What to ask and look for before offering

6 replies

OUB1974 · 08/12/2020 19:07

We are just starting to look for houses again after withdrawing an offer a couple of weeks ago (due to incorrect info on the property information form and no building regs sign off on work done).

We really want to go into this process making sure we are really sensible and have no nasty surprises later on once we've spent a load of money on fees and searches. So what should we look for and ask when looking around? We don't really mind doing work, but we want to make sure we find out as much as we can before we offer. So far we've thought of:

age and condition of windows

- age and condition of boiler and heating system - make sure that any work done has the appropriate planning consent or building regs sign off. - check all of the guttering and (wooden bits under the gables - cant remember what they're called) to make sure they don't need replacing.

Any more ideas? We are already about £1,500 down on our failed purchase and cant afford to make any mistakes...

Thank you 😀

Can

OP posts:

Funf · 09/12/2020 07:20

Disputes, Parking, visit at several different times of day

cloudchaos · 09/12/2020 07:50

I know you're trying to save money after your last purchase fell through, but I think some of these questions need to be asked via the correct legal channels mainly to protect you if they lie about anything. I'm not sure asking up front is necessarily going to stop lies/ stretches of the truth, as you've said even on your last purchase there were inaccuracies on the purchase information form.

PowerslidePanda · 09/12/2020 08:24

@cloudchaos

OP, I totally understand where you're coming from, but I agree with the above. I'm also reminded of a thread that was on this board a few weeks ago, where the OP kept getting people's backs up and missing out on houses because she was sending long lists of questions like this to the estate agents - meanwhile, the vendors were busy negotiating with people who'd gone straight in with offers and weren't painting themselves as "difficult".

By all means ask these questions on a viewing, but you have to be prepared for the possibility that you might not get answers until you're further down the line. It's a flaw of the system.

IHeartNiles · 09/12/2020 08:25

As you know we had similar with the lack of building regs on huge remodelling. In the future I would ask at the point of accepting my offer to see copies of building regs sign off on any modern extension works. You can search for planning permissions online. I think the other issues will only be found through a close look yourself or a survey. And those being a deal breaker would depend on the price of the property and how much spare cash you have.

Original poster

OUB1974 · 09/12/2020 09:02

Thank you. Yes of course you're all right, I suppose we just want to be as sensible as we can before we offer.

For our one that fell through, it wouldn't have helped to ask about building regs as they were still lying about it (possibly unintentionally to give them the benefit of the doubt) until the point that we pulled out.

But we should have noticed the windows - the sills were rotten and some of the double glazing had popped. And I can also see now that you can check the existence of building regs on the council website (so for example, there's a house we like the look of that has new windows - I can see the sign off exists already, which is reassuring).

So I don't want to be a pain to the estate agents. But I want to make sure we don't miss anything that we shouldn't have. We're prepared to do some work (especially as he house that we've seen would be way above our budget if it didn't need work), it's more about going into it sensibly and checking everything that we can, subject of course to getting a proper survey and legal advice. I appreciate you can't stop people lying to you (annoyingly - our buyers have turned out to have left out let information as well - we are not having much luck!).

OP posts:

murbblurb · 09/12/2020 17:12

as well as a good look at the property (including when it is raining - councils do very little drain maintenance and can flood you), check local planning (big estate coming? new road?) and visit at different times of day and days of the week. (boy racer road? how far is the pub? School run causing traffic jam, engines running for ages, litter)

if those bits under the gables are wood they will need replacing at some point. It is isn't ridiculously pricey in the scheme of things.

on your second viewing (if you can do that..) open cupboards, especially the airing cupboard or where the boiler is. Look for incomplete fixes and bodges. Screwdriver in a diverter valve was a classic - tells you that much has been bodged.

Also have a fly around on google earth. I remember one that looked attractive until the satellite pictures revealed the go-kart track not far away...

Flip