Going to look at some houses - what do I need to look for?

[ICanTuckMyBoobsInMyPockets]

It's nearly 8 years since I viewed a property and I'm afraid that I'm going to get caught up in the excitement of it all that I'll throw money at the owners and start packing my bags!

What questions should I be asking?
What should I be looking for?

Lessons learned from the house we're in now are:

Fan in the bathroom
Space for a tumble dryer

Tell me your top tips!

Square metres square metres square metres.

location, location, location and so on. You can change everything else.

Before you make any appointments, do a drive by.

noise? pub nearby? school where you want it, not where you don't? traffic levels? parking? drive by at different times of day and at weekends. Neighbours? Flooding? Planning nearby that will affect it? Does it get sun?

then worry about the inside!

I'm happy with the location of both, I've done the drive bys and will do another on Friday night around pub close, but neither of them are near any pubs really so it shouldn't be an issue.

I was wondering more about the inside. Another thing is plenty plug sockets. It's not a deal breaker but it might be on the 'sway' list.

Thanks for your help.

All the viewings I've done recently have been with agents rather than the owners, and they tend not to know anything. Annoying.

Do you have a set of criteria? Understanding what's essential and what's desirable helps a lot.

What are the neighbours like? Any structural problems? How old is the boiler?

YY to space for a tumble dryer. You can always add extra plug sockets.

Do you want somewhere you won't need to decorate? Or will you (like me) decorate whatever condition it's in? If the later, do your best to ignore decor and room arrangements...

I agree with location location location and inside later..

But storage for me is always a biggie as well as how overlooked the garden is.

I didn't think about this in our current property and when we have dinner on the decking (Warmer times obviously!) and the neighbours are on theirs it's like they're sitting in our laps... It's their fence and very low!!!

ok, next steps.

size of rooms (look past clutter). Ignore decor, you will be repainting.
maintenance - have they looked after it? State of windows?
how old is the boiler
how much are the bills
does the layout work for you?
anything that will annoy you about it? (we looked at one with windows set too low, would have got very irritating as you had to bend to see out!)

I wouldn't let lack of sockets put you off, if a property ticks all your other boxes. That can be easily rectified. Whereas other stuff like location, pub noise, rat-run commuter traffic, schools can't be changed quite so easily.

YY to knocking on the neighbours' doors to ask about e.g. burglaries and noise. Then you get to have a look at who'll you'll be living next door to - VERY important.

Look now at the environment agency website - if you check the groundwater risk maps for your area and flood alerts you can see how likely it might be in the future too.

We're about to start house hunting and this is a v helpful list. I'm comparing sq feet on the floorplans on Rightmove which is v illuminating!

We should have asked who had put in the beautiful new bathrooms. It looks superficially lovely but we have since discovered it was DIY and not fitted well so have had problems with pipes.

Off street parking
Space for a kitchen table
Downstairs loo

For me:
Location,
Storage,
Overlooking aspect,
Obvious cracks,
If floor is even,
General state.

Our current house looks superficially ok but in really is damp, needs full replastering and rewiring and generally everything is done on the cheap.

If we were moving my number one concern way and above everything would be: the neighbours.

As people who'd had our lives made an absolute misery by horrible neighbours I would not now consider moving anywhere until I'd checked out the people on either side.
I'd spent time outside the property at night, particularly weekends.

nuisance neighbours are rare but if you get them they are hell on earth. Of course you can't control who moves in after you but you can control whether you move next door to existing bad neighbours.