House on market.. fence damage..

tigsly

Our house has only just gone on the market.

2 days ago there was a storm here - and we have lost 8 pannels - on the neighbours side, and 2 on our side.

We have viewings booked for this weekend, and I dont thihnk its possible for either side to be repaired...

what do I do ?


ETA the garden is 150 ft lon - and we wont be able to replace the whole fence some of it is fine anyway.. btu down teh side alley it will be two new pannels.. sigh.. why couldnt' this have happend earlier or later?!

I have a feeling the neighbour wont fix them till mid jan - he's away at the mo, has been poppin in and out over christmas.. btu wont be here to fix them .. till jan and even then will have to order parts...

would it put you off - or would you understand..

DStubbs

I think if you explain to the people viewing the property the situation they will understand, they are buying the house at the end of the day, personally if I liked a house enough to buy it a
Little issue like the fence would not put me off

c00lbeans

Wouldn't put me off, the viewers know how bad the weathers been, just reassure them your getting them fixed

maas

tigsly wrote: »

would it put you off - or would you understand..

This happened just before I exchanged on my house a few weeks back. I went for a "final viewing" the day before exchange only to discover 2 of the panels had caved in (and the posts were broken). It was day after the first storm (early december).

My take on it was that it's only 2 panels and I'm not gonna hold up the sale (it was chain of 4 with everyone ready to go). I perhaps would have insisted on efforts made to get it fixed if it was the entire fence.

Of course this is all different as I was already down the road with buying the house and we we're all ready to go.

If it was a first viewing it wouldnt necessarily put me off buying the house (I try to look beyond things like that). I'd just be asking who'se fence is it, have you spoke to neighbour yet etc

G_M

DStubbs wrote: »

I think if you explain to the people viewing the property the situation they will understand, they are buying the house at the end of the day, personally if I liked a house enough to buy it a
Little issue like the fence would not put me off

Yes but you, DStubbs, are a sensible person!

Some people see a damaged fence as a major issue.....:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4853741

But I agree, most buyers will understand that the bad weather has caused this, and if they like the house, they'll ignore.

In any case, your alternative seems to be to cancel all viewings till mid-Jan.

DaftyDuck

Mmm..... I'd be thinking. ... "I'll probably get a new fence thrown in with this house"...

It's not a problem, unless you make it one. Just announce the fence came down, but will get sorted.

spender717

When I viewed the house we bought 2 panels were down due to a storm. Vendor told me he neighbour was getting them fixed. Didn't put me off.

pops5588

G_M wrote: »

Yes but you, DStubbs, are a sensible person!

Some people see a damaged fence as a major issue.....:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4853741

But I agree, most buyers will understand that the bad weather has caused this, and if they like the house, they'll ignore.

In any case, your alternative seems to be to cancel all viewings till mid-Jan.

Thanks G_M. Apologies if I have come across as not being sensible. I am still a young homeowner, this is our first home and unfortunately not all of us are as knowledgable as you. Apparently I was mistaken in thinking that this was a site for advice!

ETA: For the record OP, although the charming G_M has used my thread as some kind of example, our situations are slightly different. However, we would have proceeded with the purchase even if the damaged fence was our responsibility. We just may have requested for some attempt at a repair to be made or gone out and got a reasonable quote to get it sorted and put that money aside.

TBagpuss

fence panels being down after the storms we have just had would not put me off, it would just mean that if I were interested in buying, I'd make sure that the fence was repaired, or that an allowance for it was made in the price agreed, when I made an offer.

Having a viewing cancelled just after the storms would be a much bigger red flag - it would leave me wondering what *major* storm damage you'd suffered that you didn't want me to see!

If it is possible to tidy up a little (e.g. stacking the panels against the fence so people can easily see the size of the garden, rather than leaving them lying on the ground) then do so.