To ask you all to save me?

[StrawberriesTasteLikeLipsDo]

I hope i am not!

DP (who will be dh from may) and I are finally in a position to be able to buy a house in the summer !! Exciting! After 9 years renting its a big step (in a good way!)

We have 2 ds's a cat 2 gerbils and would like one more DC in 2-4 years. Also a dog at some point. So thinking space and storage will be a must, and a nice sized secure (or securable!) garden. We know what we can get for our money and are aware of what we will/ wont compromise on... But...

This house we are in is damp. With mould. It obv wasnt when we moved in but damp proof course has failed.

When we buy if we buy a duck we are stuck with it!

So far my list of q's is :
Cavity wall insulation?
Wall ties?
Double glazing age?
Central heating - boiler age?
Serviced regularly?
Loft insulation?
Damp proof course age?
Neighbour noise declarations
Shared access ownership (drives etc)
Boundaries
Party walls
Planning permissions

Is there anything ive missed? Also how much of this would be picked up by a survey?

Thanks

[SkinnybitchWannabe]

Parking! Id never buy a house without off road parking.

[breatheslowly]

Which way the garden faces - will you be left with a perpetual winter in a North facing garden?

Building regulation sign offs.

If you are buying one of many similar houses you can see hw others have been altered or extended.

Storage - many modern houses have very little storage and people often don't notice until they move in.

Council tax band - if the current owners have extended then it may be due to be reassessed and go up one or more bands.

[Blankiefan]

I'd check public areas around it. Our last house backed onto a lane: great, I thought - for access. It didn't occur to me that the local youths might gather there for nefarious drinking / smoking / throwing stones at our windows! Was really stressful as not much could be done about it.

[StrawberriesTasteLikeLipsDo]

Thank you all! We have already said we wont buy without offroad parking (in hants where parking a total nightmare!), but definitely hadnt thought of the others

[magimedi]

Go and look at the area at different times of day (& night, after pub closing if one near). Walk round the area when you do.

[trinity0097]

Some of the things you mention are not that important, e.g. Cavity wall insulation, some experts say you shouldn't have it, but if you do want it then it's pretty cheap to get installed through the many offers out there. Ditto the loft imsultation. A solid old boiler may be more reliable than a new fancy one, which tend to have a shorter life span than old fashioned ones with less to go wrong!

You want to be concerned with things that are expensive to put right, like the structure of the building, electrics etc...

[Sunnywithshowers]

I agree with all of the above. Don't forget neighbour disputes - noisy or horrible neighbours make life very miserable.

And get the best survey you can afford - I only got a cheapo and found out about the damp / mould later.

[Finola1step]

Buy the best survey you can afford and use an independent surveyor if you can. Do not fall for the old trick of using the estate agents recommended surveyor. Check the drains and make sure the man hole covers are accessible.

[Almostfifty]

I agree with Finola about the surveyor. It saved us from buying a total car crash of a house a long time ago.

[StrawberriesTasteLikeLipsDo]

Thanks ive actually already found a surveyor who surveyed our current place and he knew everything! Definitely dont want to discover damp later that would kill me having lived with it here, we are all poorly from it

[grovel]

Mobile phone/internet reception etc.

[StrawberriesTasteLikeLipsDo]

Ohhh good idea grovel!

[jendot]

Buy a house you love, in a nice area, with plenty of space and is UNDER budget. You can then amend bits like insulation, boilers etc
Be realistic that you are unlikely to find a house that 100% meets your spec.
Look at the house as a long term investment...yes it as to be liveable but you have a lifetime to Make it perfect.
You 'know' when you walk into a house when it is the right one!

[TheUnsinkableTitanic]

electricity sockets :)

check out how many in each room - once bought a house with 1 socket in the bedroom - yes that was 1 socket!!

was easy sorted but was a pain until it was

definitely go around in the evening time to see what area is like
turn on all taps/flush the toilet
ask to see electricity/gas bills

don't get blinded by peoples decorative take on the house :) - imagine all their stuff out of it (once bought a bright pink house that wasn't selling, not much wrong with it, i reckon everyone was put off by the bring pink paint job that she did - approx £200 sorted that one.)

[Loislane78]

Quite a few of these things will be picked up through the conveyancing process by your solicitor, plus the survey as other posters have mentioned.

It's great to be aware but please don't do what a first time buyer couple did to me on Sat (we're selling) and arrive with a camera and clipboard. They asked some sensible questions but for a first viewing it was wayyyy over the top. Houses go quickly in our area and they had 'high maintenance' written all over them so if we got offers from 2 people in similar circumstances.... Depends whether it's a buyer market or a sellers market in your area.

[breatheslowly]

Also bear in mind thatyou won't find a perfect house so prioritise things you can't live with/change over things you can live with/change. We compromised on having a kitchen-diner because we wanted the location of our house.