UKC

I'm buying my first ever house. I've found it, can afford it without too much bother (I'm worried about inflation), am having it surveyed. Offer has been accepted subject to survey.

Am completely 'strange frictionless lichen on the sloper crux' terrified.

Please tell me what should I do/look for/consider etc.,

Thanks so much

ml

In reply to Mountain Lass:

Always good to have a nosey at different times of day. Is it on a trade route back from a nightclub for example, is it near a local tip so if the wind is blowing in the wrong direction, it stinks.
Have there been any disputes with neighbours over boundaries etc - ask them about the neighbours and see what reaction you get.
Sometimes good to haggle when you get the survey if things need doing get some money off, or get them to leave some things behind eg fridge, cooker.
Oh on that note be clear what they are actually leaving behind, it may not be what you expect.
Good luck, enjoy it.....

In reply to Mountain Lass:
I would suggest not haggling over minor issues in the survey. Unless the results are very different to what you expected (e.g. Falling in to a mineshaft, rotten structural timbers, roof now ornamental only) you may find that goodwill is worth more than minor savings.

Make sure that you and your solicitor are in agreement about who does what, and when, including anticipated costs and an anticipated schedule of payments.

Make sure all instructions to your solicitor are in writing, and that you keep a record. Send them as formal letters by post and as a PDF copy attached to an email explaining that this is a copy of the posted letter. Date everything. This is both because written communications help make sure you're both singing to the same tune, and as a fallback in case of any highly unlikely screwup by them. Be responsive to phone calls but follow them up with written confirmation of what you told them.

Make sure that they don't leave you a loft full of rubbish!

Don't let anyone bully or push you into rash decisions.

If you are gathering funds or loans from other purchasers or relatives or investments, make sure you don't exceed the FSCS protection arrangements in the mean time. Make sure well in advance that you can remove £10 from each account involved to find and problems early. Find out daily transfer limits etc.

Bin, recycle or donate everything you can well before moving.

Good luck!

In reply to Mountain Lass:

What are your terrified of?

I'd recommend you "survey" it yourself too, as surveys are not that useful other than for fundamental issues. A modern home has a lot of expensive stuff in it these days. Spend an hour or two systematically working around the exterior or rooms looking for any issues. Look in the loft (particularly around chimneys and ridges). Look for damp, mould, poor gutters, ground above damp course, trees etc. Do room have sensible sized radiators and enough electrical sockets. Wallpaper and fresh paint can hide rubbish plasterwork. Search the internet for local plans and check flood zones.

As soon as you're in you'll probably find more things wrong and every DIY job takes 5x longer than you think, so be realistic.

At the end of the day most things are fixable except location, bad neighbours, flood zones, old mines, etc.!

Good luck!

In reply to Mountain Lass:

If you can afford it, you have nothing to worry about?

Why are you worried about inflation? It works to your favour big time when you own a house!!!

In reply to Mountain Lass:

Have you had the land surveyed if there's a large earth bank near the house, or anything like that? A lot of rain can (sometimes) do things.

In reply to Simos:


That depends on the mortgage payments.

In reply to Mountain Lass:

Thanks so much all - really appreciate the replies.

ml

In reply to Mountain Lass:
Wander round the area after dark on a Friday or Saturday night.

In reply to MaxWilliam:


You'd have to have particularly friendly sellers for this to happen. I certainly wouldn't want a prospective buyer in the house for 2 hours 'systematically' looking round the place - that's exactly what the survey is for (and a survey is different from a 'valuation' which is pretty worthless other than for mortgage approval purposes). Also, unless she has experience will the OP know what to look for?


Your solicitor should do this for you. You pay for local searches, they include flood plains.

In reply to Edradour:



You can save an awful lot of money if you check the internet before paying a solicitor

In reply to Mountain Lass:

Ask to see any major appliances which are included in the sale actually working. We didn't do this and found ourselves buying a new boiler in the first couple of weeks.

In reply to Mountain Lass:

go to http://www.police.uk/ and click on 'crime maps'

Then enter the street name or postcode...

It will show how much antisocial behaviour/burglary/car crime etc etc happened on the street over the last five years or so

also agree with sitting in your car outside on a Friday and Saturday night

In reply to climbwhenready:


You still have to pay for the searches even if you do them yourself.

In reply to Edradour:

Sure, we weren't talking about the full LA search - we were talking about things like planning permission and flood plains, which are freely available.

In reply to Edradour:

not always, for instance flood searches can be optional - and a check on EA website plus a local walk around to see in practise can save - but admittedly only a small amount. but for me my own opinion/judgement was more useful than the survey anyway.

to the OP: don't be afraid if building survey brings up issues not apparent on a viewing to get building quotes then reduce offer accordingly. as you have it off the market with offer accepted there is no risk of losing property to another buyer. or if fairly minor the seller can make house adjustments etc (putting anti-rain covering things on chimneys is a common one)

In reply to Mountain Lass:

Don't fret. If it feels right, it is right. Buying a house isn't that big a deal... really. Just a bit of a grown up thing to do.

In reply to Edradour:


In my experience a lot gets missed by searches and surveys. The point I am making is do your own due diligence, as you learn a lot more. I found flood maps/environment searches to be unreliable, it is worth making your own judgements. What a survey doesn't look at may in fact be important to you, which you didn't notice on previous viewings.

If I am spending £XXXk and a vendor is unwilling to let me have a thorough second/third viewing of at least an hour I would probably be reconsidering... I found vendors happy to oblige (they want a sale). Building rapport with a vendor can be worthwhile too. (For example I swapped temporary post completion storage for a quicker exchange, and subsequently was given some furniture of value).

In reply to Mountain Lass:
http://xkcd.com/616/

In reply to ByEek: Completely agree with ByEek, buying a house isn't that much of a big deal, try not too worry.

If you have any builder friends then always good to get second opinions, but even if small things show up, is it really going to stop you buying the house if it's one you've got your heart set on?

In reply to Mountain Lass:

How old is the house? What's its general condition? We moved into our first home and subsequently found issues with the wiring, fittings (oh so cheap curtain rails that soon collapsed with the weight of the curtains), a 1960s bathroom where the toilet flush system again failed (and parts perished).

Is the house detached or does it share a wall with neightbours (are they up partying all night when you need to sleep? or vice-versa: you also don't want to be the unwelcome new neighbour).