Everyone knows that buying a house is very stressful. The most stressful thing for me is that the house isn’t yours until you get the keys. We’ve bought our house now are in the process of making it our home, but so much can happen that can cause your sale to fall through.
Disappointingly we found our dream home twice but were not successful with them. We have bought a house we really like but it’s not a forever home. We didn’t really know what we actually wanted in a property or what to look out for. We read countless blogs on the subject and researched everything we could. But really, we didn’t know what we wanted until we found it.
We viewed loads of houses but really struggled at the start to know what questions we should be asking whilst viewing a house? Every property you view is different and you need to adapt your questions each time. Below are the questions we asked at every house viewing.
What questions should you ask when viewing a house?
- How long has it been on the market? And has it had any offers yet?
- Where are the current owners moving to? Is there a chain?
- What’s included in the sale? Will the vendor be including any fittings or fixtures?
- What council tax band does the property fall under?
- Can you confirm how long is left of the lease? What is the annual fee for the lease?
- Have there been any neighbour disputes?
- Has there been any drainage or subsidence problems? Has there ever been any flood damage?
- Was planning permission required for the extension? If so were there any issues with obtaining it?
- Was the property rewired when the extension was done? Is there a recent electrical survey certificate?
There was another question that my partner wanted us to ask, but I always felt silly asking.
- Has anyone ever been murdered here?
Don’t ever ask these questions to the current homeowner, you must ask them to the estate agent. I recommend asking by email too, that way you have a written record. This is because if anything turns out to be untrue or exaggerated you will be able to put in a claim against the estate agents.
I recommended trusting your gut when viewing a property. We saw a couple that just gave me really bad vibes and when I asked the questions to the estate agents, my worries were confirmed.
We did however ask the owners why they were moving. Most of the time is because their family is growing/ the want to downsize. But sometimes you can get a weird vibe from them and it maybe that something is wrong with the property. There is no harm in asking them why, and it may save you £££.
There are loads more questions to ask when viewing a house, and some will come to your naturally. Hopefully, the questions we’ve listed will help you get started.