Viewing houses causing anxiety

Becky said:

Always happy for advice too.

I have a slightly different perspective on this than most as I move home about twice a year and buy flats every 3-4 months as renovating / selling is my livelihood.

I can get a really good idea about the condition of a flat / house withing an hour so long as I can access any spaces like the attic or under the floor (where there is no more floors underneath) - all the main types of issues are common and pretty easy to spot so if you are serious about a place then forget about the survey from mortgage companies - these are not worth the cost in my opinion.

Instead get a well recommended builder and hire them for an hour to look through the place with you to pick up on what looks out of place, what the common points of damp are going to be (they can take a damp meter and thermal camera to confirm these) and they will know where to test for bouncy floors (rotting joists often cause this), sloping floors (subsidance - easily tested with a marble) and can tell by looking at the fuse box wiring and plumbing to see if the work done before was of a decent quality.

If any work needs doing then the builder can give you a ballpark price for the work (specifics will only be known once the work is underway and the extent of any damage is uncovered) so you can make a sensible stab at budgeting.

For the whole anxiety thing around the move, I found it incredibly beneficial to conquer it by planning, planning some more and preparing - effectively taking control of the things you worry about. You can typically reduce risk by a high factor by using risk management techniques - you need to think through all the possible risks in a move and plan to do one of the following:

For example for the move of furniture on the day you move in you may see the moving company not turning up as a risk, so you can:

1 - accept it. If it happens you will not be able to move until the company sort themselves out. Not recommended for such an important issue

2 - avoid it. Get your own hire van a few days before and use your own family / friends to do the move.

3 - mitigate it. Include a clause in the contract with the movers to bring in someone else at their expense if it they fail you.

4 - transfer it. Take out an insurance policy that pays for any costs of a delay in the move - it needs to cover the effects further down a chain if you are using one.

This all comes from Project Management techniques used in business and I have worked on loads of projects where this has made life a lot more predictable.

It takes time to work through every element of the whole project but by taking charge of it you can regain control and capture all the things that are likely to cause pain - and will already know what to do in any given situation and this should help your peace of mind.

You can start now without even having a place to buy and systematically work through your home to get rid of stuff that you don't use or need - be ruthless as selling or donating it sooner will mean less hassle to pack, move and unpack later, plus you are likely to have a little more spending money for a bottle of bubbles to pop to celebrate the new home

It is always going to be a pain in the bottom because of the inconvenience but there is no need to make it stressful when you can take control.

Becky said:

Always happy for advice too.

I have a slightly different perspective on this than most as I move home about twice a year and buy flats every 3-4 months as renovating / selling is my livelihood.

I can get a really good idea about the condition of a flat / house withing an hour so long as I can access any spaces like the attic or under the floor (where there is no more floors underneath) - all the main types of issues are common and pretty easy to spot so if you are serious about a place then forget about the survey from mortgage companies - these are not worth the cost in my opinion.

Instead get a well recommended builder and hire them for an hour to look through the place with you to pick up on what looks out of place, what the common points of damp are going to be (they can take a damp meter and thermal camera to confirm these) and they will know where to test for bouncy floors (rotting joists often cause this), sloping floors (subsidance - easily tested with a marble) and can tell by looking at the fuse box wiring and plumbing to see if the work done before was of a decent quality.

If any work needs doing then the builder can give you a ballpark price for the work (specifics will only be known once the work is underway and the extent of any damage is uncovered) so you can make a sensible stab at budgeting.

For the whole anxiety thing around the move, I found it incredibly beneficial to conquer it by planning, planning some more and preparing - effectively taking control of the things you worry about. You can typically reduce risk by a high factor by using risk management techniques - you need to think through all the possible risks in a move and plan to do one of the following:

For example for the move of furniture on the day you move in you may see the moving company not turning up as a risk, so you can:

1 - accept it. If it happens you will not be able to move until the company sort themselves out. Not recommended for such an important issue

2 - avoid it. Get your own hire van a few days before and use your own family / friends to do the move.

3 - mitigate it. Include a clause in the contract with the movers to bring in someone else at their expense if it they fail you.

4 - transfer it. Take out an insurance policy that pays for any costs of a delay in the move - it needs to cover the effects further down a chain if you are using one.

This all comes from Project Management techniques used in business and I have worked on loads of projects where this has made life a lot more predictable.

It takes time to work through every element of the whole project but by taking charge of it you can regain control and capture all the things that are likely to cause pain - and will already know what to do in any given situation and this should help your peace of mind.

You can start now without even having a place to buy and systematically work through your home to get rid of stuff that you don't use or need - be ruthless as selling or donating it sooner will mean less hassle to pack, move and unpack later, plus you are likely to have a little more spending money for a bottle of bubbles to pop to celebrate the new home

It is always going to be a pain in the bottom because of the inconvenience but there is no need to make it stressful when you can take control.