Most people walk through an open home and form an impression in about ninety seconds. The impression is usually right. The problem is that by the fourth inspection you cannot remember which place it belonged to.
Check the things that are expensive to change
Paint, carpet and a dated kitchen are all fixable. Orientation, ceiling height, floorplan and noise are not. It is worth spending your attention on the second list, because that is the part you are actually buying.
- Which way does the living area face, and when does it get sun?
- Can you hear the road, the train line, or the neighbours?
- Does the floorplan work, or does every room run through another one?
- Is there storage, or will you be renting a unit somewhere?
Open things
Cupboards, windows, the meter box, the hot water system. Agents do not mind, and it is the quickest way to find out whether anything has been painted over rather than fixed. Run a tap and see how long the hot water takes.
Stand still for a minute
Somewhere in the main living space, stop walking and do nothing. You will notice the light, the noise and the smell in a way you will not while you are moving between rooms. It is the single most useful minute of the inspection.
Write it down before you leave
This is the part everyone skips. The detail you are certain you will remember is gone by the next inspection, and what survives is a vague sense that one of them was nice. Score the place while you are standing in it, not from memory on Sunday night.
If you are buying with someone, score separately. You will both answer differently on at least one thing you assumed you agreed on, and that disagreement is more useful to find now than after an offer.