50 House Buying Tricks guide discussion 23 October 2012 at 2:39PM edited 24 October 2012 at 10:16AM in House buying, renting & selling 43 replies 19K views

smokey2

Help!
I am in the process of buying my first house and we have had an offer accepted. Now I would like to make sure there are no surprises in store for me. The house is only 35 ish years old, built by a major and well known construction company and we are buying it expecting we will have to redecorate immediately so I suspect its pretty low risk compared to some purchases. But it has been extended twice. But I have no information for these.
I have contacted surveyers and been amazed by how little information they say they will provide. Also most of them have said they wont let buyers accompany them, some fobbed it off saying it was part of their insurance in case they miss things. What will a home owners survey actually check? Do most people rely on this survey to tell them everything about the house?

Thanks

googler

Look on the RICS website for a guide to what their members provide for the various levels of surveys.

If you've had an offer accepted in E&W, then there seems little you can do to avoid 'surprises'. Even the OFT states in their online guidance that an offer constitutes no formal or legal agreement between buyer and seller, only something that 'provides the potential for a future agreement'.

And while we're on geographic matters, some parts of the guide, as well as the timeline included therein, are only appropriate to E&W, and different rules, procedures and background apply to Scottish sales and purchases.

jwed2000

smokey2 wrote: »

Help!
I am in the process of buying my first house and we have had an offer accepted. Now I would like to make sure there are no surprises in store for me. The house is only 35 ish years old, built by a major and well known construction company and we are buying it expecting we will have to redecorate immediately so I suspect its pretty low risk compared to some purchases. But it has been extended twice. But I have no information for these.
I have contacted surveyers and been amazed by how little information they say they will provide. Also most of them have said they wont let buyers accompany them, some fobbed it off saying it was part of their insurance in case they miss things. What will a home owners survey actually check? Do most people rely on this survey to tell them everything about the house?

Thanks

We bought a home recently and soon found out that surveyors main task is to cover their backsides. Is there a friend of a friend that you could use? Or get friendly with one, so that he will actually do a proper job?
You should also get information about the extensions from the local Planning Authority, you can see the plans, ensure it was given permission and also signed off.

tomtontom

jwed's post marked as spam.

Davesnave

tomtontom wrote: »

jwed's post marked as spam.

Agreed. "I know I'm not allowed to do this, but I'll do it anyway...."

System

Why the hell do you need a guide to buy a house? It is really simple:

Work out what you can afford => decide what you want based on this => use common sense when dealing with everyone through the process => Welcome to your new home!

This sub industry based around people who believe tv shows and articles help them when purchasing homes is cringeworthy.

eddddy

jwed2000 wrote: »

One tip that Martin hasn't mentioned is the use of a homefinder or buying agent, like Phil and Kirstie on Location Location Location, we used one to find our new home in the Peak District, they did all of the work and saved us a load of money through their negotiations. I know I can't advertise companies, but just enter "Homefinders" and "Peak District" in a search engine
<snip>

tomtontom wrote: »

jwed's post marked as spam.

This is really quite amusing...

If you google the terms suggested by jwed2000, you find a company called "Homefinders Plus Ltd".

If you do a director check on that company, you find a director named JAMES WILLIAM EDWARD D*******.

(For details see: http://www.companydirectorcheck.com/james-william-edward-drakeford)

Now wait a minute... that makes the director's initials jwed.

But surely nobody could be that daft - spamming using their real initials as a username! So it must just be a coincidence.

(Or if they were that daft, I certainly wouldn't want to retain them as a buying agent!)

jwed2000

Rumbled, but just trying to get out there that there is such a service, which maybe Martin & his team could have mentioned. And Walcott, you may have found it easy, but those with little time, knowledge of an area, or maybe physically unable to search will use a buying agent such as ours, it isn't just the finding, feel free to read the website.

Apologies all.

TrashyBook

Buying a home can be massively stressful even if it's something you are really keen to do.

And if it's something you're being pressured into doing (eg moving because of work relocation) then I can see why a home finder is a good idea, especially if you're new to the area.

If you're working full time (and you can afford it!), it makes sense to have someone do a lot of the initial leg work for you, to give you time to do actual viewings in your free time, rather than just trawling round estate agents (in the flesh or online!)

I've never used one (and don't think I ever would), but I can see their merits.

PasturesNew

My strategy was: Open up RM, see what's for sale and which is least offensive looking .... phone up the agent... go and browse round it in a hurry. Say "I'll have it", then buy it.