With an old house, chips in paintwork, rough edges, pipes running down
the wall all seem to look nice ! In a new house, if the finish isn't
perfect, it's going to look pretty poor. I've not seen many new houses
where the finish has been acceptible, never mind perfect.

Personally I don't like walls that flex when you lean on them...scares
me. And I prefer to have an individual house...something I've not seen
on a new development (apart from at christmas when your nextdoor
neighbour covers his house with lights :-) )

Friends have made a packet out of buying new builds off plan..but I
get the impression you need to sell quick and be prepared to move
frequently to do that...before the next phase of development on the
estate downgrades your house to "the older style of build".

Friends of mine live in a 20yr new house...I don't think the argument
that old houses suffer from years of bodged surface jobs flies judging
by the things they've found.

Anyone know what the design life of new builds is nowadays ? probably
depends on the developer I know, but I heard 50yrs is what they're
designing to now..

I'd always go for an old house...but things to check
1) open the kitchen cupboards like I didn't. THe carcasses were half
the size of the doors :-)
2) Get an electrical check done. It's like 30-50 quid.
3) Take a look around the house perimeter and look for the damp proof
course and whether any patios/next door neighbours are bridging it. If
it is bridged, you can rectify easily, but the plaster may already be
damaged.
4) pick at the mortar whilst your walking around...is it crumbling ?
5) knock every single wall inside with your knuckle from the bottom to
the top. If the plasteres blown, that'll make redecorating difficult,
messy, and a longer job.
6) get into the loft and look around the chimney stack inside...any
damp getting in ? Any light showing through ?
7) try to open all the windows and check the outside sills especially
in corners..any rot ?
8) check that there's guttering all the way around the house...drive
past when it's raining if you can ! that'll show you if/were water is
dripping and you can go back and check those walls more closely.
9) look at the consumer unit...how many fuses in there ? if there's 4,
then that'll be the two ring mains and two lighting circuits...where's
any external floodlighting being powered from ? what kitchen
appliances are plugged into sharing that ring main ? There's likely to
be some new wiring required if you plan to refurb the kitchen.
10) look at drainage..where does all the water from the roof end up ?
any patios/surfaces slooping towards the house ? any drainage betwen
the surface and the house ?

Once you're happy with all of that...or you have assessed the cost to
rectify..you can make your offer....that way you shouldn't need to
lower the offer too much more once the surveyors been in (assuming he
doesn't find something major) risking losing the property after you've
paid up for a survey..

Ant.