Things I wish we'd looked at more closely in our various houses:-- Fit of exterior doors and windows. If they don't fit, it gets cold. And it's not cheap to replace them.
- Security of exterior doors. If the exterior doors are thin plywood, or single-glazed, then anyone can get in easily.
- Fit of interior doors and amount of interior repairs/redecoration required. This is minor, but it clocks up the time and money you'll need to spend on the house.
- Are there enough mains sockets, and in the right places? If not, you'll need comedy quantities of extension cables running round the place, or you'll need to hack out the walls and replaster to put in extra sockets.
- Do the taps drip? Do the waste-pipes from the sinks leak? Or worse, do the sinks not drain at all?
- Can you fit a washing machine, a tumble-dryer and a dishwasher in the kitchen simultaneously? Or is there anywhere else you could put these?
- Is there a shed/garage to store gardening stuff, bikes, etc? If not, is there a space where you could put one? If there is a garage, can you get your car in it? And can you open the doors, or do you have to climb out of the sunroof?
- Is the central heating up to the job? Go house-hunting in the depths of winter and check this out. And does the central heating boil one room and leave the rest of the house still freezing?
- Can you open the windows enough to get ventilation in summer?
- Drive past the place a few times at random evenings (especially Friday and Saturday nights, especially at closing time). Is it on the main route to the pubs? Can you hear the local pub's jukebox/DJ/band?
- Do the current owners have a cat? If so, you can guarantee that every carpet will need replacing due to cat pee (or worse).
- If the garden's a jungle or a mud-bath, do you have the time and inclination to sort it out? Starting from scratch, it'll take most of your free time for 2 years to replant. And check on the types of trees/shrubs used - some grow very fast and require you to be out every month trimming them.
Graham.