What sellers hide!

anteguardian

I’ve been following the thread on mums net and it’s a really good resource to know what things to keep a look out for. 

Octothorpe

anteguardian said:

I’ve been following the thread on mums net and it’s a really good resource to know what things to keep a look out for. 

The boarded up cellar though!! 😵

anteguardian

Octothorpe said:

anteguardian said:

I’ve been following the thread on mums net and it’s a really good resource to know what things to keep a look out for. 

The boarded up cellar though!! 😵

That is a particularly bad one - but atleast we all know now it’s something to ask about/keep an eye out for when looking at properties! 

AdrianC

Carrot007 said:

Hannimal said:

Carrot007 said:

Hannimal said:

My sellers left me with:
- VERY dangerous electric socket with exposed wires
- Another electric socket that feeds from the above electric socket

The first one sounds bad, I got a cable for an old cylinder goping into the loft bare and exposed (it you turned it on!). Also an earth wire going into the loft and unconnected. A bedroom light not earthed (yes I check these things!).

The seconds however is fine. Nothing wrong with a spur. Should really be a single socket. Though I put a double in the loft in my previous place. Fine unless you try to run 2 electric heaters off it!

The second socket that feeds off the first one is next to a radiator. I was told by a guy who did some work here - he was the one who noticed the first one was unsafe - that it's dangerous to have it next to a radiator and that when I get the electrician in they'll either have to remove or move it. I haven't admittedly gotten the electrician in as I've spent all my money on the bathroom and other things I noticed before. Just hope my house won't burn while I wait to have some extra cash

I see, however ther are no rules on distance to a radiator. if the wireing and socket are up to UK spec they should be ok to 70 degrees which your radiator is not going to be.

However it is common sense and it could well be too close. I would want  30 cm at least. (if not just putting in a better palce!).

I found a double socket very near a radiator.

Well, when I say "very near", I mean "behind".

And I don't just mean "behind the radiator", I mean "behind the reflective foil stuck to the wall behind the radiator".

olgadapolga

We were left:

Mirkwood (not hidden)

All sorts of junk buried in the garden including a firepit and a lawnmower, bags for life and raw meat wrappers.

A house full of junk that should have been cleared.

Damp walls not picked up on the survey.

Insect-infested wood floor, only picked up when stripping wallpaper, the skirting boards came away with the wallpaper and out crawled lots of insects. Upon removing the wood flooring (which covered the entire ground floor) we discovered manky, urine-stained carpets. Couldn't get that lot to the tip quickly enough. Just thinking about it makes my skin crawl.

Dangerous electrics, or, as my electrician DH puts it, "Darwin Award winning electrics". The highlight of these being wires not (correctly) connected and a long  piece of fuse wire dangling from the fuses in the consumer unit.

A mouse/rodent infestation, also not picked up on the survey.

A toilet cistern that was only held in place by the handle that went through a wall (so the cistern was on one side of the wall, the toilet and handle were on the other side). The wall was originally the external wall as the bathroom was in an extension.


However, the neighbours are delightful and are unanimous in their dislike of the previous owner. Oddly enough, they all use the exactly same noun for him!

amandacat

The last house I bought 11 years ago I was pretty lucky compared to others. It was only 7 years old at the time. The only issues were that they left about 20 bin bags in the garden for the bin men who weren’t coming for another week. The downstairs toilet radiator didn’t work, an outside light had been smashed (might’ve been like that on viewing and I didn’t notice)  and a 50p coin had been superglued to a windowsill. 

With my current purchase I’ve been able to view the house twice and it’s empty so I know what states it in reasonably well (I hope) it’s only a couple of years old so I’m hoping they’ll be no major issues but I always budget for some repairs. 

MaryNB

Octothorpe said:

anteguardian said:

I’ve been following the thread on mums net and it’s a really good resource to know what things to keep a look out for. 

The boarded up cellar though!! 😵

My colleague was viewing a house in Vancouver years ago. He was using a local surveyor who had really good knowledge of local houses. The surveyor was convinced there was a cellar. EA said there wasn't. Surveyor persisted and eventually found it. It was flooded with fairly new pumps installed pumping out the water. My colleague did not buy the house. 

Slinky

JJR45 said:

Hannimal said:

- woodlice EVERYWHERE - how do i get rid of them btw? does this mean the foundations of the house are rotting?

They eat rotting wood, so may be worth getting your flooring and joists checked.

After we put spotlights in our bathroom ceiling, we used to get occasional woodlice in the bathroom. I think they were falling through the light fittings from the loft.  Couldn't ever find them up there dead or alive though.  We had extra ventilation put in the loft just in case, but that didn't appear to have any significant effect. We wondered if it would be noticed on the survey, but our buyer decided not to have one.  We also used to get a few woodlice in our sunroom, no idea how they got in, but they were always dry and crispy with the heat.

scrooge2008

The BTL flat we recently bought contained:-

A whole attic full of junk - including old water tanks and tons of dirty bedding, plus centuries of christmas tat.   
A massive burned patch in the middle of one carpet, where it looked like there had been a bonfire, was covered by a bed. 
I went to switch on the fire and it came away from the wall with the mantle piece and landed on top of me - it had not been connected to the wall and there was no back to the fire.
One of the doors, was just propped against the door frame and had no hinges on it. 
The steep path was covered in green algae and the steps to the property were tiled so everyone fell over on the icy, wintry day that we took possession, so we approached it on our bottoms. 
The loft hatch did not have a proper catch on it so that swung open and nearly decapitated me. 
The funniest thing was that the guy who did the flat up, was convinced that the flat was possesed because the blade on his rotary saw ran anti-clockwise in the flat and clockwise everywhere else he used it.

hazyjo

This should be quoted on that "why do people buy new properties" thread lol. In fact, I'll add it now if I've not been beaten to it! 🤭