Estate agents either lying or choosing to be wilfully ignorant/hiding details

moneyistooshorttomention

Bantex wrote: »

That may be the case, but it really is not your business as you have a vested interest.

Okay OP does have a vested interest obviously. However, I don't have a vested interest myself equally obviously and would deliberately avoid a listed house (ie because of all the things I would have to consider and the extra money I anticipate it would cost to do any work on it). In fact I did deliberately avoid a house that wasn't listed, but the owners had "put it back as was" to a large extent and clearly wanted it to stay that way and that was part of the reason.

I think there quite possibly are quite a few people out there who don't realise just how much is involved in taking on a listed house and its very clear the EA involved isn't telling potential buyers for this house and I think its fair enough that they should all be told the full facts, as it might well influence their decision one way or another.

Lord_Baltimore

OP: You are quite likely going to miss out on this property.

If you will be disappointed and frustrated by that result you need to get serious with the EA now and remind them it is their legal obligation to properly and fully describe the property to prospective buyers.

Buying a house is not a 'play nice' game. If you want this place you need to use every resource available to you. In this case you have the law to possibly turn things in your favour. Stop wasting time arguing the point here, go and get that house.

Good luck!

Bantex_2

Lord_Baltimore wrote: »

OP: You are quite likely going to miss out on this property.

If you will be disappointed and frustrated by that result you need to get serious with the EA now and remind them it is their legal obligation to properly and fully describe the property to prospective buyers.

Buying a house is not a 'play nice' game. If you want this place you need to use every resource available to you. In this case you have the law to possibly turn things in your favour. Stop wasting time arguing the point here, go and get that house.

Good luck!

And when EA tells the vendor that OP has in effect downvalued their property, that will go down well.

Lord_Baltimore

Bantex wrote: »

And when EA tells the vendor that OP has in effect downvalued their property, that will go down well.

The OP hasn't downvalued the property; the property is worth what it's worth taking its listing into account.

Bantex_2

Lord_Baltimore wrote: »

The OP hasn't downvalued the property; the property is worth what it's worth taking its listing into account.

Doubt the vendor will see it that way.

laidbackgjr

At the moment it appears to be your word against the EA's word as to what is / isn't allowed. Therefore I would suggest you get the planning department to confirm in writing to the EA exactly what is allowed / not allowed and ensure that information is passed to all potential buyers.

Lord_Baltimore

Bantex wrote: »

Doubt the vendor will see it that way.

There's a way to play this without the OP queering his/her pitch with the vendor....;)

AlexMac

http://old.estateagenttoday.co.uk/news_features/Landmark-case-over-property-description-to-set-precedent

Spengler

The first thing I wanted to call out is the 1st sentence in the original post that confirming the OP's interest in a listed property. I was wondering where it was identified that the property was listed. If it was on the EA's particulars for the property, this is their obligation - legal or otherwise, fulfilled.

The OP has proved that in view of being made aware that the property is listed, you are able to conduct your own investigations into what owning and maintaining a listed property entails. In addition, during the conveyancing process; it is the obligation of the conveyancing solicitor to make the buyer aware. But even then - whether the buyer chooses to uphold their obligations is up to them...

If you specifically question the EA about the property being listed, it is unlikely that they will be able to answer but they may refer you to the vendor, a solicitor, the Planning Department at the local council or even Google. They are not expected to know the details and equally, the majority of property hunters are not remotely interested in knowing the ins and outs other than whether it is listed or not so that they can determine whether they wish to pursue a potential purchase and undertake their own investigations for that particular property. There are no blanket rules relating to listed buildings or properties. The location and the condition of the building as well as what it is made of are all considerations when discussing what changes can and should be made.

The OP also mentions it is wrong, illegal even, for the EA to say that you can do what you like to the inside but not to the outside in listed building situations. This is not strictly true. This statement or any other which alludes to the changes to the properties exterior or interior, should probably be caveated with the statement 'with planning consent or approval' but either way, what they have said is not wrong and they would not be found to have mis-led anyone for having said it because this is mostly correct. You can't change the outside, but you can change the inside...... with planning consent!

Fundamentally however, the issue remains that what the other buyer knows, or does not know - this is all assumption and conjecture on the OP's part. In addition, there is also an assumption that if the other buyers go ahead and purchase the property; that they intend to abide by any rules, regulations and even laws relating to maintaining a listed building. They might be well aware of everything but choose to ignore it all. Essentially it would only matter if they make changes without consent and get caught.

I think the best advice is and has been - don't worry about what anyone else knows or doesn't know or what anyone else has or hasn't said. Look out for number one. You've done your due diligence; you want to buy the house - offer what you think it's worth and if that's not enough for the vendor, be prepared to walk away without thinking "what if..."

It's also worth mentioning that even if the other buyer's proceed with the purchase and before completion, they pull out. There's every possibility that if this happens, it will be for reasons other than the complications that come with owning a listed building and potentially, the new buyers would never know why that previous purchase didn't complete... Again, too many assumptions that the other buyers don't know what they're letting themselves in for.

Lord_Baltimore

AlexMac wrote: »

http://old.estateagenttoday.co.uk/news_features/Landmark-case-over-property-description-to-set-precedent

Load the bullets into that gun myotherdogisabeagle