Use this on a second viewing, not a first. Ask the agent for thirty minutes rather than fifteen, and tell them you want to look properly — a good agent will not mind, and the reaction itself is informative.
Take four things
A torch, for the loft and under the stairs. A phone with a spirit level app. A tape measure, if you have furniture that has to fit. And a note of the questions you want answered, because you will forget them in the moment.
Outside
- Roofline straight, tiles in place, no visible slipped or missing units
- Chimney stacks upright, pointing intact
- Gutters clear, no staining running down the wall beneath joints
- Brickwork and pointing sound, especially at low level
- Damp proof course visible, and at least 150mm above the ground
- No soil, decking or patio bridging the damp proof course
- Windows and frames in good order, seals intact
- Drains and gullies clear, no standing water
- Boundaries, fences and who appears to own them
- Parking, and whether it is actually yours
Room by room
- Ceiling: staining, cracking, sagging, artex
- Walls: tide marks, blistering, mould in corners, fresh paint in one spot
- Floor: level, bounce, gaps, smell of damp under a carpet
- Windows: open and close, no misting between panes, locks present
- Radiators: present in every room, valves not seized
- Sockets: enough of them, and modern rather than round-pin
- Doors: close properly, no dropped or binding frames
Services and the boring bits
- Boiler: age, make, last service date, and where the paperwork is
- Consumer unit: modern with RCD protection, or an old fuse box
- Water pressure: run a tap and flush a toilet
- Loft: insulation depth, daylight visible, timber staining, any conversion done without obvious paperwork
- Meters: where they are, and whether the property is on mains gas
Afterwards
Write it up the same day while it is fresh, and separate what you saw from what you were told. If a few things are nagging at you, that is the point at which a second opinion is cheap relative to what you are about to spend. See what to look for when viewing a house for the reasoning behind each item.
Written by The Surveyor Co, a trading name of LW Renovation Group Ltd, Lincoln. This guide describes how records are written and read; it is not legal advice. Where a deposit scheme, lease or insurer sets a rule, that rule wins.