Questions when Viewing houses

CathA

Ask why they are moving.

kingfisherblue

Are the bins collected weekly, fortnightly or every three weeks? What recycling facilities are available (my sister has three wheelie bins, whereas we have a brown bin, a green bin, and various bags/boxes. Our council also provides food caddies, but my sister's doesn't).

How local are schools, shops, library, whatever it is that you need?

How far is the local hospital with an A&E (ours is about twenty minutes away, but lots of smaller hospitals have closed in recent years, so some people might live much further away).

Are they leaving the shed/greenhouse?

Are there any restrictions on anything? In my street, you can't have a porch on the front of the house, and we are in a smoke free zone, so no garden bonfires.

How much is ground rent, if applicable. How often is it paid?

When was boiler last serviced?

Thrugelmir

With 10 to view. You'll soon know whether you like the property or not, the minute you walk through the door. Shorten the list first. Then do a second viewing at a more leisurely pace.

StumpyPumpy

When I was looking around, I soon learnt that taking a tape measure and a note of the dimensions of some of my furniture was very useful in working out if things would fit. I also made sure both me and OH had cameras and would take lots of pictures (after asking permission of course) It's a personal choice but I prefer stills to video, but the cameras can do both, and it was useful to have something for scale - which in my case was an old folding ruler.

The questions to ask will depend, in part, whether or not you actually get to see the owners or just the EA, but if owners a simple how long have you lived here, why are you moving? Can glean a lot of information, especially if done in a friendly or flattering way eg. "This is such a lovely house, I can't believe why you would want to move!" can often get a more enlightening response than "So, why are you selling?"

SP

googler

rjw4 wrote: »

Which way the garden faces (i.e. south facing = sunshine!!)

You would ask that? Really?

You wouldn't check it on google maps, take a compass with you, or .... just look up at the sky?

davidmcn

kingfisherblue wrote: »

Are the bins collected weekly, fortnightly or every three weeks? What recycling facilities are available (my sister has three wheelie bins, whereas we have a brown bin, a green bin, and various bags/boxes. Our council also provides food caddies, but my sister's doesn't).

Useful to know when you move in, but is it really a determining factor when deciding among properties? Surely the answer will be much the same for any properties in the same council area anyway? And will change whenever the council changes their policies...

How local are schools, shops, library, whatever it is that you need?

How far is the local hospital with an A&E

Again, I'd be checking this sort of stuff online rather than stand there while somebody struggles to give me directions to the post office. Many sellers won't know the answers anyway unless they e.g. are also parents, or have had to visit A&E recently.

Davesnave

googler wrote: »

You would ask that? Really?

You wouldn't check it on google maps, take a compass with you, or .... just look up at the sky?

I agree with using Google Maps, but in the real world, other factors come into play, so neighbours' houses, trees etc may have an equal or even a superior bearing on the sunlight available. Almost inevitable in towns, though.

I'm now in the first property I've owned where nothing, except clouds, can steal my sunshine at any point in the day, and what a difference it makes.

Also, being near the bottom of a north-facing slope in the sort of valleys we have in my part of the UK, is a really lousy place to put a house. Google Maps don't do contours. OS maps do.

I'd disagree with the need to have direct sunshine in a kitchen. Here, I enjoy that in the main living room, but in the warmer months I appreciate the ability to go into a cool kitchen/diner at lunchtime.

I'm not saying everyone will feel like me, but I altered the planning permission I had on this property when I realised the south-facing kitchen I'd given it, wasn't what I really wanted.

Davesnave

kingfisherblue wrote: »

we are in a smoke free zone, so no garden bonfires.

It may be a locally-generated myth. People used to believe that too where I lived before.

Government advice says otherwise.

casper_g

Davesnave wrote: »

It may be a locally-generated myth. People used to believe that too where I lived before.

Government advice says otherwise.

Indeed: https://www.gov.uk/smoke-control-area-rules

wjr4

davidmcn wrote: »

I'd figure this out myself by looking at a map rather than rely on whatever you're told at the viewing.

Same! I just thought I'd mention it just in case OP hadn't thought of it in general also good to use the compass app on an iPhone if required