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Questions to ask at viewing of house

2

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  • justme111
    justme111 Posts: 3,508
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker I've been Money Tipped!
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    gazzak wrote: »
    Why ask? If they tell you there's no noise and you move in and suddenly there's a drummer next door what can you do? Sweet FA. Nobody gives a d4mn once you're in :mad:
    That's the point. Does anyone really think a person who sells wil say " or I'm fed up with my neighbours, they at each other and swear so loudly that my baby wakes up". :rolleyes: How can the one with common sense trust replies to uncomfortable questions? So what's the point of making them then?
    The word "dilemma" comes from Greek where "di" means two and "lemma" means premise. Refers usually to difficult choice between two undesirable options.
    Often people seem to use this word mistakenly where "quandary" would fit better.
  • cattie
    cattie Posts: 8,841
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    I tend never to ask why people are moving because if it's for a negative reason they are never going to actually come out & tell you & lose the chance of selling their property.

    I've sold a house because of noisy neighbours before & certainly never admitted to viewers who asked why I was moving that I had noisy, drunk agressive neighbours!

    I'd never made any official complaint about them so there was no need for me to make any disclosure about their noise & behaviour. I just said my prayers before a viewer arrived & they were answered as the neighbours were quiet each time. :A:silenced::A
    The bigger the bargain, the better I feel.

    I should mention that there's only one of me, don't confuse me with others of the same name.
  • Phirefly
    Phirefly Posts: 1,605 Forumite
    Has anybody ever been murdered here?

    Inspired :)


    As for the pointed questions, even if they're not likely to answer completely truthfully, you can often guage from their reactions. We viewed a seemingly perfect house that was opposite some LA flats. I asked the vendor if he knew why so many of the windows were boarded up and if he'd ever had any trouble, and I found out all I needed to know from the brusk, defensive manner in which he answered. Funny, the flats made it into the Echo the following week in two separate stories - one arson attack, one domestic violence charge.
  • gorjam wrote: »
    Has anyone got any ideas what are the most pertinent questions to ask when viewing a property with the vendor.

    Are you a man of your word?
  • Biggie
    Biggie Posts: 370
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    has the house suffered from any subsidence problems ?
    I have found out afterwards on 2 properties about underpinning
    service charge for flats ?
  • That's the point. Does anyone really think a person who sells wil say " or I'm fed up with my neighbours, they at each other and swear so loudly that my baby wakes up". :rolleyes: How can the one with common sense trust replies to uncomfortable questions? So what's the point of making them then?

    It is usually worth talking to the neighbours as well because they might let the cat out of the bag. Also if a neighbour comes to the door swearing and holding two rottweilers back...
    RICHARD WEBSTER

    As a retired conveyancing solicitor I believe the information given in the post to be useful assuming any properties concerned are in England/Wales but I accept no liability for it.
  • From recent experience, though I have to say it's never been an issue before and we have bought seven times now, 'do you really want to sell' is very pertinent.

    We are finding that sellers whose property has been on a long time , pre-HIPS certainly, are the most reluctant to negotiate on price and, as most have no definite plans, want too long before completion to make the purchase viable.

    It's at the stage now where we have asked the agents to communicate our position to the sellers before we arrange the viewing so they are in no doubt about timescales and so on.

    Nothing can stop them lying, of course. mr.broderick's excellent point about 'are you a man of your word' is sadly too often not the case these days. Both sellers where we agreed prices recently said they would move into rented to accomodate the buyers timescale, but weren't telling the truth. When you have to travel on a 400 mile round trip to view it gets a bit frustrating to put it mildly.

    Other than that you have already been given excellent advice, though, to be honest, however well-prepared we are we usually forget something when looking.

    Personally I'd save the more detailed questions and cupboard looking for a second viewing. The first viewing is for an overall impression. You will look at the house differently if you are genuinely thinking about living there. I'd never buy something on a single viewing.

    As for 'has anyone ever been murdered there?' it's not something we have ever asked. That said, whilst we can't claim a murder, it was a little disconcerting to find out about three weeks after we moved in to our current property that the previous tenant had committed suicide in the lounge and wasn't found for a few days. Even more disconcerting that the popular local rumour was that the letting agents had driven him to this by raising his rent to an unaffordable level.

    He apparently used rat poison as well, which should have given us a hint, given my other thread about unwanted rodent visitors.
  • Has anybody ever been murdered here?

    This is in all seriousness a good question.

    We nearly viewed a house where a murder had been committed. A lad in our year at a school battered his step dad to death, cut him up and put him in the river in a suitcase. Hes doing 20 years now.

    The house was beautiful inside and priced just right to make it look cheap, but not too cheap.

    However the EA had underestimated the power of 'google' which quickly revealed all!
  • gorjam
    gorjam Posts: 28
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    Thanks for plenty of good and interesting advice.I do not think I"ll ask about any murders but definitely will ask the question "Do you really want to sell?".The house has been on the market for a while definitely pre HIPS.
  • SquatNow
    SquatNow Posts: 2,285 Forumite
    Try "will you take 50% of the current asking price for a quick sale".
    Bankruptcy isn't the worst that can happen to you. The worst that can happen is your forced to live the rest of your life in abject poverty trying to repay the debts.
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