Any good questions to ask sellers? First time buyers

[TangerineGreen]

Hi all,
We’ve recently had an offer accepted on our first house. All the paperwork is starting to go through but I’m nervous as neither of us have done this before, that we’ll miss something which will be very costly later.

With your experience are there any good questions that we should be asking about the new house to ensure we’re ok. We plan to get the full survey, does that cover most things?

Thanks

It will highlight any issues and suggest further investigation if anything dodgy is found. Eg damp, cracks etc. Most surveys don’t find anything awful though.

Your vendor should have completed a questionnaire so this will highlight any areas you want further info on. Your solicitor could go through this with you. You might want to see bills. Ask about heating costs. Any disputes with neighbours must be declared. You might also want to know when the boiler was installed (if there is one) and anything where there might be future expense.

I’m sure others will have other ideas. But guarding against future high expenditure is key.

If there is a burglar alarm, ask how it works. Make sure you know where the keys for the windows are. If they seem quite well disposed towards you, you could ask for the names of the paints they've used in case you want to do some touch ups, plus the details of any good trades people they've used for things like boiler servicing.

Your solicitors will issue them with a questionnaire that covers the utilities, guarantees, boiler service history, building regs for any work done etc etc.

What day to put the bins out

Are there any dead bodies buried in the garden ? 💀

Make sure you visit the area in the evening too. Obviously a bit different in lockdown times but you sometimes get a completely different feel for the place