Do buyers expect too much?

vet8

There have been several interesting threads on here recently with new buyers moaning about the houses they have bought. In one they were complaining about damp walls and did they have any redress against the seller. In another they said the boiler leaked and could they sue the sellers. In another, very odd one, a seller asked what happens now that some of her family have removed stone slabs from the garden and most posters responded that they should put them back or the buyer could lower the asking price.

Do buyers ask too much?

I have posted on here elsewhere how, in our last house the previous owners had taken everything; curtain track, bathroom cabinet, even the wall lights in the dining room and living room, so they just left bare wires sticking out the wall and the T.V. aerial from the roof. I swore about them, but just accepted it.

There was a very interesting case in the papers a few months ago when a buyer of a riverside property in London was suing the vendor as he said the garden flooded at the odd high tide. The vendor had answered the question “Does the property suffer from flooding?” with a “No” as the house never flooded, just part of the garden. I would have thought that if you were buying a riverside house in the tidal reaches of the Thames you might expect a bit of flooded garden occasionally. Unfortunately, the case was settled out of court so I never got to see the result

Are buyers getting more demanding or should it be Buyer Beware and once you have got the house it is yours, warts and all.

Milliewilly

vet8 wrote: »

There have been several interesting threads on here recently with new buyers moaning about the houses they have bought. In one they were complaining about damp walls and did they have any redress against the seller. In another they said the boiler leaked and could they sue the sellers. In another, very odd one, a seller asked what happens now that some of her family have removed stone slabs from the garden and most posters responded that they should put them back or the buyer could lower the asking price.

Do buyers ask too much?

I have posted on here elsewhere how, in our last house the previous owners had taken everything; curtain track, bathroom cabinet, even the wall lights in the dining room and living room, so they just left bare wires sticking out the wall and the T.V. aerial from the roof. I swore about them, but just accepted it.

There was a very interesting case in the papers a few months ago when a buyer of a riverside property in London was suing the vendor as he said the garden flooded at the odd high tide. The vendor had answered the question “Does the property suffer from flooding?” with a “No” as the house never flooded, just part of the garden. I would have thought that if you were buying a riverside house in the tidal reaches of the Thames you might expect a bit of flooded garden occasionally. Unfortunately, the case was settled out of court so I never got to see the result

Are buyers getting more demanding or should it be Buyer Beware and once you have got the house it is yours, warts and all.

I think buyers are more demanding and its a reflection on the litigious society we live in that people try to find someone else to blame.

A leaking boiler in a reposession is a perfect example.

Of course is there is a genuine problem then fair enough, sue, but for minor things its not really worth the time effort and costs.

The stone slabs example is not really odd in that they were removed after the buyer had viewed and agreed to buy - its not normal to expect something like pathways to have been lifted its not like they're curtains.

It always has been buyer beware and when you do sue it is very costly and time consuming so imo it has to be something serious.

MrsManda

Buyers solicitors should make sure their clients know that once they have exchanged contracts, any problems are their own. Thats why we have to have surveys and searches done.
In my case, if the sellers had taken the TV aerial, light fittings, curtains etc... we'd have complained but thats because these were included in the condition of sale along with the washing machine, oven, freezer, fridge and settee suite.
If however we had a survey done which stated no damp and there was damp then the complaint would be with the surveyor as they haven't done their job properly.
As for flooding unless it was specifically setting in the sales document that the property does not flood, rather than simply it never has done, I don't see how anyone can complain they were misold a property - again, thats why buyers have environmental surveys done (I agree that anyone who buys a riverside property should realise they're likely to flood )