What do you wish you had checked when you viewed a property.

[AddictedToRightmove]

Just as the title says. What do you wish you had checked during your viewing?

So we moved in our property 3 years ago and after we moved in we found out:

1. none of the extracter fans were working (2 en suites and 1 family bathroom)
2. one of the sparks wasn't even there on the stove.
3. wish we visited during early evening to see how warm the house would be and how daylight effects the house.

Probably some more to add later! But also what is the etiquette on viewing a house? Can we just gi and put the stove on to check? Check the water pressure in the shower? Check the extractor fan?

We always check the water pressure 😂 we do ask first. Nothing worse than bad water pressure

I may get flamed for this but I once checked a toilet was working by taking a wee in it during a viewing while the EA was busy talking to my husband. In my defence, I was pregnant at the time and needed to wee all the time.

Unfortunately, the loo was not working 😬

So you know, it's good to check things!

The showers. All the showers in our house were badly installed with almost horizontal falls, so the trays fill up immediately and they're a nightmare to clean.

I think if you're really interested then check absolutely everything on the second or third viewing. Go into the loft, check inside cupboards, taps, boiler, oven etc etc.
I'd also get a plumber and electrician to do a reccy as the surveyor doesn't usually check these things. I didn't do this and then found out that the boiler had been poorly installed and was dangerous. I could have negotiated some money off if I knew.

OP, the first two on your list - if you had checked these, what would you have done about it? Haggled for money off? Or booked a plumber and sparky for moving in day?

I would have paid to have the boiler check. 2 houses and 2 condemned boilers later.

Where the sun hits the garden

Firstly would have asked the owners if they knew about it or if they knew what the problem was so I could get it fixed during the first few days.

We live in a rural village where its hard to get an electrician/plumber etc. We've had to wait 3 weeks for someone to come fix a leak.

Name change fail! Haha.

Oh yes we had to replace the boiler after 3 months! And a headache and quite stressful as first time buyers. But it has been a learning curve for us and we are soon to put our property on sale! Atleast all these bits are now fixed hehe.

Oh god, absolutely this. I love my house but the low water pressure drives me insane.

Yes we have high water pressure and when others in the village were cut off we still had a tiny tricky. It sounds minor but it was great to still be able to flush the loo when none else could.

Phone signal; moving in and realising you don’t have any is rubbish

My house was a dump so there wasnt much to ask tbh, but we got very lucky as in the last 8 years our town suffered two severe "freak" floods and both times the water stopped about 30m from the door. Flooding had never seemed to be a factor to think about when we looked at it, but we realise how lucky we are to be on a slight rise in the ground.

Recently, we viewed a bigger house and my 3-year-old son suddenly and desperately needed a poo. Obviously, we found a toilet and used it, only to find that there was no water. The only thing we could find was 6 ancient bottles of 7up in the kitchen, which we poured into the cistern to flush it 😳

I wish we had pulled all the wooden blinds up and checked the double glazing. Some were scratched some scratched and blown.

The neighbours- I wish I’d checked all the neighbours 🤦🏻‍♀️

I think i got lucky with mine but I think I will certainly check the shower and tap pressures next time. Mine are really good here.

Yes! I have no signal with EE but my work phone which is Lyca Mobile is absolutely fine

I wish I’d ran the taps and gone and stood in the room below the bathroom. It would have saved me a nasty shock the night I moved in.

In no particular order:

Water pressure
Phone signal strength
All windows open and close
Ditto doors
Location of house in relation to flood plains
Crime rates for locality
NEIGHBOURS - pay attention to their front gardens, cars and parking!

I agree about water. Also check the doors and windows carefully. Do they open, shut and lock? Are the keys there? If not, ask for another viewing with the keys or let the agent know in advance you want to check them.

Look inside the oven and test a couple of kitchen cupboards. You are buying the kitchen after all and should have a proper look at it.

Check lights and switch them on and off.

Look behind the tv if not wall mounted.

If there is an open fire, definitely get a chimney survey.

Ask for the hearing to be turned on and check all the radiators heat up properly.

All lessons I've learned the hard way!

Look at the ceilings for evidence of leaks.

Knock on the neighbours' doors and ask about the area.

@MadeFrom100percentPears

Assume you'd only check all those things on a second visit?
As a potential house seller, I'd be a bit pissed off if every person looking round wanted the heating on and to have a nosy through all my kitchen cupboards!

I’d only worry about things that can’t be fixed over time (budget depending) so all of the above plus:
parking in the evening/weekends

daylight in the bits that matter to you

is it cat friendly if you have one?

are they hiding a smell? Dog/damp/cigarettes

broadband speed

local doctors if that matters to you

is it overlooked in winter once all the trees are bare?

is there space for a Christmas tree in the rooms you’d want one?

how many plugs are there in rooms? Not many could be a sign that an expensive rewire is due

All great points! Which will all come useful once we start house hunting again! Also as a seller gives me insight in what I should do from my perspective too!

We had to have a structural survey done before the mortgage company would lend as a chimney breast had been removed but the associated chimney was still there.

We paid £500~ for the privilege of the dude clearly taking the most cursory of glances in the roof and signing off on the chimney bracing.

However.

He did miss that the roof was leaking in three separate spots - I don't know how as he told me he visited during terrible rainfall. But I guess he wasn't looking for that <eyeroll>

I'd also haggle over price as the bloody cow we bought from scammed us front back and sideways. Luckily we had quite a bit of equity (we bought at £10k over the mortgageable price) but the roof used up most of all the money we'd set aside for home improvements.

I sound angrier than I am, I'm still really happy with this house even with the problems we've had and the £7k~ we had to spend on the roof!

Worth checking neighbours, and with them. I could see from a balcony that one NDN's yard was a tip of scattered toys, etc. and very overgrown.

I went to see the other NDN, introduced myself and asked did they know of any reason why the house hadn't sold the first time. They said no, and had the time been right for them, they'd have bought it.

We bought. And yes, the other NDN's yard is still overgrown, though the toys have gone.