What to Check During a Property Visit: Real Info That Photos Don't Show

Director literally means ‘to attend the scene.’ There are so many things you miss out on when choosing a home by just looking at online listing photos and floor plans, so it's best to do your best to check it out in person. However, when you actually go, it is often difficult to know what to see. Today, we will summarize the points you must keep in mind when going to a field trip.

The same house is completely different depending on the time zone

The most common mistake is to visit only once, and only during the day. However, the house shows a completely different face depending on the time of day. Roads that were quiet during the day can become clogged with traffic during rush hour, and alleys that seemed quiet can be dark without a single streetlight at night.

So, if possible, I recommend visiting at least two or three times on weekdays and weekends, day and night. In particular, night time visits capture issues that are ‘not visible during the day’ such as safety (street lights, people), parking wars, and commercial noise. It is good to divide the purpose into checking how much sunlight (lighting) actually gets in during the day on a clear day, and checking the noise between floors and living patterns of the house above in the evening.

You should look for 'defects' inside the house, and 'location' outside the house

Inside the house, you should look for defects that do not appear in the photos. Open the window to check for ventilation and external noise, check for mold or water stains on the corners of the wallpaper or on the ceiling (signals of water leakage or condensation), and turn on the water tap directly to see if the water pressure is sufficient. It would be better to check the gaps in the veranda sash, bathroom ventilation, outlet locations, and even cell phone communication signals. If it's winter, check the insulation and draft, and if it's summer, check the sunlight direction and heat.

Look at the location outside the house. Check whether the '5-minute walk' is real by actually walking to the subway station or bus stop, and measure the distance to living infrastructure such as supermarkets, hospitals, and schools with your feet. The slope of the hill, nearby vacant commercial buildings, and the presence or absence of facilities that people hate or avoid can only be seen by walking directly.

Pictures of properties for sale only capture the best angles. The key to a field trip is to find ‘things not intentionally included in the photos.’

Documents and market prices must be cross-checked

Even if you feel good about the site, document verification should not be skipped. Before signing a contract, check with a certified copy of the register to see if the actual owner is correct and whether rights such as mortgage and provisional seizure are clean, and check to see if there is an illegal expansion or violation of the building with building register . In the case of jeonse, it is especially important to know whether you can keep the deposit (senior bond, jeonse rate).

Don't just trust what one place says about the market price. Rather than the price quoted by one real estate agency, the range of 'actual transaction price' should be determined by comparing the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's actual transaction price disclosure system and several brokerage offices. It is also a good idea to ask the broker specifically about the level of management fees, number of parking spaces, recent transaction atmosphere, and defect history.

Finally, one small tip. A mission is more a record than a memory. If you don't take pictures of each house and leave notes, you'll get confused about where it was after only three or four places. If you briefly write down the visit date, time, feelings, and check items, you will be able to make a much more sober judgment when comparing candidates later.

This article is for informational purposes and is not a recommendation to buy a specific property.