Hi there,
My partner & I have had an offer accepted on a property which we got at a reasonable price due to the fact it needs most things replacing on the inside (bloke who owns it has done so for 24 years & not sure he has changed anything in that time). The house is currently owned by a developer as the owner has part exchanged it for a retirement flat elsewhere and as such they are aiming for a swift turn around to get it off of their books, a situation as a renter which is easy enough to accommodate hopefully.
We went for another visit today & noticed a few things:
- One of the windows the handle wouldn't close when the window was shut. It closes when the window is open so I guess there is a problem with it aligning with the catch on the frame but is this something we could ask to be fixed before we move in (and expect it to be because obviously we could ask
)
- There was a fairly large crack in one of the upstairs rooms running floor to ceiling. This ran along where the chimney is in the house & the chap who was there for the viewing as he is yet to move out said it had been like that for ages & was where the plasterboard wall met the stone of the chimney (and having knocked on both it was plaster & stone). This made perfect sense to the two of us but it would be silly not to ask for other opinions here.
- Looking at one of the outside walls, a window seems to not sit flush with the brickwork, i.e. instead of being like | it was like / although not to quite that angle. The window had opened fine from the outside & the wall looked level enough itself, i.e. wasn't bowing to the naked eye & no cracks in it. Is that likely to just be a bit of shoddy window fitting in the first place or could there be other explanations?
Survey wise, the house is 20 years old and having had a good look around ourselves looks in good nick. I was always under the thought that you should get as full as survey as you can just in case something went wrong given the amount of money you are spending on a house in the first place. Now I am in a position of researching them it seems to be a mixed bag. Loads of people have said they have been next to useless (especially the hom****** one) and that the surveyors don't really do much at all & the information you get are caveated to high heaven so you have no come back if something happens that they didn't spot. Are there any words of wisdom regarding these?
My partner & I have had an offer accepted on a property which we got at a reasonable price due to the fact it needs most things replacing on the inside (bloke who owns it has done so for 24 years & not sure he has changed anything in that time). The house is currently owned by a developer as the owner has part exchanged it for a retirement flat elsewhere and as such they are aiming for a swift turn around to get it off of their books, a situation as a renter which is easy enough to accommodate hopefully.
We went for another visit today & noticed a few things:
- One of the windows the handle wouldn't close when the window was shut. It closes when the window is open so I guess there is a problem with it aligning with the catch on the frame but is this something we could ask to be fixed before we move in (and expect it to be because obviously we could ask
)- There was a fairly large crack in one of the upstairs rooms running floor to ceiling. This ran along where the chimney is in the house & the chap who was there for the viewing as he is yet to move out said it had been like that for ages & was where the plasterboard wall met the stone of the chimney (and having knocked on both it was plaster & stone). This made perfect sense to the two of us but it would be silly not to ask for other opinions here.
- Looking at one of the outside walls, a window seems to not sit flush with the brickwork, i.e. instead of being like | it was like / although not to quite that angle. The window had opened fine from the outside & the wall looked level enough itself, i.e. wasn't bowing to the naked eye & no cracks in it. Is that likely to just be a bit of shoddy window fitting in the first place or could there be other explanations?
Survey wise, the house is 20 years old and having had a good look around ourselves looks in good nick. I was always under the thought that you should get as full as survey as you can just in case something went wrong given the amount of money you are spending on a house in the first place. Now I am in a position of researching them it seems to be a mixed bag. Loads of people have said they have been next to useless (especially the hom****** one) and that the surveyors don't really do much at all & the information you get are caveated to high heaven so you have no come back if something happens that they didn't spot. Are there any words of wisdom regarding these?
