What to look for when buying a house

1. What to Look For When Buying a House

2. So You’re Buying a New House If you’re looking at buying a house, then you might have a thousand and one considerations floating around your brain. With so much to bear in mind, it’s easy to forget some of them, and so it’s worth getting an idea of what’s important. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the more important factors. These are the things which should be checked before committing to a purchase – keep them at the front of your mind on your next viewing!

3. CHECK THE LOCATION Location is an essential consideration when it comes to the housing market. This is a truism of property searching – so much so that a popular television programme has been named after it. But the right location will vary according to your needs. If you’re looking to commute to a major metropolitan hub, then you’ll need to be able to get there within a reasonable time. That said, living in a big city isn’t for everyone, and so locating to a smaller town in the surrounding area is often preferable. If you’re going to be working in London, then buying a house in Crawley or Sevenoaks might be sensible. If you’re going to be working in Birmingham, then locating to Stourbridge, Solihull or Sutton Coldfield might be sensible. Of course, this isn’t as simple as checking a map and measuring with a ruler – transport links are stronger in some areas than others. Be sure to consult Google maps for a rough estimate of your commute time, and avoid a headache later on.

4. CHECK FOR DAMP Damp is one of the things that can drastically reduce the lifespan of a house, and the cost of maintaining one. If excess moisture has been allowed to creep into the walls of your new home, then the stuff that holds it together will literally rot away. In extreme cases, this might cause structural damage. But before that, you’ll get a nasty smell and an expensive repair bill. You’ll want to check for damp in a property before committing to a purchase. Look for it around the skirting boards – and in particular in rooms where ventilation might be a problem, such a bathroom or utility room. When owners of damp- afflicted houses come to sell, they sometimes attempt to disguise the problem by repainting. And who can blame them – damp looks and smells disgusting. Don’t be fooled – be on the lookout for the smell of mould, and for flaking plaster.

5. CHECK FOR CRACKS Another thing that can affect the value of a property is its structural integrity. Clearly, if a property is at risk of collapse, it will require extensive repair work. And extensive repair work is usually costly. Of course, the risk of such a scenario might be a few years off, but the early signs might well be there. Be on the lookout for cracks in the walls. Even extremely thin ones can grow over time into a serious problem. You’ll struggle to offload the property for the same price in a few years if there’s an enormous and obvious crack in the wall – so be sure to check thoroughly, or risk taking a substantial loss in the future.

6. CHECK THE UTILITIES Another potential source of headaches is the state of a house’s plumbing and wiring. If either have been incompetently installed – or abused – then the result can be intermittent faults – and even lethal ones. Of course, having a competent tradesperson examine the state of a property’s wiring or plumbing is not always practical. But you can glean clues. How old does the fuse box look? What about the boiler? When you run the tap, does the water come out at the right pressure? Ask about the insulation around the pipes – if they’re not properly insulated, then they might freeze and crack during winter, causing further complications. Fixing such problems is an expensive and tumultuous business – and should ideally be avoided.

7. CHECK FOR STORAGE SPACE Storage space is one quality that prospective buyers often overlook. But it’s one that certainly deserves consideration. Once you’re moved in, you’ll want a place that you can store all of those miscellaneous items that would otherwise clutter up your living space. If you’ve got no-where to keep items that you don’t need anymore – or that you only use for a small fraction of the time – then those items will inevitably end up being discarded randomly onto any space patch of floor space. Suffice to say, this will decrease the enjoyment to be had from a property – particularly if you have trouble coping with clutter!

8. CHECK THE HOUSE IS FACING THE RIGHT WAY On the face of it, this might seem like an odd thing to be concerned about. Why on earth should it matter which way the house is facing? But once you’ve spent a few summers in there, you’ll begin to see why. Britain, being in the northern hemisphere, experiences sunlight from the south. If a property’s garden is to the north of the building, then it will likely only enjoy sunshine for a few hours out of the day. If you intend to spend a lot of time out in the garden over the summer, then these extra few hours might be invaluable. This consideration is especially important if you’re looking to grow plants. Plants, as we all surely know, require sunlight to grow and thrive. Even if your horticultural aspirations don’t extend much beyond some potted herbs on the kitchen windowsill, it’s worth considering the direction the window is facing: plants will fare much better on a south-facing windowsill than a north-facing one.

9. CHECK THE BROADBAND This is something you’ll need to think about if you spend a lot of time working from home using the internet – particularly if you’re sending large files, such as uncompressed audio and video. The last thing you want to do is keep a client waiting because of a poor connection. But super-fast internet is important for entertainment purposes, too. If you’re playing online games, you’ll want the latency to be as small as possible. And if you’re to take advantage of the coming glut of 4k streaming television, you’ll need a suitably beefy connection. Again, if you’re buying a property in Crawley – or somewhere similar – you’ll be able to take advantage of fibre-optic, hyperfast broadband speeds of up to 1Gb/s.

10. CHECK FOR NOISE LEVELS If you’re moving into an area where the ambient noise level is high, then you’ll want the property do be adequately soundproofed. Older, listed properties near busy roads are the prime suspect here, as planning permission wrangles often prevent insulation devices like double glazing from being installed. Also troublesome are terraced properties and apartments, with thin walls and noisy neighbours. Be sure that you check to see what the noise levels are like. When you’re going to visit, you might find that the homeowner has got a TV or radio turned up loud. This should be a giveaway that something is amiss – be sure to ask them to turn it down, and see how much you can hear. When you’re being deafened by the neighbours arguing five months down the line, you’ll regret that you didn’t!

11. CHECK THE ROOF For obvious reasons, the roofing of a property is something that’s often overlooked (or not, if you take our meaning). If you can’t see the roof, then there’s little point expending any consideration into how it looks, right? Wrong. A poorly-maintained, or badly-installed roof can lead to dire consequences in the future. Replacing and repairing a roof is an expensive business – and one which you’ll want to avoid where possible. If the property has a flat roof, then ask to see it. Older flat roofs will be made from torch-on tar, while newer ones are made from membranes. The latter are easier to install, as they don’t require the use of a blowtorch – but this simplicity has only emboldened unskilled and cowboy roofers to take up the challenge. Check the roof to see how well it’s been installed – you’re looking for obvious bumps, bubbles and deformities in the surface. This sort of thing evidences shoddy workmanship – and the potential for an expensive headache.

12. CHECK YOUR INSTINCTS Thus far, we’ve considered a wide range of different factors. But the final and perhaps most important one is this – do you like the house? If so, then you’re probably onto a winner. If not, then you probably shouldn’t commit to spending a significant chunk of your time there. This is one consideration where no advice can trump that given by your gut – if you walk into a house and it simply feels right, then that should be a significant point in its favour. Of course, the people selling the property will probably have realised this – they’ll take all the steps possible to make you feel better when you’re in the house, and make you more likely to buy it – even if you perhaps wouldn’t under ordinary circumstances. Sellers might fill a house with pleasant smells and soothing music. Don’t be fooled by smoke and mirrors!

13. Thank You For Reading Contact Us Greenaway Residential Estate Agents Boscobel House, 109 High Street, Crawley West Sussex. RH10 1DD T 01293 561188 www.greenawayresidential.com