What to check at a viewing in Malta

A viewing is short and the pressure to decide is real, particularly in summer when a good flat is gone the same day. These are the things worth the twenty minutes.

Damp

Malta is humid and limestone holds water. Look at the bottom of external walls, inside built-in wardrobes, and in the corners of rooms that face north. A freshly painted patch at ankle height on one wall only is telling you something.

Open a wardrobe and put your face in it. You will smell damp before you see it.

Water pressure and hot water

Turn the shower on. Then turn a tap on somewhere else while it is running. Roof tanks and old plumbing are common, and a shower that dies when someone flushes is a year of small daily irritation.

Ask whether hot water is electric, solar, or gas, and ask to see the boiler.

Air conditioning

Not "is there air conditioning" but how many units, in which rooms, and how old. A single unit in the living room will not make an August bedroom sleepable. Turn one on. Listen to it.

Which way it faces

South and west get the afternoon sun, which in July is not a selling point. North-facing rooms stay cooler but can hold damp. Ask which way the bedroom faces and, if you can, view in the afternoon rather than the morning.

Noise, and what is next door

Open every window and listen. Then look up and down the street for scaffolding, hoardings, or a plot with nothing on it. Construction in Malta is constant and a permit next door can turn a quiet flat into an unliveable one for a year.

Ask the neighbours if you get the chance. They have no reason to be diplomatic.

Windows and shutters

Do they close properly? Are there mosquito screens? Are the shutters — persjani — in working order? These sound trivial in March and do not in July.

Parking

If you have a car, ask specifically: is there a space, is it included, and is it a real space or a spot on the street you are welcome to fight for.

The paperwork questions

• Is the lease registered, and what is the number?
• Are the utilities on the residential rate, and in whose name?
• What is the deposit and what returns it?
• Is there a condominium fee?
• Are pets permitted in writing?

Take photographs

Of everything, on the day you get the keys, including the things you would not think to photograph. It costs five minutes and it is the only evidence you will have at the end.