Questions to ask seller before handing keys over

Hoploz

osaddict wrote: »

Lol, thanks for the positive response! Hopefully the fiction in your head doesn't become a reality!!! I walk past the house every day, so unless they do something in the next few days the portacabin won't happen - besides, with their people carrier they'd not have space on the drive!

....er, it was the conversation that was fictional. This was all true when I moved in last year!

Good luck!

lessonlearned

It's anice gesture to leave your purchasers a bit of a welcome pack. I do.

Details of tradespeople Ive used and am happy to recommend (with their permission of course) doctors, dentists, shops, best chippy and takeaways, - a couple of spare light bulbs, meter box key, location of stop c o c k, just General bits of info that might be useful.

A card, some flowers, or sweeties, and of course all the guarantees and instructions for white goods etc.

People have always done the same for me too.

Immers7

lessonlearned wrote: »

It's anice gesture to leave your purchasers a bit of a welcome pack. I do.

Details of tradespeople Ive used and am happy to recommend (with their permission of course) doctors, dentists, shops, best chippy and takeaways, - a couple of spare light bulbs, meter box key, location of stop c o c k, just General bits of info that might be useful.

A card, some flowers, or sweeties, and of course all the guarantees and instructions for white goods etc.

People have always done the same for me too.

Noawadays you would be lucky to be left the lightbulbs in the fittings never mind spare ones.:rotfl:

duchy

Don't be like my partner's buyer- He rang at 7.30 on completion day to say he'd like to pop around at 9am for us to show him how the alarm worked - and he'd pick the keys up at the same time. I told him he couldn't have the keys til we had completed.

Cue massive tantrum down the phone -threatening us with legal action and all sorts. In the end my partner took the phone and told him to go forth and multiply.

We left the instructions for the alarm and when I dropped the keys into the estate agents and told them what had happened - they said they had already told him he couldn't have the keys til completion and not to call us.

Unfortunately for the buyer I had lived four doors down for the previous ten years so by the time he had moved in all the neighbours knew what he was like.

Malmo

We will be leaving a welcome sheet with recommendations for tradespeople and services we have found to be reliable and competitive such as:

- Property refurbishments and general maintenance
- Plumbing and heating engineer
- Electrician
- Window cleaner
- Gardening and landscaping
- Current energy supplier and advice on switching using MSE Cheap Energy Club

Also, there will be references to the Trustmark and Buy with Confidence websites for further tradespeople.

Our buyer is a FTB. This sort of gesture is invaluable for the first step in home ownership.

lessonlearned

Immers7 wrote: »

Noawadays you would be lucky to be left the lightbulbs in the fittings never mind spare ones.:rotfl:

I know it's astonishing isn't it. Same with Duchy's story. Why on earth are people like this. When did people become like this, and perhaps more Importantly, why? -not everyone of course, there are still decent people around - but a depressingly awful lot of them.

It seems to just be "me, me, me".

I have been extremely lucky in my personal dealings buying and selling houses, everyone has been helpful, charming and considerate.

Alas not so in my profession .......

As some of you may know i sold houses for a living for around 30 years, first as an EA, then as a new build negotiaor and then eventually having my own company selling both here and across Europe. (A bit like those programmes you see on the tele).

When I first began my career the whole process was so much more "genteel" - a person's word was their bond, and deals were agreed with a handshake. By and large people were reasonable, polite and helpful.

Then, somewhere around the mid 80s I began to notice a sea change. Gazumping, gazundering, dirty tricks, lies and dishonesty, tears and tantrums. People became increasingly greedy, buyers wanted bargain basement prices, and sellers just wanted to do as little as possible and still make as much money as they could.

I began to despair of some of my clients and the dirty tricks and the stunts they pulled. In the end I was glad to get out. It wasn't so bad when I was self employed because I could pick And choose my clients. If I spotted that they were likely to be trouble then I kept my distance or even declined to work with them.

Ive been retired since 2006 and judging from some of the posts I see on here Im well out of it.

The greed, selfishness, rudeness, ignorance, mendacity and sense of entitlement Beggars belief. It's truly depressing.

xylophone

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/moving-house-checklist?_ga=1.129941707.632060106.1405012823
Where's the main stopcock (to shut off the water)?

and can you assure me that it does still move freely and will not snap off when having to be turned with a wrench....

and that you have not turned off the water supply to the central heating so that the pump will not burn out the first time it is turned on.....

Many moons ago I was a very naive first time buyer......:eek:

Old_Git

things I should have asked
is there any oil in the tank .(not a chance he was an alcoholic)
what should i do with your !!!!!! mag when it arrives in the post .
why had you no toilet seat .( not even for the viewings)
thanks for leaving the light bulbs ,they don't work .Where you to drunk to change them .
Do you want the empty condom pack you let in the airing cupboard .

catterlen

We should have asked:
Do you want the weevils that are in the big bag of flour you left in the kitchen cupboard?

Do you want any of the contents of your wardrobe that yo left in full in the upstairs bedroom?

Do you want us to ring the skip company to get rid of the skip when it's been there for a month after we move in?

As naive FTB we lived with this... And to top it all off, all the light bulbs had gone (yet left the fake fur coat and police uniform + entire winter wardrobe upstairs + family albums + toys...) as had the filters from the cooker extract been removed and the light bulbs!

Oh... And the plug from the wall fixed electric radiator in the spare room had been taken too....

J_i_m

catterlen wrote: »

Oh... And the plug from the wall fixed electric radiator in the spare room had been taken too....

Indeed? Some people would seem very odd.