AIBU to want to flush loos, turn on the heating and check sockets at a house viewing

[DeeLite]

We are viewing a house tomorrow that has been builder-refurbished. The finishing is a bit shabby. The vendor will be present. Can I ask him to turn on the heating and then check that all the radiators heat up and that we get hot water from all the taps, that loos flush and electrical fittings work?

Would he think me an unreasonable buyer and therefore go with another offer?

Of course you can. You wouldn't buy a car without checking that the obvious, easy to check things work.

Definitely check how the heating works and where the thermostat is. We took it for granted that there would be normal heating in our house, but when we got there discovered it was a really odd system.

I think it's fine to do it, but maybe do it on a second viewing?

It's a second viewing thing, when you're serious about buying. You might not even like it yet :)

Thanks ladies. This is a second viewing so we're pretty serious [excited emoticon].

If it's been builder refurbished then write up all the faults in a Snagging List - that's what ours called it. It's the sort of last check things before they sign off.
Though I would check loo flushes and lights when I'm in the room.Flush and check for noise, refill time etc

Nope, YANBU at all. If it has been builder refurbished, are they the owners? Is it possible to put something in the contract that states that when you move in they come back and deal with any snagging issues that might arise from the work they've done? [ignorant emoticon]

My mum's buyers looked in all the cupboards, opened and closed all the drawers in the kitchen etc. Someone we know who lives round the corner bought a house that had been freshly renovated. They'd plastered over cracks that showed serious subsidance but there was one crack on the wall behind built in cupboard. Don't want to scaremonger though!

Before we got our new bathroom I lay in the bath in the showroom to see if it was comfy. And on the mattress in the shop when we bought a new one.

Congratulations and I hope it's as lovely this time as the first. How exciting!

YANBU I do all od the above and more when viewing houses!

YANBU and I only wish DH had done all that and a couple of other little similar things when he viewed this shit hole of a hovel place before he bought it...

And in answer to the question in your OP, I don't think he'd think you U. He'd think you were a serious buyer who knew your way around house buying.

YANBU. Have a big poo and check it flushes it away, and then have a bath.
Seriously, it sounds v sensible.

Sorry Dee I seem to have killed your thread.

Good call, sparklingbrook.

Having a massive dump and checking its flushability is an excellent way of determining water pressure.

I always turn on the shower to check water pressure too.

Turn the shower on to check it works let alone the water pressure

I knew someone who was selling a house, and a prospective buyer asked to use the bathroom before he left. He left speedily, and luckily my friend had the presence of mind to check the bathroom. He had left a deposit of such mammoth proportions that it wouldn't flush and my friend had to chop it up with a wire coat hanger before the next viewer arrived.

If you were buying my house it would be wise to check all the bedroom doors actually close.

Don't forget to turn on the shower if it's an electric one and open and close a few windows too!

As it's a second visit probably YANBU but if someone tried that on a first visit I would be fairly annoyed

Miss Honkover nnoooooo!

My dad is a plumber, so as first time house buyers, DH and I went to a first viewing prepared - armed with torch (damp at back of cupboards) notebook etc....
The estate agent was a scarlet-nailed leggy blonde cliche.
I flushed the 'newly installed' downstairs loo, just to test...which was not connected from the pan to the outlet pipe, just artfully laid together.
She was not impressed with the huge flodd and we didn't go for any ohter viewings with that agency..

YANBU! Something like low water pressure can seriously affect your happiness. I can't afford to buy, but I have always done those checks when viewing rental properties.

Not things that I would have thought of before, but when we do move then I most certainly will.

Miss Honkover. That is shocking but hilarious!

Thanks to you all for these great tips. The shower is a good one QuietNinja as I wouldn't have thought to check waterpressure.

Pombear sorry to hear you are pissed off with your house. You can't sue your husband but is there stuff the surveyor missed?

One that I would add to the list is to make sure you turn off any lights that are on (assuming it's daytime of course!). We got caught out buying a house with a ridiculously gloomy room that we hadn't spotted as on our visits they had had the lights on (and about 20 people in the room so we didn't exactly hang around!).

I got stuck with a place where the cooker didn't work for the whole year I was there, the landlord was always sending people to 'look' at it, they never fixed it. Another place, the water took over an hour to heat and the tank was so small I never got more than a five minute shower. Check everything.