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First-time buyer - what questions should we be asking estate agents/vendors?

8 replies

SunCream32 · 11/03/2010 10:44

Can't believe it, but after years of renting properties, it finally looks like we are almost in a position to buy our first ever home!! We've viewed about 10 houses so far and are quickly narrowing down what we like/don't like but don't really know what sort of questions we should be asking either the estate agents or the vendors (and what happens if the houses are vacant or the vendors unavailable?). Would be v grateful for any advice. Tia

OP posts:
ClaireDeLoon · 11/03/2010 10:54

I would ask how much the bills are a month eg council tax, electric, gas and water rates

Also what are the neighbours like - very important.

ummm can't think of any others right now

SunCream32 · 11/03/2010 11:53

Thanks, CDL, will start my list now! Any others?

OP posts:
Itsjustafleshwound · 11/03/2010 11:58

If you like the house, a good idea is to go back at a busy/different time to when you first viewed it - houses look very different during the rush hour/school run time.

Floopy21 · 12/03/2010 11:58

How exciting! good luck on your search.

Make sure any extentions they may have had done has official planning permission. Ask about parking if it's not already on your driveway. Deffo agree with ItsJustA, go & visit the road both during the day & at night. The age of the heating/wiring maybe important too - it would be a massive expense if you had to get these replaced in your first year or two (unless you're planning to do loads of work to the house anyway). Specifically ask if they've ever had any problems with the neighbours - their answer is legally binding if you word it correctly.

Will try to think of any more.

Wigeon · 12/03/2010 20:05

How long has the house been on the market? How many viewings have there been?

Is the vendor open to offers? (you have to read between the lines when an estate agent gives you his answer to this question, but sometimes they say "well, there's been a lot of interest in this house so I think they are hoping to get near the asking price" and other times they say "well, they are keen to make a sale so put an offer in and see" (meaning yes, offer quite a bit under the asking price).

Will help you decide what offer to put in if you like the house (eg if it's been on the market a while they would be more likely to accept a lower offer than if it's only just gone on the market).

You will probably have questions specific to your situation - eg how long does it take to walk to the station / town centre / local supermarket / park.

Oh, really important (if the house isn't chain free): what is their position regarding moving out? If they haven't already found somewhere to move to, then once you put the offer in, you might have quite a wait before you move in, and if they can't find somewhere to move to, then they might withdraw from the sale altogether. We have recently bought a house and the vendor of the first house we put an offer in on said he'd be moving into rented, but when he received our offer he started trying to find somewhere to buy. We couldn't hang around waiting for him to buy somewhere, so we withdrew our offer.

Good luck - it's an exciting time!

SunCream32 · 14/03/2010 10:07

Thank you everyone, this is sooo helpful! Am really excited and feel much more prepared for next round of viewings now! If you think of any more tips, please keep them coming - will keep checking back here. Many thanks

OP posts:
Floopy21 · 15/03/2010 11:36

O, if you think you like the house, always go for a second viewing, even third - I was amazed at how much more I noticed the second time around (often not good stuff), sometimes it was like a different house!

PurpleCrazyHorse · 15/03/2010 15:09

Try not to sound too keen when you find the house you want. Or if you do sound excited, view another house with the same Estate Agent and fake excitement about that one. That way you don't let on that you love one house. Worked well for us, as when our offer was rejected I said we'd think about it over the weekend as there were lots of other houses we liked (we didn't but I pretended I loved another house too!), they rang back within 1/2 hour and accepted our offer

Take a tape measure on subsequent visits so you can check your furniture fits.

Ask if the boiler has been recently serviced and if any repairs were done. When were the electrics last checked?

Ask to turn on the shower, taps, heating etc to check they work.

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