Questions one should ask the seller before purchasing a house

cruella_de_vile

Ah... but is he willing to answer your intrusive questions?

rammster

if he is keen on selling / motivated seller , he will be very much! Plus its worthwhile to give them an option to answer the ones they dont want to.

But if they class things as "intrusive" for what is an open ended question , perhaps I will not be dealing with them anyway. A seller with something or too much to hide is bad for business. I would rather deal with one keen and motivated seller then waste my time on 10 sellers that will play me around.

I value what you are saying here, but remember the estate agent is feeding valuable info about my situation to the seller, and if I weren't to ask I will never know about the seller's situation.

Without being rude , my point is that you are doing business . And the person with greater research/ knowledge will always get a better deal. Thus the point of this thread.

I wouldn't pop this question to one of my colleagues that I work with anyday.

rammster

if he is keen on selling / motivated seller , he will be very much! Plus its worthwhile to give them an option to answer the ones they dont want to.

But if they class things as "intrusive" for what is an open ended question , perhaps I will not be dealing with them anyway. A seller with something or too much to hide is bad for business. I would rather deal with one keen and motivated seller then waste my time on 10 sellers that will play me around.

I value what you are saying here, but remember the estate agent is feeding valuable info about my situation to the seller, and if I weren't to ask I will never know about the seller's situation.

Without being rude , my point is that you are doing business . And the person with greater research/ knowledge will always get a better deal. Thus the point of this thread.

I wouldn't pop this question to one of my colleagues that I work with anyday.

ds1980

I think we should remember people lie.

I certainly will if it sells my house!!!

Well little white ones!

hlhassall

I've recently just accepted an offer on my property. I was quite keen to sell, however I don't think I would have been too happy about being asked if I had any outstanding debts. I don't have any but I'm not sure it's approproiate to ask they question and you may get some sellers backs up asking this kind of thing. Just my opinion though!

cwcw

Q: Did you get building regulations for that? Can I see the certificate?

Headintheclouds_3

Hi rammster

I'm not sure whether or not you've actually seen the property and just want to tie up loose ends, or whether you've yet to view. The questions would differ in these situations, and from what I understand things like debts on the property would show up in the searches.

I'm a FTB and went to view my first property today, in fact, and I noted the following: area, state of next door's garden, roof, guttering, power sockets, phone points, burglar alarm, parking, garden, heating and water, state of the bathroom and kitchen suite, storage and space for my furniture, glazing, window locks, where the party walls were etc. etc. You may have your own priorities.

I asked the EA why the owner was selling (she didn't know - if you approached the seller directly they might tell you, but if it's problems with the neighbours they might not admit it!), whether the sellers had found another property (again, didn't know...I was put off by this as it made me wonder whether or not they were just trying to find out how much they could get for the place), whether they had had any work done recently and whether the street had cable (for broadband - she didn't know!)

Hope this helps.

cruella_de_vile

rammster wrote:

if he is keen on selling / motivated seller , he will be very much! Plus its worthwhile to give them an option to answer the ones they dont want to.

But if they class things as "intrusive" for what is an open ended question , perhaps I will not be dealing with them anyway. A seller with something or too much to hide is bad for business. I would rather deal with one keen and motivated seller then waste my time on 10 sellers that will play me around.

I value what you are saying here, but remember the estate agent is feeding valuable info about my situation to the seller, and if I weren't to ask I will never know about the seller's situation.

Without being rude , my point is that you are doing business . And the person with greater research/ knowledge will always get a better deal. Thus the point of this thread.

I wouldn't pop this question to one of my colleagues that I work with anyday.

I have recently sold a house and I was VERY motivated and keen to sell and I can honestly say that if you came to view my house, asked them kind of questions you wouldn't have the opportunity to buy it even at 10 - 15 % OVER the asking price.

The people who bought my house got a very good deal (and they knew it) yet they didn't feel the need to ask intrusive, personal questions.

spunkeyrich

Solicitors will ask questions regarding most of the above in a pre contract doicument which is legally binding. People will tell little white lies about stuff unless you get a legal document. Sure ask some of the questions via the estate agent but dont assume the answers are correct.

Agents should know most of the answers to the questions if not they could find out for you. all sellers want a good price, no chain, quick move as preferable and if you dont have whats prefferable would it then put you off?

you got some good points though and people should be aware of time scales.

rich

mountainofdebt

rammster wrote:

After sitting down for a few hours I came up with a list of questions that I would ask the seller before purchasing house/before putting an offer . I feel that the above questions can also be emailed to the estate agent who can then forward it to the seller.

Here is a list of a few that I thought were good ones. Could everyone build on them please, from the more mundane ones to the more open ended probing type ones.

Who was previously living in the property Does it really matter? If so why?

How long have you been thinking of selling Again not relevant to you the buyer

Why are you selling this property Fair question

When do you want to sell this property ASAP

Have you fixed yourself a time frame to sell this property Fair question but if I thought you were going to try and blackmail me into accepting a lower price I'd lie.

What about parking near the property and how do I go about it A visit to the property would answer this one

Is a quicker deal more favorable to you Again if I thought you'd be trying it on with a lower price I'd lie

Have you ever rented this property Why - would it bother you if I had ?

Are there any outstanding debts on this property MIND YOUR OWN B***DY BUSINESS, lol

Has there been major maintenance done to the property in the last 10 years.
If so what Again a fair question

Would it be alright if my builder analyzed the property Your builder can do anything you want him to do, after you've bought the place.

If you have lived in the area, what was it like living here. List the one most
outstanding feature and one least desirable feature Are you really expecting honest answers to this question ?

what is the council tax for this property Again a fair question

Would you want me to purchase the property in a set timeframe Again if I thought you were going to pull a fast one, you wouldn't get an honest answer from me

What would be the desirable qualities in the purchaser that you will look for
Somebody who could offer me the most money for the property and actually get the mortgage/had the money

................hope this is helpful to some one.

Are there any Pros out there who can add to these.

cheers :beer:

I really do think that you would get short sharp swift on some of the questions!