrived.

Cat695

SavingSteve wrote: »

Looking in cupboards? Video viewings?

I'm a future buyer too, but IF I were a seller I'd be mortified with either of the above. Just my opinion

would you not want to look over the engine of a car when you buy one?? or in the boot or under the sills

just because its a house why should I not "look" into it more closely...I mean I'm only going to be making (possibley) the biggest transaction of my life.

QTPie

hamblettamaud wrote: »

i think it's only polite to ask the owner if it's alright to look in cupboards before sticking your nose in. god knows what they shoved in there before you arrived.

No, I think that if you are going to view a house, then you are there to view the house and ALL of it's fixtures and fittings.

I wouldn't look in non-fitted furniture (that wasn't included in the sale), but anything that IS included in the sale is fair game: I am not looking to look at their possessions, I am looking to look at what they are selling (i.e. I am looking at how a wardrobe is fitted and not their taste in clothes).

The same with viewings on my house. If I need to stuff anything anywhere (that I don't want on view), then it is going into my freestanding chests of drawers or the drawers in my divan etc... NOT places that a viewer should be looking into.

Wouldn't you feel annoyed if you went to view a house and the agent/owner said "oh, you can't look in the garage because the owner has things in there that you don't want to see"... :rolleyes:

I can't remember the last place that I viewed (to buy) where the owner was at the viewings (we are used to be just shown around by the agent). So asking "if they mind" if I stick my nose in a wardrobe is not an option.

If you don't have a VERY thorough look around a property, then that is your choice... but it is more than reasonable for a buyer to look at everything they are buying.

QT

SavingSteve

Well I stand corrected! I would feel weird, but hey, I agree that why not with a hundreds of thousand pound purchase. Learn something new everyday.

Qu - would a survey cover these things? Coz I don't think, unless it was MAJOR damp / damage my own naked eye probably wouldn't spot something wrong even if it was there.

On a similar note, if I had a house with damp walls, wouldn't it make sense for me to just patch on some 'built in wardrobes' to cover up the damp? Isn't it this sort of thing that a full survery should spot??

QTPie

I think that you should get a full survey to look for damp etc...

... but the standard of fixtures and fittings (including quality of kitchens, fitted bathroom furniture and fitted wardrobes) IS an issue and can affect what you would offer for a property.

I looked around a property valued at £795k last Summer. It was right before we put or own home on the market and we went to see it because, on paper, it was my "ideal house". To demand that sort of price, it would have had to be SPOT ON. The kitchen looked FANTASTIC from the photos (all contemporary farmhouse, but recently fitted, granite worktops, nice aga etc). It didn't look bad when we got there, BUT when I opened up a few doors it was plain to see that it was custom made, but not very well! It still looked good on the outside, but wasn't very practical (some of the cupboards were only about 7" deep and things were stuffed in all over the place - because the storage was so badly designed). So it looked like a fantastic kitchen and "would do", but - from opening up the cupboards - it was soon obvious that, at some point, a replacement kitchen would be in order. Not a disaster, but when you are looking at a house that is demanding "top whack" price-wise, then it is a consideration...

We didn't offer on the house in the end (lovely house, but definitely DID require some work). House price dropped to £695k in September and was withdrawn from the market this January... I could be very termpted to approach the owners, at some point, to try to work out a deal (love the house structurally), BUT having a good prod around and looking under the the "glossy photos" and the "attractive surface looks" gives you a better idea of what a house is REALLY worth and what you need to budget to make things right.

QT

PasturesNew

Flush the loo and turn a tap on ... is there a water pressure or flowrate problem?
Look along each wall to see where the sockets are - are there enough? Are there enough in the right places to easily plug your stuff in? Are they in awkward places? Does your furniture fit (measure your largest pieces)? Are radiators in the way of ideal spots for things?

Do all the windows open?

Kitchen cupboards and drawers - do they work? Do any smell (damp) inside?

Are the doors hung right? Do they stick? Are they cut right?

Check the corners of rooms for damp and the bottom part of the wall. Check the ceilings for cracks and damp patches.

What are the gutters/drainpipes like?
What's the roof like?
I'd like to say take binoculars and check the chimney too (is it leaning, does flashing look OK, does it have plants growing round it, how's the pointing?)

Where do the drains run?

Are any chimneys missing? Did they support the wall/s above properly?

How new is the double glazing? Do they have a FENSA certificate?

Without knowing the property, that's my starter list.

If there's a conservatory, have the doors to it been removed?
How is it heated?

Certainly open every cupboard because the 2nd viewing is working out how you and your family/stuff will fit into it, so you can really decide if it's the one for you, or how much work will be needed to either [a] bring it up to scratch make your personal changes

Patr100

Frankly for me whether a wardrobe has a hanging rail or nor wouldn't be a deal breaker.
No house is going to be perfect.

QTPie

Maybe not a deal breaker, but I think that you want to know where you stand and what you are dealing with...

... some people are very good at making things look nice (on the surface), but if you delve under the surface, you can soon see that corners have been cut everywhere. It is not abbout a house being "perfect", it is about knowing exactly where you stand.

A hanging rail is perhaps a bad example, but a kitchen that looks nice (on the outside) but is falling apart in the inside is a better example. Since the cost of a replacement kitchen is significant.

Also storage space CAN be a big issue in houses and - certianly around here - cupboards are not always what they seem (i.e. might be very shallow in depth).

Bare in mind IF someone was lookinh to buy a house with a view to add a loft conversion, then they may even want to stick their head in the loft...

If I am spending £100ks on a house, then I want to know EXACTLY what I am dealing with: that includes checking out the fitted cupboards, the kitchen cupboards and - if we make an offer - getting a full survey.

QT

getmore4less

Also check for things that could cause issues at different times of hte year.

Trees close (they drop leaves or cause shade)

Is the patio sloping the correct way for water to run off.

Access and parking for multiple cars.

Can you get your stuff in and up the stairs(check door widths).

Outside tap and power.

Utilities crossing the property.

Aspect, where will the frost hang about in the winter or the sun make the place an oven in the summer.

Look at other houses close by, any signs of problems with the build or area look for signs of movement.

Any extention work, when was it done does it comply might have to phone the council( I did this for one property and the building guy lived close by and new the area well)

come to mind with a quick think

Wickedkitten

When we had the second viewing on the house we are buying, I went in armed with a camera, torch, measuring tape, and pen and paper.

We actually went a bit earlier so we could get some pics of the neighbourhood and the general condition of the outside of the house front and back without the estate agent hovering, then went in and took loads of pics along with poking into the cupboards and around the walls for signs of rot and leakage, measuring up all of the windows, along with charting the number of sockets in each room, tv aerial points, and phone line extentions, and wrote down the model number of all of the appliances that are staying so I can download the manuals.

I would have had a look in the loft as well but there wasn't a way to get in there without breaking my neck.