buying/selling 30yrs on. Confused

sukavi2011

Joe, you have made me feel a lot better. Those comments had been said to me in last 2 weeks but seeing the questions in black and white on solicitor forms 'any work carried out since owning property' my thoughts were well i cant say no when clearly i have, I worry that lying on these docs can land me in lots trouble. I am a worrier and petrified. I need to change to local solicitor so can tel it face to face, at least they will know whats right to put. I feel so much more relived already, wish I had put this thread on when recieved the email.

getmore4less

how long was the property on the market before this investor turned up?
did it go onto rightmove?

sukavi2011

the property was on rightmove, end august it went on, had offer after 4 weeks and it was what i was after so accepted. I want to move to be nearer family, which isnt miles away.but I wont cant a property that needs too much doing to it due to cashflow and at my age I dont want to be going through any house renovations , new kitchen or bathroom would be my limit but roof/windows, etc would be a no.

AnotherJoe

sukavi2011 wrote: »

J seeing the questions in black and white on solicitor forms 'any work carried out since owning property' my thoughts were well i cant say no when clearly i have, I worry that lying on these docs can land me in lots trouble.

Keep it simple, factual VERY high level.

"renovated kitchen and bathroom about 15 years ago, general DIY and decorating" (for example.) No more detail than that.

These questions are there to ensure that major things like an extension or a loft conversion arent missed (obviously if you had that, mention it!) but dont trap yourslef feeling you need to write an essay.

Don't feel obligated to put down excruciating detail after all whats anyone going to do with that info anyway? Its all blanket questions which IMO deserve blanket answers.

I sold a house two years ago, one of the questions was "is there a right of way across your property yes/no. I just put "I dont know" rather than do a lot of research, even though it would have been bizarre if there was as it was a center terrace house !

Same as my last car, a question was "do you certify the car is in good mechanical order yes/no" to which I wrote " I have had it serviced regularily but am not a mechanic so am not competent to judge" My point being dont be constrained by the forms, fill in what you feel is reasonable rather than being constrained to yes or no answers you may be uncomfortable with and if you dont know, cross out "yes/no" and put "dont know".

sukavi2011

I cant call the kitchen a renovation as it was substandard when we bought the property and the only way we could get the mort 30yrs ago was to agree to knock it down and rebuild from scratch, which we did. As im no longer with ex I can say the person is no longer here and hope thats acceptable.
Im going offline for a while, but thanks all for your help, I feel so much better now. Enjoy your sunday x x

LittleMax

sukavi2011 wrote: »

Joe, you have made me feel a lot better. Those comments had been said to me in last 2 weeks but seeing the questions in black and white on solicitor forms 'any work carried out since owning property' my thoughts were well i cant say no when clearly i have, I worry that lying on these docs can land me in lots trouble. I am a worrier and petrified. I need to change to local solicitor so can tel it face to face, at least they will know whats right to put. I feel so much more relived already, wish I had put this thread on when recieved the email.

As AnotherJoe says - it's perfectly OK to put 'I don't know' (if you genuinely don't know). Just answer honestly. If you can't remember a date when something was done, just answer as closely as you can recall. So, for instance, you can say that something was done shortly after you moved in, or around 15 years ago. As a buyer I would be suspicious if there were things that were obviously new, and the seller said they couldn't remember when the work was done, but not for 10 years plus. You sound very honest Sukavi - there really is no need to worry.

As others have said, you need to find a local firm of solicitors where you can visit and they will take you through everything. Is the firm that you used when you bought still around?

sukavi2011

Thanx Max, I am going to definite change the solicitor and pay them a visit, unfortunately the one we used 30 years ago i no longer about, so i think i will use my divorce solicitor lol. And I will say I dont know because i genuinely dont know who why what and if and where any paperwork would be. Thanks to you all, been a great help.