What to look for when viewing a house: a checklist

A viewing lasts twenty minutes. You are deciding whether to spend hundreds of thousands of euro. You cannot inspect the house in that time. But you can spot the things that need a closer look, and you can rule out a home that is wrong for you before you spend on a survey. This is a checklist for the viewing itself, room by room and outside, with notes on what each thing means.

Before you go

• Read the advert for the BER. It must be shown. The BER guide explains the scale from A1 to G.
• Look the address up on the Property Price Register for past sales.
• Look at the street on a map and in satellite view: a river, a railway, a flood plain, a road widening.
• Check the council's planning site for applications on the house and the ones beside it.
• Bring a phone with a torch, a tape measure and a camera.

Outside

Start with the outside. Most expensive faults show there first.

• The roof. Look for slipped, missing or cracked slates, moss, and a sagging ridge. A flat roof on an extension: ask how old it is.
• Gutters and downpipes. Green streaks on walls under a gutter mean it leaks. A gutter that leaks for years means damp inside.
• Walls. Cracks wider than a coin, especially stepped cracks following the mortar, need a surveyor. Hairline cracks in render are usually nothing.
• Chimneys. Leaning, or with loose pointing, cost money to fix.
• Windows. Double glazed or single? Misted glass between the panes means the seal has failed. Rotten timber frames.
• Drains and manholes. Lift the cover if you can; a blocked drain smells.
• The garden and boundaries. Walk them. Do the fences and walls match what the agent says is included? Who owns the boundary wall?
• Parking and access. Is it a shared driveway, a private road or a right of way?
• Trees. A large tree close to the house can affect foundations and drains.

Inside, in every room

• Damp. Smell the room when you walk in. Look at the bottom of outside walls for stains, bubbling paint or a tide mark. Press the wall: cold and soft is bad. Look behind furniture and in the corners of ceilings for black mould.
• Ceilings. Stains mean a leak, past or present. Ask which.
• Floors. Walk the room. A floor that slopes or bounces needs a surveyor. Cracked tiles in a line can mean pyrite.
• Windows. Open one in each room. Do they close and lock?
• Doors. Doors that stick or have been planed can mean the house has moved.
• Sockets and switches. Count them. Old round-pin sockets or a fuse box with wire fuses mean rewiring.
• Water pressure. Run a tap upstairs.
• Mobile signal. Check it in the back room.

Kitchen and bathroom

• Under the sink. Look for leaks, damp and rot.
• The boiler. Ask the age and the last service. A boiler over 15 years old is near the end of its life.
• The hot water. Is there a cylinder, a combi boiler, or a heat pump? Where is the immersion?
• Extractor fans. A bathroom with no fan and black mould in the corners is a damp problem.
• Sealant around the bath and shower. Black or peeling means water is getting behind it.

The attic

Ask to see the attic. Most sellers say yes.

• Insulation. How thick? Less than 300mm of fibre insulation is below the current standard and SEAI grants can help.
• Daylight. If you can see daylight through the roof, it leaks.
• Water tank. Is it covered and insulated?
• Attic conversion. If there is a room up there, ask whether it has planning permission or a certificate of compliance. Many attic rooms were built without either, and lenders and solicitors ask. The planning permission guide explains the exemptions.

Extensions

An extension to the rear of up to 40 square metres can be exempt from planning permission, within limits. Anything bigger, or to the front or side, usually needs permission. Ask the agent for the planning reference or the certificate of exemption, and tell your solicitor. An extension with no paperwork can hold up the sale for weeks or stop it.

Heating and energy

The BER tells you how much the home costs to heat. A D or E home in a cold winter can cost two or three times what a B home costs. Ask to see a winter bill. Look at the heating system: oil, gas, electric storage heaters or a heat pump. Ask whether the radiators have thermostatic valves. A low BER is not a reason to walk away; it is a reason to price the upgrade in, and the SEAI grants guide lists what help there is.

Pyrite and mica

Pyrite is a mineral found in the hardcore under some floors. It swells when wet and cracks floors and walls. It affects homes built from the late 1990s to about 2010, mainly in Dublin, Meath, Kildare and Offaly. Signs: cracked floor tiles in lines, doors that no longer close, cracks over doors and windows.

Mica and related minerals in concrete blocks cause the walls themselves to crumble. It affects homes mainly in Donegal and Mayo, with some in Clare, Limerick and Sligo. Signs: cracks in the outer walls, render falling away, a sandy feel to exposed blockwork.

If the home is in an affected area and of the affected age, ask the agent directly whether it has been tested. A surveyor or engineer (Engineers Ireland or the SCSI; see the structural survey page) can advise on sampling. A full structural survey costs €1,500 to €3,000 plus VAT and is money well spent in these areas.

Noise, light and the street

• Visit twice: once in the day, once at rush hour or in the evening.
• Stand in the garden and listen: traffic, a school, a pub, a railway, a dog.
• Note which way the garden faces. South or west gets the afternoon sun.
• Look at the neighbours' homes. Well kept or not?
• Is there parking on the street at 7pm?
• Is there a flood mark on the walls or the gate pillars? Ask the seller whether the street has flooded.

Apartments

• Ask the management fee and what it covers. Ask whether there is a sinking fund for big repairs.
• Ask about the fire safety certificate and whether any fire-stopping works are planned. Some blocks from the 2000s face large bills.
• Look at the common areas: the lift, the stairwell, the bins, the car park. They tell you how the block is run.
• Check the lease length and whether pets are allowed.

After the viewing

Write down what you saw while it is fresh. Ask the agent the questions in the forty questions guide. If you bid and go sale agreed, book the survey in the first week and hand the surveyor your notes. Point them at every damp patch and crack you saw. The survey is where your twenty-minute viewing turns into an expert's report.

Where this leaves you

Take this list to the viewing, then put your sale agreed date into the buying timeline tool to see when the survey falls. The first-time buyer journey puts the survey in order with the other steps, and you can get quotes for a surveyor now so the visit happens in the first week.