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Property/DIY

Things You Wish You Knew When you Bought Your First House

30 replies

homedreamer · 19/04/2016 19:44

All is in the title really looking forward to reading your thoughts

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NeatandTidyTidyandNeat · 19/04/2016 19:48

To check gas and electricity were NOT on prepayment meters - on moving in day, armed with industrial carpet cleaners etc, found both meters had no credit (and keys to load weren't there) so had no power or hot water to clean with.

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Janek · 19/04/2016 19:53

That if the deeds are lost you will only get a possessory title, not an absolute title and it will take the vendor's solicitor 6 long months to recreate the deeds, despite there being no chain.

At such point your solicitor will say the land registry are being a bit pedantic and she wouldn't touch it with a barge pole. When this was what's going to happena and she should have known that and should have told me six months ago.
We bought the house anyway and have been very happy here...

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CarcerDun · 19/04/2016 19:55

Not to buy from smokers, we were never able to fully get rid of the smell.

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holidaysarenice · 19/04/2016 19:57

That red paint is a curse!! And when you wipe your lovely cream paint four years later red still comes through.

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KingJoffreyLikesJaffaCakes · 19/04/2016 19:57

To expect the solicitors to be total douchebags and to have to chivvy them along at every step as though you were explaining things to a child.

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KingJoffreyLikesJaffaCakes · 19/04/2016 19:59

And that the vendors might pop back in two weeks for their post, see their weird green melamine kitchen (which they were weirdly proud of) in a skip and leave crying.

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onlymrsmac · 19/04/2016 19:59

Know if you're pregnant or not .... Otherwise within 12 months you won't have enough bedrooms and having to jeffing move again!!!! Hmm

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homedreamer · 19/04/2016 20:09

Haha actually only we are ttc so i hope i am ;0

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Sunny777 · 19/04/2016 20:14

if there is any extension and conservatory etc, there is planning permission/build reg approval for that.

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Bitofeverything · 19/04/2016 22:17

Think about where the sun rises and sets - and if you're house hunting during summer, where it will be in the winter. Check water pressure. Visit the place at night to see it there could be any problem neighbours.

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citychick · 20/04/2016 01:49

check for and fix damp immediately. saves more upheaval later on.

if course we knew this but didnt listen damp proofing is vital and a PITA.

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GinaBambino · 20/04/2016 01:58

To make doubly sure how old the boiler is and if the hot water works. Get decent solicitors! Check for pre-payment meters. Check how much dog hair you can fit in an oven and 5 burner hob? Does the bathroom actually work and does the toilet have a flush? Why have you left your fish in what is now my pond? How much debt do you owe? (I wouldn't really ask this but having bailiffs knocking on the door nearly everyday for previous owner does wind you up in the end) and lastly if you have dogs and are moving out before we complete, please take them with you rather than leaving them alone for 3 weeks to piss and shit all over the carpets and real oak flooring.

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GinaBambino · 20/04/2016 02:01

Oh and get an independent report on the electrics! Our house had extension cables just plugged into each other all over the back garden to the lighting which was near a pond! Thankfully it was ripped out easily before we had any major issues.

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StepAwayFromTheThesaurus · 20/04/2016 08:24

I'd say to expect everything to be held together with hope and gaffer tape underneath a superficial layer of everything being ok. That way you'll be fine. All the surveys, permissions and certificates in the world don't actually guarantee that you won't decide to do some minor work and discover something.

Be pragmatic about it. Houses are imperfect and they are still safe and standing. So don't panic about scary sounding survey results that are meaningless defensively written survey speak.

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angemorange · 20/04/2016 08:39

If the survey report goes onto 2 pages listing all the problems forget it and buy a more modern house.

We went ahead being naïve and optimistic - still getting through list 15 years later!

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MrsSteptoe · 20/04/2016 08:44

Not sure where you are in the process, but I only found out by accident that it's highly advisable to take out buildings insurance as soon as you've exchanged. It's the only way you can be sure you're protected against damage to the house during the period between exchange and completion, as you're still obliged to buy the house even if the house falls down, and if they don't have their own buildings insurance, you're screwed.

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Mishaps · 20/04/2016 08:48

To take a compass to chart the passage of the sun, so that you know where it will be in each room at different times of day. And the sane with the garden, some of which finish up in shade half the day. I really like to have lots of light, so that is a major factor for me - can't stand dingy houses!

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SpuriouserAndSpuriouser · 20/04/2016 08:59

Bitofeverything how do you mean? Surely where the sun rises and sets is the same all the year round?

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Cinnamon2013 · 20/04/2016 09:06

Check out the neighbouring houses and speak to owners if you can. More than anything that might come up on a survey, they will make it a good or a bad buy. Viewed a beautiful house recently and walked away as the aggressive owner with aggressive dog did me the favour of coming over for a chat (and to tell me the house was a rip-off).

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Postchildrenpregranny · 20/04/2016 09:06

But how high the sun rises (low sun in winter) and what is 'in its way'hugely effects the amount of light you get in winter.Ours us a very light house (SW garden and all major rooms have windows on two walls ) but our main living room gets most of the light from 3pm ish Which is fine for us as we use it mostly in the evening .

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Cinnamon2013 · 20/04/2016 09:06

Neighbour, I meant! Not the owner...

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lilydaisyrose · 20/04/2016 09:12

Check for extension potential. We are in a converted house, a g/f maisonette. We have neighbours above us, our garden is across from our front door - we have to cross a shared entry walkway and our neighbour's garden is directly behind the property. We can'T raise enough to move but can't extend either so we're totally stuck in a 2 bed with soon to be 3 kids...

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bibbitybobbityyhat · 20/04/2016 09:12

I wish I'd known that house prices were going to fall by 35% and that I'd be in negative equity for 10 years.

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Notyetthere · 20/04/2016 09:24

This subject has been discussed before on MSE. I read it while we were saving for a deposit so all the mishaps didnt come to us as a surprise. But we were lucky that the whole buying process went smoothly.

forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=2218071

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Bitofeverything · 20/04/2016 23:53

The sun rises further to the north west and sets further to the north east in the summer. The arc gets bigger (I am not explaining it very well, sorry). For example, my bedroom faces north west and at this time in the year, it gets sun in the morning - but doesn't in December... I don't mind, because lots of the rest of the house gets sun the rest of the time. But another house I looked at didn't get light from the back - so the fact that it only got sun at certain times of the day at certain time of the year made a massive difference...

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