Geeting Someone to Inspect an Old House

Kintarō Hattori

Hey Folks,

Myself and the missus have been thinking about buying a house and we've spotted a place that seems reasonable value for money. It's an oldish house in one of Dublins suburbs, I'm guessing it's perhaps 50 odd years or so old.
It's a three bed place that looks like it was originally a 2 bed as the two smaller rooms share the same window and the partition between the two rooms stops just before the window.

Downstairs there is an extension (with a flat roof) which houses a small kitchen and a large shower room and where the old kitchen was is now a small dining area. There is a crack in the plasterwork on the extension but the agent assures us the extension is in good condition and has some sort of cert to prove it.
Speaking to the agent the house is in generally good contion but she did mention that the wiring would need to be redone.

Basically it's not ideal, I really dislike the partition between the two small rooms and the extension is a slight worry but it's in an ok area and the price isn't too bad. I don't know much about building/construction so it'd be nice to have someone give the place a look over and advise us as to its condition. Is there a company/organsition I can call to arrange this?

I know before you buy a house you have to have an engineers report, would this essentially be the same thing? How much do they cost?

ThePiedPiper

hey Kintaro,
If I was you, I'd be looking for a friend who is either an engineer or is experienced professional in construction to have a look over the house for problems, etc...

I wouldn't take the agents word that everything is perfect as the agents are under massive pressure to sell houses and will try to make you believe it's the best property in Dublin... There's massive value to be had in the market at the minute and loads of choices. You could probably buy any property for way less than the asking price so if I was you, I'd look for somewhere that I was absolutely happy with..

Best of luck