If you had to buy a house again

[labamba007]

Okay cheekily putting this here for traffic, but if you had to buy a house again what would/wouldn't you do this time round?

I've never actually bought a house before and I've just had a mortgage agreed in principle. So I'd love to ask, if you were/are going to buy a house again, what would you do differently or what were you pleased you did right the first time?

Thank you! 🙏

Oh yeah always parking and always a garage according to my husbands preferences (car collector)

No steps at all in front or rear
good wide side access
off road parking
utility
normal / standard floor plan with well proportioned rooms

Yes to appliances!

No to a retaining wall nor a large tree in the garden!

Pay attention to any structural details like roof line and lintels and don't be taken in by sparkling new kitchens and bathrooms.

This is completely counter productive. The solicitors will have days and even sometimes weeks between having something to tell you about your purchase while they are waiting for the draft documentation and title, waiting for searches, waiting for replies to enquiries, waiting for mortgage documentation etc.

I often seen people recommending badgering the life out of your solicitors and emailing every day. How the fuck you think the solicitors have the time to review all of the documentation with you doing that is a mystery if they are spending time everyday telling you they've got nothing more to tell you.

Leave them alone, they are professionals doing a job of work, they will be in touch when they have all of the information needed and you emailing will NOT make that happen any sooner.

Different surveyor for sure. Ours listed issues that turned out to be complete nonsense, and completely missed huge issues. The roof started leaking the day we moved in. Large sections of tubing were missing from our internal air system. Our circuitbreaker box was dangerously overloaded and needed urgent repair/rewiring.

Expect that any house you buy will not be perfect. Even if your seller walked out of there with everything in fine order. Something soon crops up!
Do buy the top end of your budget however as above keep some back for emergency repairs (roof...boiler...who knows!) That may need done quickly!

I would never again have to stick to a budget and buy what I could afford...is what lots of posters seem to be saying on here.

Like buying a detached house with a downstairs loo, en suite, garage, drive and no near neighbours was turned down in favour of a terrace with limited space, only one bathroom, no utility room and daily parking battles with awful neighbours 😂

This x 100. Best advice. Also do not ever max out your budget. You will find closing/escrow costs that suddenly appear, taxes you didn't budget, furniture/repairs etc. The first year is tough, always keep a decent sized budget aside.

If you think a good solicitor is expensive, just wait to see how much a cheap one can cost you.

We've owned 3 houses over the years, here's what I wish I'd done differently:

• Check neighbours aren't students
• Check the house has enough storage space
• Realise the large tree in next door's garden would block our light
• Realise that next door neighbour's garden wall is falling into our garden (and that he won't fix it!)
• Realise how cold and draughty our hall would be as it has a front door opposite a back door and no space for a radiator
• Realise how mouldy and leaky old houses can be

Definitely nothing with service charge and management company

Yep you definitely get what you pay for. Never use the one the mortgage company sends you to!

Our conveyancer was worth her weight in gold, but DBro had some shocking experiences with the conveyancing company his mortgage company outsourced to.

Don't talk direct to the sellers about anything. Ours asked for our mobile numbers to discuss things like buying their appliances, and by the end the make seller was ringing me multiple times every day to whinge about progress/have a go at me!

Don’t buy a house with coombed ceiling. It may look good but even if the bedroom is a good size it will be impossible to fit enough furniture in.
Make sure you have plenty storage.
Done be put off by old fashioned decor
Victorian houses are very beautiful but are usually complete money pits

I love my home but if I had my time again I would buy something with some character, original features etc, something on a flat plot which we could extend - we are on a tiered plot and were quoted mega money to extend due to the complications with this, and I would also buy somewhere with a downstairs loo or a second bathroom.

I'd be screwed if I had to buy my house again. My income has more than halved and the prices have gone up substantially over the last 5 years! We'd never be able to buy the same house now. The other thing I'd do is choose a free mortgage advisor, there was no difference in the service between the paid and the free one.

I would think twice about a shared access way/courtyard. I can’t tell you how often I’ve been blocked in by neighbour’s visitors. Plus the managing of communal areas being private rather than by an external company. It feels intrusive that neighbours expect time/money from you in that respect.

Also if you buy on a new build, make sure you’re as far away from the local authority section as possible.

Really look at the neighbours.

i ended up giving the neighbours my old nets and curtains just before I put my house on the market a year after I moved in (job relocation) because I hadn’t spotted the huge holes in theirs. Both alcoholics who didn’t spend their money on anything but booze.

Never allow the previous owner to remove things like washing machines (you've not control over whether they hire a proper plumber or create a disaster zone with their DIY efforts) and view the property again just before everything is finalised.

Validate every single sentence that comes out of the estate agents mouths. They can lie as much as they like and there's virtually no comeback.

I would never buy a North facing house again. Or one without a driveway.

Park opposite the local shops and observe the customers for a day. You'll be living amongst them so it's important.

Ah yes. The perfect starter home 😋

I would check the whole house over properly beforehand.

Bought first house 5 years ago, moved in and there were so many things wrong.

Bath taps upstairs wouldn't work, shower running hot and cold, downstairs bath leaking, along with bathroom and kitchen sink.

Back of the house is absolutely freezing, temperature of 11 degrees c in winter.

Roof leaking multiple places.

I could go on.