Checking a House's history???

Fozzie Bear

Quick question.

Myself and my missus are looking at buying our first house next year. We have seen one that has caught our attention and has a lot of potential to be developed into a fine home. However its a bit odd in that it was a brand new house but it's 15+ years old now and never been lived in! (I was able to get the approx age of the house from the County council's website for planning applications).

We are naturally suspicious about this. The house is basically a builders finish, four walls, roof, windows, plastered, plumbed and wired. Absolutely nothing done with the gardens or driveways and never been hooked up the electricity or water supply. Why would a seemingly perfectly good four bedroom house on an acre site have been left for that long? Also why would the owners have not sold it during the property bubble? Its in a very good location in the country side beside a commuter town. Bit suss to our eyes so I want to know how or if it's possible to check the houses history?

Any suggestions or do I just need to approach the estate agents and ask them? I'd prefer not to just yet if possible. The more I can find out about the house without the agents help the better my position to haggle when I do approach them in the new year.

The_Conductor

My good old favourite is to nip down to the local posting sorting office and have a chat with some of the older postmen when they're on their break. They are mines of useful information......

It does sound highly unusual tbh

gollyitsolly

Check it out with the neighbours? Or maybe the neighbours are strange!

Fozzie Bear

gollyitsolly wrote: »

Check it out with the neighbours? Or maybe the neighbours are strange!

Might try that. I have asked a fella I work with from the area to check it out but he has had no luck so far. No one he asked seems to know who owns the house or anything about it. Will keep digging, I was hoping there was website or the census maybe that might give me some info.

DublinDilbert

smccarrick wrote: »

It does sound highly unusual tbh

It does sound strange... It wasn't by any chance built with a son/daughter of the land owner or builder in mind?? maybe hoping they would move back to Ireland at some stage, but it never materialised...

okmqaz42

Have a look at the land registry web site(I think its land.ie).If you can find the folio number you get all sorts of interesting deatils- like was it ever mortaged, is it part of a larger plot of land and so on. If the land was transfered it should be there also.

John Mason

my friend bought one of these houses last year


it was 12 years old but had never been lived in or completely finished. i thought she was nuts but it has worked out okay for her.

i would ask around locally

Fozzie Bear

pink fluffy bunny wrote: »

my friend bought one of these houses last year it was 12 years old but had never been lived in or completely finished. i thought she was nuts but it has worked out okay for her. i would ask around locally

Thats good to know. If mine works out I'd be looking at buying it for around 160g and putting 100g into making it livable. Thats 260g for a 4 bedroom house 15 minutes from a major city. Its really amazing that its been left sitting there for so long considering the size and location of the house.

I'll definitely go knocking on the neighbours doors.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys.

Fozzie Bear

I found out there is apparently a problem with the foundations. Not sure exactly what but I'm told there is a crack somewhere. Explains why it's been sitting there so long.....:rolleyes:

Emerald Lass

hi Fozzie - I only read your post cos of your name! he was my favourite muppet!
anyway, as you have now discovered there may be a problem with the structure.

But I just wanted to add that sometimes these things are due to a probate dispute - i.e the land or whatever is left to someone in a will and another family member or whatever contests the will. Often a judge will ask that where possible no further work be done to the property and that it not be sold until a judgement is made. These things can drag on for years. So I know you found the reason for your bargain, but for other people it may be a legal dispute over ownership etc.