Q&A

A selection of your property queries answered

Are snag lists worth it?

Is it worth doing a snag list for a two-bedroom apartment. It's in the second phase of a well established development so, surely, any problems with the building would have been ironed out by now. I have been through my apartment and the showflat and they seem fine. I have been quoted €250 from a "snagger" who has worked on other apartments in the development, which seems quite steep. Is it worth it?

It is always worth getting a snag list drawn up for any new property - whether it's the last one built in the development or the first. Your builder will be expecting you to have one - and be quite relieved if you don't. If you think about it, when you consider what you have spent buying your apartment, €250 is a small price to pay to make sure everything is in order. A "snagger" will go through every aspect of your apartment from major problems - such as leaks, plastering and insulation - to smaller details like crooked sockets and the presence of instruction manuals for the heating systems and the shower. You can do the snag list yourself if you are sufficiently methodical and observant - a professionally generated list will help in reminding you about the details you should be looking for. There are several UK websites with useful snag lists, such as the one on www.snagger.org which can be downloaded for £14.99 (€21.11). You might prefer to leave it to the professionals.

Engineers, architects and surveyors are well qualified to produce a snag list and deal with builders - many a homeowner has been fobbed off when complaining about an uneven work surface with the builder claiming that it is within the "normal limits" or other nonsense. An experienced professional won't be fobbed off as easily as a wide-eyed buyer. For the professional bodies of surveyors, contact www.scs.ie, architects www.riai.ie, and engineers www.iei.ie.

Repairing prior to selling

After a legal delay my grandparents house - a four-bedroom semi in south Dublin - can now go on the market. It has been unoccupied for the past six years and has now fallen into disrepair. We are all anxious to get it on the market but concerned about how off-putting buyers might find it. We don't have the funds to do a great deal - but would be prepared to, say, paint the exterior. Should we bother?

Probably not. Houses quickly deteriorate if left unoccupied and can look particularly uninviting. Don't bother with the paintbrush; in a house that is known to have been unoccupied, buyers won't expect pristine paintwork. Instead spend the money on clearing out and cleaning. Your first phone call should be to a skip hire company and remove any rubbish, broken or rotten furniture, smelly mattresses, etc. If the carpets are rotten or smelly, pull them up. Remove evidence of rodent infestation and, if your grandparents personal effects are still there, remove them too. If any windows are broken, fix them, dump grey net curtains, wash the windows and clean the bathroom and kitchen as much as you can. Do a major job on the gardens; hedges and shrubs left to run wild make a garden seem smaller so cut everything back. Then leave it to your estate agent to explain to would-be buyers how much potential the house has.

Send your queries to Property Questions, The Irish Times, 10-16 D'Olier Street, Dublin 2 or e-mail propertyquestions@irish-times.ie.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to respond to all questions. The above is a representative sample of queries received. This column is a readers' service and is not intended to replace professional advice. No individual correspondence will be entered into.