Inaccurate sales description

jedthehumanoid

Hello - we're first time buyers and went for a second viewing on a property we are interested in yesterday. While looking around we noticed a couple of things that have been described incorrectly in the sales literature. We didn't really pay attention to the details during our first viewing as we were more concerned with the layout, area, general condition etc, but spent our time yesterday looking at the smaller things.

Main one is the kitchen floor which is described as "hardwood parquet flooring" when it most definitely isn't - it's lino with a parquet pattern print. This was really obvious, especially where a fridge freezer had once stood and a mismatched patch of lino had been used to cover it.

Second is the boiler is noted as being a recently installed combi and it isn't, it's a conventional boiler with a tank in the airing cupboard. It's also pretty old - I found a British Gas sticker with a 2002 date on it and a 'Powerflush' sticker from 2007 so I'd guess it's at least 16 years old.

My question is do I keep my mouth shut until we're ready to make an offer and then use these points for negotiation on price, or do I make the estate agent aware? I'm leaning towards keeping my mouth shut but I don't want to come across as sneaky to the vendor.

bigisi

I'd imagine it is prices with those things in mind. I can't see anyone accepting a lower offer with those reasons being cited.

Try by all means buy they mean nothing.

davidmcn

Stuff which is obvious even to first time buyers can't really be used as an argument for chipping away at the price later on - and I'm not sure either of them really makes a significant difference in price anyway.

jedthehumanoid

That's what I thought. We're not looking for a huge discount just thought it might help us lower the price a little if we point them out, don't want to come across as too finicky though.


It's a probate sale anyway so the boiler is a drop in the ocean, just would have been a bonus if it was newer. I thought it was odd that a 50's semi would have hardwood parquet floors but you never know.

need_an_answer

The words "probate sale" confirms to me that because its not being sold by the owner I doubt if the EA details were checked that diligently.

Its probably being handled by a solicitor who has never visited the property on the instructions of family who don't know the house that well either.

The EA probably spent 30mins in the house taking phots and brief descriptions and wouldn't have delved that deeply into the workings of the internal appliances or boilers.

They probably gauge the value on similar houses sold in the area and inflate or reduce the price slightly to reflect either outstanding decor or something that's a little tired.
The details are then probably sent to the solicitor to approve and as with most probate things the quicker they get on the market the better as there is usually a queue for the funds from the sale.

Its good to have open eyes and second viewings really help,wait for your survey and take a price negotiation from there if necessary.

foxy-stoat

The only thing that matters is your offer based on your viewings - I wouldn't get yourself hung up on Estate Agents descriptions - you could draw it to their attention that they have mis-presented the property but they wont care. Its not like mis-presenting a car. The items in question are a small percentage in the world of property ownership.

Good luck and report back

theartfullodger

Good heavens, salesman was not 100% accurate.

hazyjo

The EAs really don't look that carefully when taking pics and making notes when preparing details. I had one write 'laminate flooring' in a kitchen/house I once had, but I noticed it on the draft details and told them it's actually lino. Same a couple of times with 'frosted window' in the bathroom - two I've had have been clear glass which I've used the sticky back frosting on so corrected them there too.


Are you sure there's not a combi too and the old tank has been left? Just seemed very odd that it says 'recently installed'. Sure it's not in a kitchen cupboard or something?

Smodlet

I will beg to differ to some extent; I think it is worth pointing out to the EA that they have two major points in their listing completely wrong. What kind of a muppet cannot tell the difference between real wood flooring and vinyl? Ditto between a combi boiler and the older kind? They must be guided by a dog/use a white stick.

Having said which, older style boilers can actually be a selling point, given the extremely limited shelf life of combis.

Good luck, OP.

jedthehumanoid

Thanks for the responses. Definitely no other boiler, we looked everywhere. I've just noticed the exact same wording (two entire sentences describing a kitchen) on another of their listings so I think it may have been a copy/paste that they forgot to tweak for this description.


We're calling in tomorrow to make an offer and I think we'll mention the bits we noticed but say it doesn't really change the amount we're submitting.

kinger101

I had a surveyor who couldn't spot the difference between a gas fire and open fire.

I'd probably mention it to the EA (possibly someone senior). Gives them a chance to correct it, and address the problem through training or disciplinary action if they have a complete BSer on their team.