Extra things to do when buying a house?

Buyingcar2012

I've gone sale agreed and I just want to ensure that I do extensive research re the house and area I'm buying in. Apart from the usual survey that is being done, can you suggest anything else or make any comments re the below:

1. Check with county councils re local development plan- can this be done online? (with South Dublin County Council) or is it best to call to their offices?

2. Check if flooding is an issue - presumably ringing an insurer and asking if there was previous claims for the address and if it is insurance would be sufficient?

3. Check with local primary and secondary schools to see if in catchment area.

4. Check with local Garda station to see if anti social behaviour or burglaries are an issue in locality.

5. Speak with neighbours and see how they find living in the area.

woodseb

get out of the car and walk around past dark on a friday or saturday night - that'll give you a good feel for the safety of the place

username123

As well as (1) (which can be done online), check local planning applications - this can be done online also - you dont want to find the nearest patch of derelict land is set to become a halting site or a night club for example - which will probably be conveniently ignored by politicians on these local area plan layouts.

The local area development plan is not set in stone, its only a "plan" - better info is available when you sift through the actual planning applications. But be aware that people can let planning expire, land can be rezoned etc...

edanto

Very unusual, but you could also ask the council for a drainage map of the area around the house. I did this as a long shot on a house that we had gone sale agreed on, and discovered that there was a gray water drain bringing rainwater from the street drains to a stream behind the house. It ran under the driveway and garage, all through the back garden.

The reason this would have been a problem was that we intended to convert the garage in that house, and the council engineer (remarkably helpful) told me that the council would probably have to object to any planning permission to convert the garage, indeed to do any building at all over the drain, so that the council would always be able to dig to the drain if needed.

We backed out of the sale for that reason.

I got very lucky with the engineer that helped by email, and a year or so later when we finally went sale agreed on another place, he sent out the drainage map and there were no similar issues.

Arbiter of Good Taste

Presumably you've put down the usual 10% deposit?

Not meaning to be smart, but surely these are the kind of things you would have considered before going sale agreed otherwise you're at risk of losing the deposit if you pull out.

Otherwise other things I would have done:

- check what the place is like during the day - one place we were interested in we decided against because there was a green area across from the house where the local teenagers seemed to congregate when they got out of school, sitting on people's walls, etc.

- less crucial, but what's the parking like in the evenings if you don't have off street parking - will you be coming home from work to find you have to park your car 5 minutes walk away. Fine when you are in the excitement of buying but a pain in the ar$e on a cold dark winter's morning.

- if applicable is on-street parking paid?

- public transport options

Zadkiel

Deposit is fully refundable until contracts are signed.

Arbiter of Good Taste

Aye, but are you not sale agreed until such time as the contracts are signed and the deposit paid? (Again, serious question, I'm not trying to be a smart-ar$e)

Zamboni

Get your mortgage through AIB.
Full repayments are optional.

superman28

Check noise levels, you can think about nearby roads, are they busy 24hrs a day? etc.. Also, if in Dublin I would consider checking the flight paths..

http://www.flightradar24.com/#53.42,-6.27/8?&_suid=1394635821615035665422864106216

Check local councillers websites in the area, they usual post up local development news,, anti social behavier issues etc...