Few things beat the pull of a stone or brick cottage down a quiet lane, roses round the door and a view over fields. But period rural homes come with quirks that modern houses simply do not have, and putting them right can run into tens of thousands of pounds. Walk in prepared, and you will spot most of the warning signs within the first twenty minutes.

Look With Your Nose as Much as Your Eyes

Before you admire the beams, stand still and breathe in. A musty, earthy smell is the most reliable clue to a damp problem, and it is hard to disguise for long. Ask to view after rain if you can, when faults are at their most obvious, and try to visit at a different time of day if a second appointment is possible.

Take a torch. Open every cupboard, especially those on outside walls, and look behind beds and wardrobes where furniture has sat undisturbed for years. Check ceiling corners for brown tide marks, flaking plaster and paint that has bubbled. Run a hand along skirting boards, looking for dark staining, crumbling edges or a soft, spongy give. None of this is necessarily fatal, but all of it costs money.

Damp, and How to Tell the Three Kinds Apart

Almost every old cottage has some damp. The useful question is which sort you are looking at.

• Rising damp shows as a tide mark low on the wall, usually under a metre, often with white salts blooming on the plaster. It suggests the damp-proof course has failed or, in older solid walls, never existed.
• Penetrating damp appears higher up in patches and tends to follow the weather, worsening after driving rain on a particular elevation. Cracked render, failed pointing, blocked gutters and bridged cavities are common causes.
• Condensation is the most frequent and the cheapest to fix. It gathers in cold corners, behind furniture and in bathrooms and kitchens, often bringing black mould with it.

The classic period-property trap is cement render and modern impermeable paint applied to walls that were built to breathe. Lime mortar and limewash let moisture escape; cement traps it and drives the problem into the timbers. If you see a hard grey render on a soft stone or brick wall, ask when it went on and who did it.

Roof, Gutters and the Edges of the Building

From the ground, look along the ridge line for sagging, and check chimney stacks for leaning, missing mortar and cracked flaunching. Slipped slates, displaced pantiles and a thin or sunken thatch ridge all point to work in the near future. Then follow the water: gutters, downpipes, hoppers and gullies are the source of a surprising share of damp inside old houses. Look for green growth in gutters, staining down the face of the wall, and ground levels that have crept up above the original damp course. Inside the loft, take the torch and look for daylight through the roof covering, damp or stained rafters, and insulation stuffed tightly between rafters where air ought to move.

Walls, Timbers and What Is Holding It Up

• Bulging walls are often historic and stable, but sometimes they are not. Ask a structural engineer rather than guessing.
• Cracking that steps diagonally along mortar joints, especially near corners, or runs horizontally, deserves proper investigation.
• Timber problems include woodworm (fine dust and small holes), wet rot (dark, soft, fungal timber) and dry rot, which shows as white cotton-wool strands with a mushroomy smell and is by far the most expensive to treat.
• Lintels, sills and openings: doors and windows that stick badly, or no longer sit square in their frames, can signal movement rather than simple age.
• Junctions between an extension and the original cottage are where leaks and settlement most often appear.

Listed Buildings and Planning Rules

Check the listing status before you fall in love. Listed building consent is needed for alterations that affect the character of a listed building, inside as well as out, and unapproved work can become your liability. Curtilage listings, conservation areas and Article 4 directions can all remove the permitted development rights you might assume you have. Repointing with cement, replacing timber windows with uPVC, adding roof lights, solar panels, wood burners and extensions are all areas where a conservation officer will want a say. Ring the local authority planning department early and ask to see any consents, listed building approvals and building regulations certificates for past work.

Services, Drainage and the Questions to Ask

• Heating: the age and service history of the boiler, the condition and bunding of any oil tank, and whether radiators were sized for solid walls and single glazing.
• Drainage: is it mains, a septic tank or a treatment plant? Ask where it discharges and for maintenance records, as rules on discharges to watercourses have tightened.
• Water: mains or a private supply. If private, ask for recent test results.
• Broadband and mobile signal: test them on site rather than trusting the particulars.
• The wider picture: flood history, radon in some areas, rights of way across the land, shared access, and who is responsible for boundary hedges and fences.

Finally, commission a full building survey from someone who regularly works on period property, not a quick valuation. On an old cottage it is money well spent, and it will tell you which of the things you noticed genuinely matter and which are simply the wrinkles of age.