Viewing a house tomorrow - what do I need to look out for?

[WombatStewForTea]

DP and I are first time buyers. This week we've got a meeting to finalise our mortgage in principal and also start looking at houses. What on earth should I be looking for when viewing houses? We don't need to worry about 'the area' as all of the properties we're interested in are in the village where we live now.
Any tips? It's all very grown up and scary!

Things we missed when viewing our home:
1.shower curtain drawn across bath - hiding mouldy bath tiles and rusty watermarked metal bath.
2.sofa sited in an odd place against a wall - hiding large damp patch
3.No ladder access to loft -
a. hiding fact that the knocked out chimney breast wasn't supported at chimney level
b. When we moved in we found very heavy old and disused water tank that we had to get someone to move plus lots (I mean lots) of paper, lumber and cardboard
4.next door neighbour had a dog that barked constantly whenever anyone went into the garden
5.water stopcock thingy was paved over in the front garden area so we had no means of turing off the water supply to the house.

1. In the afternoons next door 's extension cast a very long shadow across our back lawn and and made our living room very gloomy.

HTH

amelia part of your contract of sale (England/Wales) is that everything not on the fixtures/fittings list is removed, it is called vacant possession.

if the house has been left full of stuff, contact your solicitor about getting the sellers to pay for removal. Worth a try.

• Has the boiler been regularly serviced? Was work/parts needed?
• Can they/you hear the neighbours?
• If there's chimneys on the roof are there chimney breasts all the way down? If not can they prove they're supported.
• If you have a buggy can you get it in the house (we have a small hall which is a bit tight)
• Drive by in the evening, what's parking like etc

Get your solicitor to explain anything and consider getting a defects survey done. We had one and it was more than a basic survey but less than a superdooper one.

Work out with DH/DP what are must haves and what are nice to haves. Print out the house details and debrief afterwards and write on the sheets the pros/cons. Lots of viewings can mean you forget individual houses.

Make a list of what's essential, what's desirable and what's unimportant.

Don't waste everybody's time viewing old houses when you want a new build, or flats when you don't want any neighbour noise. Be realistic. Be open minded - don't fret about small stuff that is easily changed eg what type of cooker it is (I can't believe notinagreatplace would refuse a house based on whether the cooker is gas or electric! Unless she meant supply issues - I wouldn't buy a house somewhere that had no mains gas, or broadband for example).

Don't compromise too much and buy the biggest you can realistically afford without being overstretched - it's amazing how quickly you can outgrow a place.

Ask very specific questions about the neighbours habits and any disputes. The vendor is legally bound to give you an honest answer. So don't let them gloss over this. You only need a homebuyers survey for a mortgage, which should be adequate for a modern house. Full structural for an older house - esp if it is a doer upper. The owners have to answer a barrage of questions sent to their solicitor these days about the house and any issues like if the house has ever suffered from subsidence will be answered along with reports of work carried out.
I buy, do up and sell houses for a living. I don't get full structural surveys, I can see stuff myself like damp, rot, subsidence. If I were really not sure, I would pay a structural engineer I know to look at the property, he would be much cheaper than a full structural survey.
My best advice though is to use a recommended local solicitor for the purchase. Your mortgage company can hook you up with an internet solicitor costing probably half that but in all likelihood, they will not go through the nitty gritty. I speak from experience. The last time I got a mortgage, I used an Internet company and they were rubbish, missed loads of stuff, I delayed the purchase by 2 weeks because I was unhappy with their answers whilst I made my own enquiries. I did end up missing something they should have picked up on. Luckily this only cost me £150 for an insurance policy.
And if it is in a busy area/by a school/by a race track etc go there when it is busy - times such as rush hour, school kicking out.

Loved the property on first viewing and keen to offer asking price to make sure we got it. But DH insisted on second look next day. I twiddled the cord of the white Venetian blind in one room, discovered it was filthy and found the same dirty blinds in every room but somehow camouflaged. Bit shallow, but a dealbreaker for me who was leaving pristine blinds in old home. Think there may have been something lurking in the back of my mind though as it made me check out other things I was happy to ignore on first viewing too.

