Tips on buying your dream home
Before putting in an offer to the estate agent on any property you’ve viewed, ask as many questions as possible. If you can, get important answers in writing. Make sure you do some double-checking if you only get a half-answer first time round.
Here are our top 20 questions to ask:
- How many viewings has it had?
- How many offers has it had?
- How long has it been on the market?
- Can I see electrical and gas installation checks/reports?
- How long is the lease (if it has one)?
- Have there been any neighbour disputes?
- Why are the vendors moving and are they sure they want to sell now?
- What renovations have been done?
- How old is the boiler and when was it last inspected?
- When was it last rewired?
- Where are the vendors moving to – is there a chain?
- If it’s leasehold, does it have a service charge? (See charges)
- Who lives upstairs/downstairs/next door?
- How long has the seller lived there?
- What’s included in the sale? White goods? Curtains? Wood burner?
- Is there an allotted parking space/residents’ permits?
- If there’s a real fireplace, is it safe to use?
- Have there been any subsidence problems?
- What’s the council tax band? (Also check this yourself.)
- Has anyone ever been murdered here? (Google the address too.)