Advice for some first time buyers please!

[Alistair&Robyn]

Alistair and I are finally trying to buy our own house, but everything is relatively new to us.

We're viewing a house this evening, and another on Sunday when we get back from our weekend away in Chester

We saw one house yesterday, and I don't know if it was the way the woman was showing us around, but I didn't feel comfortable asking too many questions. We didn't like it, so it's not a massive problem, but I don't know if that's how I should've felt, or if I should just go for it with the questions anyway!

Does anyone know what sort of questions are good to ask? Tonight we're getting shown around by the vendors, so I don't know if I'll be more comfortable or less!

[Alan1]

I've only ever bought one house so don't know what goes on these days but I'd say you need to ask as many Q's as you can, don't be afraid to ask anything and if you don't understand what they mean you need to say so.

I used to be a bit like that when buying cars, feeling a bit like they were being pushed onto me but maybe it's because I'm almost always older than the salesmen now that I feel it's the other way round and I am forcing them to suit the price I want to pay

[Herpard]

Hi,

I'm not much help but,

When my Aunt & Uncle were looking to buy a house they went round the local neighbour hood everyday for about a week to see what it was really like,The house that they thought was perfect for them ended up being in a not very nice area,They said they were so glad they drove round the area first.

[mich1]

If you like the house always go back in the evening sit in the car and listen for noise,always ask about the neighbours,have a walk round the neighbourhood,schools,shops how long they've lived at the house

[The Baron]

Definitely Robyn, ask as many questions as you think of!! There are certain things that you will never learn about the house from a survey or from your solicitor, so you should definitely ask away!!

Some things that are good to ask are things like how much the vendors pay on particular bills, gas, electric, water and especially council tax.

Also, you should ask about the neighbours. That is one of the only things that, if there is a problem, they do not have to disclose until they are asked!

It is all pretty daunting, me and Ollie felt completely out of our depth when we first started looking when we bought ours, but you definitely know when you have found the right place!!

[EquestrianBabe]

Good luck

[Alistair&Robyn]

Thanks everyone!

The house I arranged a viewing for this evening, well... It looked great, and I imagine the house probably is, but when Alistair asked his friend at work, apparently it's a rough area. I looked on the West Yorkshire Police website, and it gives their top priorities in certain areas. The area we were going to today, their main priorities are burglaries and drug dealing! We were still gonna look, but realised that regardless of the house itself, we wouldn't want to live there, so cancelled the viewing.

The area we're in at the moment, and primarily wanting to buy in, has police priorities of boy racers and house parties as it's a predominantly student area. And the house we're gonna be looking at around here has no through road and is mainly away from the student areas.

I just really feel out of my depth when looking at houses. I used to work in the mortgage processing department of a bank, so I know all the ins and outs of the mortgage and purchasing process, but nothing about actually finding a house!!