Help Me Sell My Elderly Parents House

Tiger_greeneyes

I agree Melissa - I've always had to do work to my properties - or they've not been bang up-to-the-minute - but it's never put me off.

It amazes me that people pass up a perfectly good property because the carpet is the wrong shade or the walls aren't the right colour. What happens once they've found the right place and everything's spot on for them - and a couple of years later it looks dated... my own theory is that they either sell or get their parents to decorate for them. That's based on people I've known btw, I haven't plucked that from thin air

It's the 'plastic surgery/designer' mentality isn't it - if it's not perfect, then it's not good enough!

jennifernil

I would comment that up here we do things a little differently from in England. If you are buying a house that turns out to need some remedial work then you do not expect the seller to do it, you negotiate a price to take the work into account.

If you are selling and you know there is work that needs doing, you either price accordingly, or you fix it before you put it on the market.

Tiger_greeneyes

jennifernil wrote: »

I would comment that up here we do things a little differently from in England. If you are buying a house that turns out to need some remedial work then you do not expect the seller to do it, you negotiate a price to take the work into account.

If you are selling and you know there is work that needs doing, you either price accordingly, or you fix it before you put it on the market.

That's exactly the same as it's done in England I was just offering a few different scenarios for the OP so she knows she's got lots of options if there's work needing to be done.

the_greed

We are not going to worry about it until there is something to worry about, but have spoken to a few people who know a little bit about this and they told me if it is to get damp proofed it will not run into thousands of pounds, my parents will certainly not be doing it so negotiation might take place, although my dad has had a verbal offer from a friend for £5000 more so we are not down the tubes just yet. Anybody any comments about costings if the worst scenario happens.

Tiger_greeneyes

The advice you've got ties in with what I've posted tbh. When I worked in the survey offices (12 years), the majority of damp & timber reports came in ranging from no work being needed to £1,500. It was exceptionally uncommon to get anything above that figure.

the_greed

The company that is coming is Richardson and Starling, their website address is https://www.woodrot.com. I have been speaking to my neighbour who is a gaffer on a building site and he tells me that it is a very reputable company and although he hasn't seen my dad's house he reckons that the cost will not be thousands of pounds. This certainly has put my mind at ease so we will just have to wait until Monday and see what happens.

jennifernil

From reading hundreds of posts on here, it seemed to me that in England buyers either expected sellers to fix defects or reduce the price after an offer had been made. Up here you offer, "caveat emptor", and that is it. If it is accepted then an agreement is made, none of all this "to-ing and fro-ing " and reducing offers, and pulling out that you all seem to indulge in down south!

Tiger_greeneyes

jennifernil wrote: »

From reading hundreds of posts on here, it seemed to me that in England buyers either expected sellers to fix defects or reduce the price after an offer had been made. Up here you offer, "caveat emptor", and that is it. If it is accepted then an agreement is made, none of all this "to-ing and fro-ing " and reducing offers, and pulling out that you all seem to indulge in down south!

Tell me about it, I swear buying in England has caused me to go grey! The only purchases/sales I've ever had that have gone smoothly were the ones in Aberdeen!

jennifernil

Although it seems to go more smoothly up here, the "offers over" system is enough to send anyone grey!!

Why can't we have a buying/selling method that uses the good points from the different systems?

Tiger_greeneyes

I agree with you - combining the two systems and only using the good points of both would be ideal!

I've lost so many properties on the offers over system. I think most people would be happy to see the back of that system.

The only way we'll get rid of the offers over system is by vendors refusing to sell on that basis - or a change in the law to ban that system.