Moving closer to the coast

moving house

Independent Building Surveyors

If you are in the process of purchasing a property 1stAssociated.co.uk can provide help and advice with regard to building surveys, structural surveys, home buyers reports, independent valuations, property surveys, engineers reports, structural reports, specific defects report or any other property matters .

Unlike many surveyors we like to meet you at the property during the survey and we are more than happy to talk to you about the reports. Please free phone 0800 298 5424 for a friendly chat with one of our surveyors.

Free phone 0800 298 5424

Caveat Emptor

Caveat emptor means buyer beware and is why you need to have a building survey to find out if there are any problems within the property; the estate agent certainly will not advise you of any problems.

Why the Estate Agent will not help you spot any problems with the property

The Estate Agent has been commissioned to sell the house, nothing more and nothing less.

Why we decided to move house

moving house
Modern property

We have lived in our last house for thirteen years after moving from London to Bedfordshire. It was a new build when we bought it in 1997. Myself and my family were very happy there but we had always wanted to eventually move further North and not be too far from the coast. We decided to make the move before our younger children had to start their GCSE courses. Our eldest son was aready working and was happy to make the move with us.

moving house
Rear of modern property

Originally we contemplated Northumberland (as we love it there) but decided this was too far from most of our family and friends and as we had relatives in Suffolk we decided to look at both Suffolk and Norfolk . We travelled up to Norfolk and Suffolk most weekends to see which areas we liked the look of and also carried out a lot of research with regards to schools in the area.

After much consideration Norfolk appeared right for us all!

Being close to a City was important to keep the children happy

The City of Norwich was an important factor in the decision as having teenagers and a son in his twenties we felt it was important to be near to a busy city for employment prospects and leisure activities, but not too near!

Schools were important too!

After finding the area we liked about ten miles from Norwich and visiting the local schools we decided to put our house on the market.

Valuation and selling my property

We decided to sell our house using a local Estate Agent. We did look into selling our house ourselves but decided against it. The estate agent in our village had a good reputation of selling houses quickly and so we gave him a call. We had a figure in mind and were determined not to sell for below this amount. When the Estate Agent had finished looking around the house he gave us his valuation. His figure was slightly below ours but we stuck to our guns and put the house on the market at the value we had in mind. We agreed with the Estate Agent to keep it at our price for two weeks and then after that we would try to sell at the Estate Agents price. Thankfully we were right to start higher as the second and third person to see the property both wanted to buy it at the asking price and so we decided to sell to the person who had the shortest chain, just one first time buyer.

Please remember that whilst the Estate Agents know the market well and a good Estate Agent knows how to sell a property normally no one has more time than yourself to look into how much similar houses to yours sell for.

Finding our new home

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Typical new house

The selling process was off to a quick start, which put pressure on us to find a property to move into.

We had seen a few houses that had interested us but they were not in the ideal location.

Snagging issues made us wary of buying another new build

We then found out that a new development was being built in the town we wanted to move to. Initially we did not want a new build as our house in Bedfordshire was newly built and this had had so many snagging issues that it put us off buying another.

Keeping an open mind with regard to all types of property

Nevertheless we decided to keep an open mind and have a look at the development. We also had the idea that we could possibly make one more move after this one and that we could use this house as a stop gap as it was near to Norwich and also near to good schools. After viewing the house we decided to buy it and we completed the sale and purchase within five weeks.

Our new house, the pros and cons

Snagging issues again!

We should really have stuck to our original plan and not bought a new property as there was as many snagging issues with this one as there were in our old house.

Extra space internally

The main attraction of the new house we bought was the large area of space internally. As it's a town house the developers can build upwards rather than outwards and so we gained a few extra rooms, which is always welcome with a large family.

Do you need a big garden or not?

What we gained on internal space we sadly lost in external space. The front garden is what could be termed as very low maintenance because of the small size and the rear garden is half the size of the one we had in Bedfordshire. Fortunately our house is one of about twenty properties that form a square around a large central communal garden / area. This means there is plenty of outdoor space available to use.

Location, Location, Location

As mentioned earlier the location was more important to us than the house at that particular time. We wanted to be in an area that suited everyone for now. As we are new to Norfolk we have decided on a six year plan to stay in this house and in the meantime we continue to visit areas in the county looking for a town or village for our next and final move somewhere on the North Norfolk coast.

Problems with the house

moving house
Weather can be a factor in the condition of your house

The new house we have bought already has issues that we did not envisage such as green algae problems on the render (supposedly low-maintenance). The front of the house is north facing, which seems to be a factor in causing the green algae as the render does not get much sunlight.

We have now contacted the developers and the render manufacturers. Our next port of call will be the NHBC and if they are no help (probably not) then an Expert Witness Report from a Chartered Surveyor may be next on the agenda.

Other articles that may be of interest

The following articles may be of interest to you, but don't forget that we have written articles on many different areas of property:

Structural survey, what does a Surveyor do?
Can you trust an estate agent?
Traditional and non-traditional properties, what are they?
Where do I find a good builder?

Independent Surveyors

If you truly do want an independent expert opinion from a surveyor with regard to building surveys, structural surveys, structural reports, engineers reports, specific defects report, dilapidations or any other property matters please contact 0800 298 5424 and we will call you back.

We can email you example reports of similar properties to yours

We would also be glad to email you several examples of our tailor made reports, Schedules of Condition, Structural Surveys and Property Reports. We also find that Specific Defect Reports can be used where there is one problem or issue that needs resolving between the landlord and tenant. As you can see from this article we use lots of sketches and photos in our reports as the feedback we have from our clients is that the sketches and photos help them understand the reports.

Have a look at our website at our other articles

Please have a good look around our website to see how much detail we go into regarding property and its associated problems in our articles. We go into this much depth and detail within our reports as well.

We trust you found the article of use and if you have any experiences that you believe should be added to this article that would benefit others, or you feel that some of the information that we have put is wrong then please do not pause to contact us (we are only human). Your comments will be appreciated.

The content of the website is for general information only and is not intended to be relied upon for specific or general decisions. Appropriate independent professional advice should be paid for before making such a decision. Why not free phone 1stAssociated.co.uk on 0800 298 5424

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