Once you buy, good rule of thumb to set aside 10% of house value each year if you possible can to spend on maintenance. More importantly spend it! Not every year if nothing needs doing but every 2-3 years depending on what does. If you are way off being able to afford thid think carefully about whether you can afford house. This will cover proper stuff like roof, new boiler, bathroom fittings, carpets etc as well as decorating and replacing furniture cause It does all wear out! Upside your house will hold value over and above less well maintained property and more importantly you'll be really comfortable there. Enjoy!

I also hate Artex which is expensive to remove or plaster over. I always have a good look at the walls to see how much of the plaster is cracked or bulging and is likely to need replacing as this is a messy job which is best done when you first buy the house.

I agree with the previous writer who suggested that you look at the condition and placement of plug sockets, if they look old and battered it is a good indication that you will need to check the wiring. The old fabric covered type of electrical cable on ceiling fittings is another indication. If the house still has a fuse box you would need to replace this with circuit breakers if you put in a new kitchen or do any significant electrical work.

It is a good idea to ask about the age of the boiler as our plumber tells us that many of the new combi boilers have a life expectancy of only 5 years.
Check the carpet around the radiator pipes, if it is stained with rust or limescale you know that the valves are failing because the system is old.
Your surveyor can tell you about the roof, windows and any damp or rot.
Don't be put off by a little bit of damp, in most cases it can be solved and you can normally get the cost of this knocked off the price of the house if you show the Estate Agent the relevant part of the survey and get a (free) quotation for remedial work with a 25 year guarantee. The bonus is that many people are frightened by damp so it makes the house less attractive to other potential purchasers!

But the most important things are what others have said - decent sized rooms that face the right way to get sunlight, ideally south or south west aspect kitchen and/or living rooms and the garden.

Do you like the feel of the house? It is amazing that even a run down house in need of renovation, love and care can still give you that "feeling".

And I agree with others who have said that even if a house has the right space and light and appear fine on paper it may still not be for you.

Should have also said that you can ask for a reduction in the price for any work that really needs doing - sometimes they say that this has already been taken into account in the price, but it is always worth a shot...

Thank you all! Lots of great advice. I feel quite overwhelmed by the whole process at the moment.
The property we viewed last night I liked and I certainly could live there but didn't get the 'love it' vibe. It definitely had potential. Only real downside was the kitchen part of the kitchen/diner was very compact and nowhere for a fridge! The current vendors keep it in the conservatory which I have to say has put me off. The garden is small because of the location of the garage and a car port that wastes a lot of space. In an ideal world the garage would be where the carport was and you'd have a lovely garden. A possibility for the future maybe!
We're viewing another four properties this week. One of which I think my DP has already moved into in his head. It does need a fair bit of redecorating which doesn't bother me but its all that awful textured stuff that's a pita to get off and it literally covers the whole ground floor, stairs and landing. Even the new extension! Also has artex ceilings but that is very common in most houses here and I can deal with that until we can afford to skim over. Size and space wise though it looks great. It's on a road we know really well and have friends who live a few houses down. And its been on the market for a while so could be promising.

Location, neighbours, noise and correctly done home improvements are main points.

Don't worry about decor. In fact horrid decor means you save cash as you might have a lower offer accepted.

Do visit at different times. Do knock on neighbours doors. My first property (a flat) had nightmare neighbours above and below. It was hell!

Do check that any works done have planning permission and council approval. I bought my first flat and didn't know the 3rd bedroom and bathroom had been swapped over until I visited another flat in the block after I had moved in. It was very stressful getting retrospective planning permission. Luckily, I got it. The council could have said no and I would have had to swap the rooms back at an estimated cost of £7K. I was lucky the wall between rooms that they had moved 2 foot, was not loadbaring and the plumbing had been done to a satisfactory level.