When viewing a home, plenty of questions flood your mind, but it’s very easy to become distracted by the property’s enticing décor or the eager estate agent showing you around.
As a result, a few key practicalities could slip your mind, leaving the door wide open for catastrophic errors to rear their heads once you’re settled in.
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Before purchasing a property, ensure you ask the right questions
Mobile signal
Although it might not seem like much, a lack of mobile signal can be detrimental to your experience in a new property.
“There is nothing worse than moving into a new house – especially if you’re working from home – if you can’t make any calls or use your laptop at an appropriate speed,” Jamie stated.
Nowadays, all it takes is a quick Google search to find out how well the coverage is in certain postcodes.
“This is something you need to check [before purchasing], especially if you’re loyal to one specific network or you’re stuck in a phone contract for another year or two,” the expert advised.
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Noise levels (at all times of the day)
Jamie suggested taking a leisurely drive by the property at various times of the day to assess noise levels.
“If you’re someone who doesn’t like loud noises at night, take a late-night drive to see if there are any neighbourhood parties that may irritate you,” the property guru advised.
“You don’t want to move in and a few weeks down the line, find yourself not being able to settle at night because there are loud events taking place outside your window.”
Damp and mould
Both damp and mould can be “pretty hard” to banish once they set up shop in a property. What’s more, they can present an “underlying problem that can be pretty costly to fix”.
To avoid this, Jamie urged buyers to check behind furniture, near the windows, and in the corners of the ceiling.
“Homeowners may be tactically placing furniture around the room to hide any damp that could sway you away from purchasing their property,” he warned.
Natural light
Just like mobile signal (or lack thereof), lighting can make or break a property. Not only is light known to “affect the overall mood”, it dictates how large and spacious a room feels.
“Take a look at which ways the windows face and how much daylight is in each room, and any blockers such as trees that may come from outside,” the specialist recommended.
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Having a cluttered home may be a sign that the property lacks storage space
Storage
Jamie raised the issue that, if there are lots of objects scattered around the house during a viewing, there may not be enough room for your bits and bobs.
“Having things such as shoe racks out of cupboards and coats on the backs of doors can be a sign of not having enough storage space,” he warned.
Neighbourhood location
If you’re thinking of moving to a new area and you don’t know much about the community, Jamie advised joining local Facebook groups to “get a rough feel”.
“Are people talking about cars being stolen? Are people talking about gangs late at night?” he asked.
“I’m also sure that neighbours wouldn’t mind if you knocked on their doors to ask a couple of questions, although keep in mind that they might be biased towards the area,” he added.