How to legally warn others NOT to Buy

societys_child

Any thoughts on how to phase an email would be greatly appreciated

Leave it, it's none of your business.

moneyistooshorttomention

£5,000 is not "nothing" and small change in the purse to most of us.

I only wish £5k were "small change" to me personally. My definition of "small change" personally would mean taking 2 of the 0's off that figure. I would regard £5 as "small change" and might regard £50 as "small change" (dependant a bit on circumstances). But starting adding 0's and I could instantly think "£5k would do me a cheap kitchen or go a good bit of the way towards finishing getting the garden sorted out").

Or, alternatively, a pretty good holiday for 2 people:beer:

TBeckett100

Get over it OP. The vendor isn't pulling the wool over anyone's eyes. They know their buyers will have inspections and therefore won't get away with anything. You are clearly upset someone else will have more means to buy it and will have the ability to rectify it. A buyer who has builders in the family etc may take an opposite view

Davesnave

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

£5,000 is not "nothing" and small change in the purse to most of us.

The reference was to a retention, and in that context, it is small.

I remember having one similar proportions on my FTB house.

Obviously, it was a bit of a blow, but I decided to find the money somehow and proceed, a decision which later proved correct.

hcb42

My £5K comment was in the context of house buying - I do not understand why the OP thinks that just because they do not have £5K and couldnt proceed with this house, that others do not. People buy houses, they fix previous problems, they improve them. The OP has no idea what the position is of these new buyers, and there is little point pursuing this course of action - just because they lost some money and time.

googler

sophiaswaight wrote: »

I haven't contacted the agent but feel if i do now he will only think that im even more bitter.

Any thoughts on how to phase an email would be greatly appreciated

One house, a few other viewer/buyers ... a drop in the ocean.

If you want a system like that in Scotland, where one survey is produced before going to market, and where this system would benefit the whole market, e-mail your MP, not this agent.

moneyistooshorttomention

One system across the whole of Britain would be a good idea obviously re surveys. At the moment - we do appear to have a ludicrous situation where in some parts of Britain each buyer has to do their own survey, but in other parts of the same country that's not the case.

I didn't know there was a difference between different parts of the country - but it does make sense to standardise that aspect countrywide anyway.

lessonlearned

My advice to the Op is just to let it go.

Think of it as not "losing" £750 but saving further outlay, stress, time and effort.

There are however a few points for you to remember when you come to view proerties and get surveys.

When you unpick them surveys are often not nearly as bad as they might first appear. They do tend to use rather alarmist phrases and terminology.

Im actually think they are often so vague as to the point of being almost worthless, with surveyors covering their backs in case they get sued. A survey will not cover the electrics, the boiler or any gas appliances. They use the old "damp.o meter" which does not actually measure "damp". If they spot anything they will,always ask you to get further investigations done, rather than giving you a straight answer.

It's often worth telephoning the surveyor and asking them to talk you through their report. They are often far more forthcoming with advice when it's over the phone rather than committing themselves on paper.

When viewing houses another pair of eyes is useful, especially if you can take someone who is fairly experienced in either diy or who has bought and sold a number of proerties. You can usually do,this at the second viewing.

Then when if you do get a worrying survey, don't panic, just go back for another visit with a builder to,work out just how much it will cost. You can always revise your offer at this stage.

My sons lender asked for a retention for £1500. My builder said it would cost no more than £600. In the end it cost £200 to replace a couple of dodgy joists, including a couplr of joists in an area that the surveyor didn't spot - they wont look under carpets or move items of furniture which might be hiding something nasty.

The damp was caused by the vendor blocking up,the air vents in the cellar and not Ventilating the subfloor, another £100 or so for additional vents and the problem was dealt with. The recommended chemical injection would have cost a lot more,than that and would not have solved the issues.

of course the surveyor didn't spot the rotten floorboards and joists in the bathroom, because again they wouldn't look under floor coverings.

As posters have pointed out a house is an unknown quantity and even a full survey won't spot everything. You inevitably find issues once you move in which is why you a need a contingency fund, dodgy boilers being the most common.

One final point is that I have noticed that lenders are becoming incredibly picky. I think,a lot of them got their fingers burnt by being rather too,generous with their lending criteria in the past. Since the crash they seem to be over reacting and are making borrowers jump,through ever more hoops, refusing to lend at the drop of a hat.

Good luck with your house search.

moneyistooshorttomention

I certainly think this thread is serving a useful purpose for buyers. I know my own assumption was that, if a house was being advertised as fully renovated, and it all looked "standard normal modern" on the surface that I wouldnt have expected that it might all have been done to "cover-up" standard, rather than "proper" standard.

My assumption would certainly have been "Its just been gutted - so I'm not going to have to do a thing/spend a penny for at least the first few years".

So - its been beneficial to show that this sort of thing does happen and that some houses that have apparently been "done" might have been done to this "standard".

lessonlearned

A great shame they scrapped the HIPs. It was flawed but with a few tweaks it could have been helpful.

When I sold my house I did do a sort of "mini hips package" for my purchaser. Obviously no survey because their lenders wouldn't have accepted it anyway.

I simply took photocopies of everything that I knew I would need to submit to the solicitor., ie copies of electrical certificates, building regs etc. When my buyers came for the second viewing I let them have a quick look at everthing to reassure them that all works complied with building regs and were guaranteed.

Once I had accepted their offer and we were at the pre-contract enquiry stage, they came for a,third viewing to measure up etc I then let them take the file of photocopies so they could go,through it all and make sure they were happy with everything.

I also kept a third file for myself just in case.

At this stage we also exchanged telephone numbers and email addresses and we kept in in regular touch. it was so much quicker and easier for them to,then contact me with any queries and also to give each other updates on the progress of the sale.

This approach made for a quicly easy completion. Of course the house passed the survey with glowing colours anyway because everything had been "done to a high standard" but my purchasers were first time buyers and quite nervous. They really appreciated being able to check everything themselves, being able to ring me with what the EA or Solicitor might have thought were "silly questions" and not be made to feel a nuisance.

I even helped them out with their house contents insurance form prior to exchange by supplying them with answers to,the insurers questionnaire. The EA would not have done that ........

On completion I made them a "welcome pack" which contained a note of all the tradesmen I had used, guarantees and instructions for all the white goods, details of the kitchen cabinets in case they wanted to buy extra, left iover paint for touch up purposes, each can clearly marked as to which room it had been used, a couple of spare bulbs just in case, a note of doctors, dentist, library, and the best chippy......

As they were Muslims I did not leave them a bottle of wine, so bought them some flowers and some sweeties for the children.

They were delighted with their new home, they were happy to pass my mail on, still do from time to time and we exchange Christmas cards. When they found out about my husband's recent death they wrote me a lovely condolence letter.

I read a lot of threads on here about awful the house buying and selling process is and I agree it can be very stressful, especially when people are unpleasant, greedy, selfish and less than honest.

However, if you are upfront about everything and scrupulously honest about your houses' imperfections then all should go,well.

Just after I put my house on the market In the October I got wind of a proposed planning application for a development of 1500 houses in the fields adjoining my boundary.

The application was not going to be made until the following January so it would not have appeared on any local searches. I could have kept quiet but I didnt. It wouldn't have been illegal to remain silent on the issue but I felt it would have been morally wrong so I told all my viewers at the very first viewing.

My purchasers were well aware of the proposed development but were unconcerned. They loved the house and went ahead.

Honesty is really the best policy.......;)