Estate agent asking for a lot of paperwork

kinger101

Aren't 3 and 4 are a matter of public record anyway (Land Registry)?

If you want potential buyers to trust you, you'll have to start placing some cards face up on the table.

eddddy

Gold_Anaconda wrote: »

...but the rest of the information can be provided to them anecdotally.

They have a duty to check that any information they give out is correct.

I suspect they want to include information in the property details about: Length of Lease, Share of freehold and Annual Service Charge. They might refuse to do this without evidence

So their answer to a potential buyer might be:

Potential Buyer: "How long is the lease?"
EA: "We can't confirm that, because the seller won't show us the lease, you'll have to enquire via your solicitor"

It won't really help you get offers!

AnotherJoe

Gold_Anaconda wrote: »

but the rest of the information can be provided to them anecdotally. .

And they are going to look more than silly when, after marketing the flat on the grounds it's a 98 year lease it turns out its 68 because they were misled by the seller. This stuff happens. You no doubt are honest but others will be mistaken or liars and they want to be sure they are correct in what they tell potential purchasers.

If I was an EA and my client said "I won't give you a copy but I'll tell you the answer you want" I'd be thinking something was dodgy and would withdraw.

Now, you could say "I'm really paranoid about identity theft so despite the fact these documents can be looked up as a matter of public record for a couple of quid, I'm not going to show you my copies, instead I'm going to ask you to trust me or pay the money and look it up yourself" but that again might make the EA think they have a rather strange vendor and pull out. Try it and see what they say.

DaftyDuck

A good agent will often be able to tell a vendor when a potential purchaser is difficult. A very good agent will also advise a buyer when the seller is likely to be a nightmare.

Do tread carefully, as I think you may have a very good agent.

pathtofreedom

You've had some really good answers here. I don't think you realise fully though anyone could pay 3 quid to get some of that information. So it isn't really a privacy issue with regards to 3 and 4. If I wanted to I could go pick a random street and find the names of owners, and mortgage companies people have for every house in the road, anyone can do this.

For number 2 if you were buying somewhere wouldn't you have to know how any service charges worked before you spent any money on a purchase incase there was a stupid clause saying they could double it each year or something. You'd be back pretty quickly complaining about EA not advertising it properly. You want to get it sold as easily as possible and let your EA do their best for you. No point them having the wrong information so you end up with the wrong sort of sellers viewing but never getting offers, or worse you get offers and keep losing them, after you and they have spent money via solicitors etc to find this info out.

seven-day-weekend

We have recently bought a flat and wanted to see proof of length of lease and the amount of service charges before we proceeded. Had the buyer said, I'm only giving you that information by word of mouth, we'd not have proceeded.

It's a perfectly reasonable thing for the EA to ask for, imho.

ERICS_MUM

How can they put an accurate price on the property if they don't have this info, especially the lease details ?

seven-day-weekend

There was a man who lived in the same village as me when we lived in Spain, he was one of the few who spoke English. He knew some friends of ours, who were in the UK at a time, were looking for a house to buy in the village. So he showed us round his house so that we could tell them about it. I asked him how much he wanted for it, and he said, that was a secret, he'd tell them once they agreed to buy it.


The OP seems a bit like this.

(Needless to say, our friends did not buy the house).

csgohan4

What have you got to hide about the lease and service charges?????


59 years left?


If I was a buyer and the vendor was not so forth coming, You'd find I'd be viewing someone else's house before you know it

Marvel1

Gold_Anaconda wrote: »

Thanks everyone for posting but nobody answered my question.

Um :huh: :doh: :wall:

Gold_Anaconda wrote: »

Good stuff. Does this apply to providing forms of ID ? I've no problem in doing this in order for them to apply with money laundering regulations, but the rest of the information can be provided to them anecdotally. My main concern is data protection. I limit the information I give out as a formality because it is safer.

Thanks for the information.

I don't think you should sell.



In regards to the Royal Mail thread, I feel sorry for any buyers(if any with lack of info at the start).