Great 'What I wish I’d known before I bought my first home' Hunt

MrGumby

eglons wrote: »

if you are confident in showing people around yourself then use someone like www.housenetwork.co.uk to get you onto Rightmove and act as your agent, you'll save a fortune and probably get a better service overall.

This thread is about buying, not selling!

eglons

MrGumby wrote: »

This thread is about buying, not selling!

Sorry... original post deleted, might be worth deleting yours too to avoid confusion

afmfifgh

I am in the process of looking for my first house so have read through the thread and it seems people are repeating a lot of the same points so rather than do that here are a couple of my tips (even though I haven't bought yet):

1. Go on google earth or google maps and have a look at the property from above and also at properties in the area. You can see into the neighbours gardens - are they well maintained, do they have trampolines, what extensions they have done etc etc.

Also it can give you an idea of what extensions you could do etc.

2. Also get on to the local council site and look to see what planning applications have been done on the property, have they been accepted/rejected etc. Also look what other properties have had done.

3. Also find out what Council tax band the property is so you can accurately budget for it.

4. When you go on your first viewing, take a cam corder if you have one if not take your camera. Then rather than having rose tinted glasses when trying to remember the property after the visit you will be able to actually see it from your photos and videos.

5. The photo's taken by the agent will be taken in such a way as to make the room look bigger than they are so bare that in mind when looking at the brochure. Also when looking at the brochure bare in mind what isn't in there, for example why haven't they included a photo of the bathroom for example? Probably because it is not overly nice.

6. What is the TV aerial like? Is it a new one that will get digital or will you need to pay for a new one? Does the property have a Sky dish if you plan to have Sky this might save you the installation cost if not budget for it.

Hope that helps some people

Then when it is all over have a few :beer:

ixwood

Sorry, but if I'm spending £100,000's on a property, I don't care whether it's got a sky dish or not.

Stuff like that is completely trivial. Location, property type, condition, cost and area are the important things.

Arthritic_Toe

Remember it will be your money that you're spending to buy the house and you have to pay every penny of your mortgage back. The numbers seem so huge that it just seems like monopoly money. Remember every single grand you borrow is a grand that you wont be able to spend on something else. Estate agents love a first time buyer with a mortgage offer. Don't go to the asking price just because you can.

ixwood

Remember every single grand you borrow is 2 or 3 grand that you wont be able to spend on something else, when you consider interest costs.

Borrow as little as possible and pay it back as quickly as you can.

goldengirl28

i 3rd that comment.................just because the banks says you can borrow 300k..............doesn't mean you should or have to.

when i was 24, i bought my first house with boyfriend....the bank offered to lend us 80k.............we would have been so skint if we had spent to that value..............we actually borrowed 35k

harryhound

A sky dish might be trivial but TV reception isn't.
Knowing what services are available and where they run is important:
Drains - who owns? Shared? Suitable for extension or an obstacle (a septic tank can actually save you money)
Water?
Electric?
Gas?
Phone?
Cable?
Broadband?
Rights of way? Easements? Ancient lights? Party wall agreements (All rights over "your" land available to neighbours - eg a sewer pipeline:eek:)
RESTRICTIVE covenants (stop others doing things; positive covenants, forcing a neighbour to do something by and large don't exist BUT "good fences make good neighbours")
"Adopted" road/access - where is the boundary? (You might own the road outside!)

Rights that you have: These are mainly communications by foot and car (horse and wagon on old properties). Parking & access to schools,shops, medical, pubs, walks etc.

Icey77

harryhound wrote: »

A sky dish might be trivial but TV reception isn't.

Very important!! The area where I live has appalling TV reception and nearly every property has a sky dish. Having a sky dish on the property (that isn't being taken by the sellers) means that you are likely to get your TV reception far quicker as SKY don't have to come out to you - they can do lot of it remotely.

Perhaps not "critical" in the grand scheme of house buying but how irritating will it be when you've been heaving furniture and unpacking boxes all day to sit down with your dinner to watch a nice mind-numbing program or somewhere to park the kids to stop them getting under your feet or into a recently emptied box and find that you can't ... and the DVD player is still packed away.

k.e.c

If like me you love a nice cuppa tea, moving or buying a new house can cause a problem...undrinkable tea!!!
I moved to my first house nearly 3 years ago and have tried water filters, different tea bags and milk and it just tastes nasty!
If you do love tea, as if you can make a drink in the house you're veiwing.
It makes me sad that I can't drink it at home