How to optimize your home viewing experience during a house tour.
When you’re going to showings and open houses, you might come across a home that seems to check all the boxes on your wishlist. It’s certainly exciting to feel as though you’ve found “the one” and to start thinking about making an offer. But, as you check out the rooms, and are wowed by the staging and begin imagining your own life in the prospective home, it’s a good idea to gather some intel, too.
Asking the right questions can help you make a stronger offer, not to mention determine whether the home is the right fit for your family. Here are five important questions to ask on your next home tour:
What Questions Should You Be Asking?
What are the neighbours like? Remembering that if they’ve had a dispute this has to be declared.
When was the boiler last replaced and the electric rewired? Last thing you need is a big expense as soon as you move in!
What fixtures and fittings are you planning on leaving behind? This can save a small fortune but is also useful to know so you don’t turn up on moving in day to find all the carpets have been ripped up.
What do the average utilities cost? Is the heating gas or electric or both? You may want to ask for an average utility cost or go even further to find out the average price by season.
Does the house have mains sewerage of a septic tank? If is a septic tank, who is responsible for emptying it? How often must the tank be pumped?
Are the other houses nearby owned or rented? Do the tenants change frequently?
Who has responsibility for hedges and trees and maintaining them? Do they have preservation orders on them?
Why are the owners selling? Watch for their genuine reaction.
What to Look For
Signs of damp, including looking behind furniture. Damp usually manifests in areas where there’s lots of water vapour so bathrooms, kitchens, dining rooms, utility rooms and areas where the vendors may have been drying clothes.
What’s parking like? Is there enough room for the number of vehicles you have? Is there off road parking? Try visiting in the evening to see if you’d need to park far away from the house
Where is the sun shining and at what time? It’s preferable to have a garden that’s south facing but it’s a good idea to visit the house at different times of the day to see what rooms get what light and when.
What is mobile signal like in different rooms of the house? Sounds small but this can be infuriating if you find out that you can’t make mobile phone calls unless you are at the very far end of the garden
Visit at different times of the day to see what the street is like. Are there undesirables hanging around after dark? Is the street full of vehicles at school pick up time?
Is there a curtain behind the front door? Is this for aesthetic reasons or because of a draught? Are there portable electric heaters in rooms with radiators? Why?
Try a tap to check the water pressure. You do not want to buy a property where it takes two hours to run a bath!
How many plug sockets are in each room? You don’t want a bedroom with one plug socket right on the other side of the room- how will you charge your phone?!
What are the schools like in the catchment area? What was the recent Ofsted report like?
Look out of the upstairs windows into next door’s gardens. Can you see lots of junk or cigarette ends? Would this annoy you if your neighbors were smoking all the time or were messy?
Go into the garden and just listen. Is there lots of noise? Traffic? Kids? You will want to know you can enjoy your garden space.
Are there local shops nearby in case of bad weather or vehicle breakdown?
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