50 House Buying Tricks guide discussion

cloo · 15 November 2016 at 5:41PM

My top tip is use a solicitor recommended by a friend - I am so, so grateful for the solicitor recommended to me who did our last two sets of conveyancing!

If you're not sure which surveyor to use, go by whoever seems to have been around locally the longest. They'll be best informed about typical local structures, ground composition etc.

If you're worried about damp issues, get an independent specialist damp surveyor - they won't be working for a supplier so will give you an honest and usually reassuring assessment!

Joe69 · 9 June 2017 at 9:06AM

As a cash buyer (therefore no need to apply for mortgage) I was slightly caught out when I came to sell the house 13 years later. My best buyers were refused a mortgage and had to pull out. The reason was the "non-standard materials" the house was made of. It was a very sound house indeed, but was made of rubble mixed with cement and whitewashed. I did get a buyer in the end but at a considerably lower price.