Out of the ordinary things to consider when looking for a house
House hunting can trigger a spectrum of emotions. It can be fun, exciting and interesting. It can also be daunting and frustrating. Whilst the most important aspect of looking for a house at first is just about finding out if you like it and if you can see yourself living there, you always need to be aware of some other aspects which could affect how you might live your life if you do choose to live there.
Every single home is different and each one has its quirks and personality. To really get an idea of what it is like to live in any particular house, it is important to be able to get a grasp of what it really is like – and that means looking for out of the ordinary things.
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The direction of the house
One thing that many people forget to look for is the direction of the house. This can be important to you if you are a keen gardener, but also if you want to be able to spend time outside or entertain in the summer, or even if you find it difficult to sleep. Whether the sun comes into a room or not can also affect how hot (or cool) it is. Having the sun in the garden in the evening is important to some people, or to not have it streaming into the bedroom at 6 am (or 9 pm, incidentally) to other people.
The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. From this, you can calculate where it will be during the morning, day and evening, and make your choice accordingly.
2. Septic Tanks
If the property is in a remote or rural area, there is a chance that it might not be plumbed into the national sewage system, and instead might have a septic tank. Whilst there is no problem at all with having a septic tank, and your sewage system will work just as well, it might require some management. Any waste from your home will go into your septic tank where it is treated and turned into sludge before safely draining away into a specified area.
3. The roof
Repairing and/or replacing a roof can be time-consuming, disruptive and very costly. It might mean having scaffolding up, and a covering on the top of the house for an amount of time and the possibility of untold leaks (and therefore damage). Although the actual process of having your roof repaired or replaced should be smooth if it is done by professionals, finding out about a leaky roof can be very stressful for many people.
Make sure that you look at the condition of the roof, and then have it checked during the survey to avoid damaging leaks, costly repairs and weeks of undue stress.
4. Power Points
There is nothing worse than not having enough power points to accommodate all of your gadgets. We are forever being told about how we shouldn’t overload our existing power points, so have a quick check whilst you are looking around the property to see whether they are there in adequate numbers.
You might need to add electrical work into your budget if you think that there aren’t enough good quality power points in the property for all of your electrical needs.
5. Energy saving measures
As energy gets more and more expensive and we are increasingly looking for ways to reduce the amount of energy that we are using, the energy saving measures of a house can be increasingly important. Whether the property has wall or loft insulation, for example, split central heating and double glazing can all play an important part in keeping costs and energy omissions down.
An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) will be able to give you this information further down the line, but it is worth asking about this beforehand so that you can have an idea into the energy efficiency of the property, how high (or low) your energy costs might be, and how much it would cost to carry out extra measures.
Although the most important issue when you are looking at a property should be about whether you can imagine yourself in the property, the quality of your life once that you have moved in is also important. It is only by looking at the less obvious factors to the property that you can really get an accurate idea of how happy you will be there.
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