Second Viewings - what to look for

poppysarah

Wickedkitten wrote: »

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.

One of the property show blokes said he keeps a ladder in his car for such events.

Might have been that Martin bloke.

chocomonsta

When I bought my house, we noticed the front window looked very dirty, the seller just said it was because he had not cleaned them in months. Once we had moved in we realised that the double glazing had failed and many of the windows (only the glass units) had to be replaced. That cost us over a £1000 5 years ago.

Also a friend has no timer for her central heating, which to me is very odd, but not something I would probably notice on a house viewing.

Also the kitchen looked reasonable, but on moving in it was gruesome all the units full of grease, drawers and cupboard doors were broken, and the integral washing machine leaked, which we had not noticed. At the time I think I was a little embarrassed looking deeply. However, if I was to buy again, I think I would go with a list of things to check and go through it carefully.

HTH.

Swipe

And on discovering all of these anomalies on close inspection what would you do? Would you walk away and not offer, offer less or still offer the same but knowing that it isn't in tip top condition?

Wickedkitten

poppysarah wrote: »

One of the property show blokes said he keeps a ladder in his car for such events.

Might have been that Martin bloke.

I would have done the same thing except we don't own a car, only a motorcycle.

If we had been polite and not gone poking around the last time we bought a house, we never would have ended up seeing this


Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch

Under the kitchen sink, and this


Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch

Where the party wall between our loft and the neighbours should have been, not to mention the state of their roof.

poppysarah

In theory your surveyor should look in the loft and spot any issues like that ... but it's got to be good to see the problems yourself too!

Wickedkitten

poppysarah wrote: »

In theory your surveyor should look in the loft and spot any issues like that ... but it's got to be good to see the problems yourself too!

Aye, If I had just read "missing party wall" on the survey and then went up and had an eyeful of that, it definitely would have been :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

googler

Swipe wrote: »

And on discovering all of these anomalies on close inspection what would you do? Would you walk away and not offer, offer less or still offer the same but knowing that it isn't in tip top condition?

Depends on the scale of the problems you find, how much you want the house, and how much the owner wants to sell....

You've got to look in everything that forms part of the house, or is included in the sale with the house. Freestanding wardrobes and cupboards which are excluded from the sale can be ignored. If they're part of the sale, I'd say you can have a look in them too.

If the junk falls out of the built-in cupboards or wardrobes, ask yourself - is there enough room for MY stuff?

Look in and under the sink, in the oven and grill, at the cooker hood, poke around inside the washing machine, dishwasher, tumble dryer (if these included) to see if they look 'looked after'. Ask specifically if the appliances are under guarantee; there's usually a standard disclaimer on EA's details saying that no systems or appliances are tested, and that they're not guaranteed unless otherwise stated. Ask if the owners still have all the manuals for their appliances.

One house that I looked at had a huge range cooker; which looked fine from the brochure, but when we got there and opened the oven, it was a minefield of grease, scorch marks, food scraps, and - believe it or not - a tinfoil tray with some cooked roast potatoes still sitting therein. We opened the kitchen cupboards, and they were unlined - constructed from bare wood, with the internals unpainted, and untreated

Ask to see the HIP or Home Report. Anything that the surveyor is remotely worried about will be mentioned.

Someone mentioned built-in wardrobes being installed to cover up damp - a surveyor won't spot this unless the damp is apparent from another side of
the wall - they won't lift floorboards, remove built-in furniture, pull back wallpaper, etc.

Make sure you have at least one visit to the house in daylight!!!

QTPie

googler wrote: »

We opened the kitchen cupboards, and they were unlined - constructed from bare wood, with the internals unpainted, and untreated!

This is basically what we saw when we were looking at a new (3 or 4 years old) kitchen in an asking price of £795k. Kitchen looked very good in the photos and on the surface, but open a few cupboards and the shelves looked like bare MDF :rolleyes: . It was obviously a handmade kitchen, but not a very good one...

Knowing that everything is "not as it seems" allows you to build it into negotiations and, if nothing else, your budget and expectations. It may very well not be a "deal breaker", but important to know.

QT