Things you wish you'd checked before buying your property

Bonniepurple

DairyQueen said:

4) Neighbours. Peace and quiet are such a high priority for us that our perfect neighbours would either be lying in the church graveyard or have four legs.

Our issue is that next door’s parrot sets off our dog, which sets off their dogs, which further sets off our dog...
At least you can talk to a human!

benson1980

How intrusive road noise can be. Walking around a house for half an hour, seemed fine and quiet enough inside. Actually living and sleeping in a house with constant drone of a busy road and sound of lorries that you then start noticing when there is no background noise- unbearable. Sold after 18 months.

MaryNB

benson1980 said:

How intrusive road noise can be. Walking around a house for half an hour, seemed fine and quiet enough inside. Actually living and sleeping in a house with constant drone of a busy road and sound of lorries that you then start noticing when there is no background noise- unbearable. Sold after 18 months.

I rented a really nice flat with a great view, unfortunately next to a major road. When we were viewing it just sounded like a hum outside. Very different when you're trying to sleep and ridiculously loud motorbikes are going by in the middle of the night. 

I moved city and into a miserable basement flat where the only thing I could see out my window were bins. But oh my god the silence was BLISS.  

Phil4432

DairyQueen said:

4) Neighbours. Peace and quiet are such a high priority for us that our perfect neighbours would either be lying in the church graveyard or have four legs.

4 legs?  As in a barking dog?!

GaleSF63

Skintoap said:

Broadband and mobile phone coverage. I had to change mobile phone provider when I moved as reception was so poor. 

I used to go with a friend who was moving to a different area, to look at houses. Each time  she would check the mobile signal before she went into the house. The last occasion she must have been overcome by excitement because she forgot. She bought the house. More than 10 years later there is still no mobile signal in her village. 

DD265

I wish I'd realised how grubby the house was, and how much needed repairing, or had been bodged. As a 15 year old property the quality isn't the best, but there's no excuse for the state of most of it! I viewed it twice as well, so I'm not sure whether it was clean then they just didn't bother looking after it for 4 months, or whether I didn't look closely enough on the viewings.

I don't think it would've stopped us buying, but we could've taken better advantage of a two week overlap, if we'd known.

pinkshoes

1. Thermostat system for heating/hot water  (we wrongly assumed there was one because surely all houses have one?!?!?! Nope! Not this one! Nothing at all!)
2. Which broadband providers are available (Virgin cable stops before our road)
3. Whether they will be leaving fish in the pond (yup, including 2ft carp!)

56runner

I find having an experienced builder check the house over is better than a survey.  Moved into a bungalow and woke up in the night to the smell of sewage and discovered a cracked sewage pipe ran under my bedroom.   Many of us have experienced 'neighbours from hell' and I will always check them out before buying in future.  

MACKEM99

Greymug said:

Octothorpe said:

I will be checking takeaways deliver as a friend of mine is too far away to get any deliveries!! 😵😂

Literally the first thing I check, before even going for a viewing. I put the post code on just eat and scroll through results.

Do you not have a kitchen?

Davesnave

56runner said:

I find having an experienced builder check the house over is better than a survey.  Moved into a bungalow and woke up in the night to the smell of sewage and discovered a cracked sewage pipe ran under my bedroom.  

To be fair to surveyors and bungalows, a cracked sewage pipe is hard to spot under a floor and it can happen any time. It happened to me in a hall of residence (not a bungalow) half way through the academic year. However, no one took my complaint about the smell seriously; maintenance even suggesting it was my dirty socks. In the end I borrowed some tools and took part of the floor up. They believed me then!