First time buyer questions about costs - legal, surveys / valuations etc

richimgd

Thanks for the advice everyone.

Here is a bit of info on the flat – if anyone could contribute to any of this and respond to any queries that would be much appreciated:

Positives:

• Its got 2 double bedrooms that are probably double the size of what I would get in a 2 bedroom terrace house, so the potential of letting the 2nd bedroom out is probably the greatest it could be because you would have enough room for a double bed, desk plenty of cupboard and possibly a small sofa in the bedroom. There is about 950 sqft of space compared to about 550 of the average terrace house.
  
  
• The location is really good in terms of being in a very good commute location while the area is considered very desirable so should be able to command a good resale price (in theory!)
  
  
• There really isn’t much other choice around this area, with this amount of internal space for this price.
  
  
• The property its self does look really nice and tidy because there are new carpets throughout and it has been newly decorated and has fairly new double glazed windows etc.
  
  
• There has been a new roof put on the property only 10 years ago.

Negatives/concerns

• The flat is a 2nd floor (roof) flat and the rule is the owner of this flat is responsible for the roof whereas the bottom flat is responsible for the lower part of the building and foundations. The exact detail of this arrangement needs to be clarified so need to know what state the roof is in, even if it is new. Also not sure if this type of arrangement is not unheard of? I know I haven’t seen it before – normally everyone is jointly responsible for any building work by means of paying a 20% contribution for instance.
  
  
• Although the property I've looks clean and tidy, it also looks like it the old walls that have been wallpapered over and painted. I.e the walls seemed to be plastered using the old plaster lath technique rather than plasterboard. This is evident around the dormer windows where the corners are not nice and sharp but rather rounded, suggesting to be made with older wooden angle bead. Also I could press down on the wall and my hand did indent into it a bit suggesting that the plaster underneath is dry and if I was to take the wallpaper off it would probably take half the plaster off with it. The bathroom suite is all new looking and looks nice, although again the walls are covered in wallpaper even above the shower which seems strange. With the new carpets combined with the painted / wallpapered walls it seems like the landlord has just done it out quickly to sell it on, make it look nice etc. I really don’t know what condition the walls are underneath. It is currently unoccupied and has been for the last 6-9 months I believe.
  
  
• There are plenty of plug sockets in each room, (about 3 x double plug sockets) although the fuse box is pretty old looking and the estate agent admitted it has not been rewired recently. Some wiring near the boiler looked pretty old. I am going to try and find out when this was done, but I am worried that the worst case scenario is the circuit wouldn’t take all the appliances and electrics required of a standard 2 bedroom accommodation if it was adapted in any ad hock way I.e extra plugs added onto old wiring. There is no way I can tell though as nobody is living there as its all empty. On the plus side all the lighting works, in the lounge there are the nice embedded halogen ceiling lights although this doesn’t prove anything. Is there a way an electrician could test the electrics to see if the wiring could handle what would be classed as standard use?
  
  
• The boiler is old – probably about 20-25 although said to be working fine, can’t help but think it must be on its last legs so would need to budget for that.
  
  

So, it is pretty expensive and potentially there is more expense in the short term to budget for – but assuming this was all sorted out and the roof arrangement is ok, I think there it would make a good home – although it would be pretty expensive for me, I could just about afford it.

Anyone who has read this far, I would like know if you can contribute to any of the above queries?