Can I ask sellers for the costs of their bills?

lookstraightahead

lika_86 said:

lookstraightahead said:

lika_86 said:

Martico said:

If I was selling, I'd be happy to provide that kind of info. Depends on the vendor I guess, and any rapport you've developed with them already

I'd be the exact opposite. Bills are what bills are based on usage. If a buyer started asking me questions like this then I'd start to wonder whether it's because actually they're thinking about affordability and are considering pulling out. They aren't questions related to the title so I'd decline to answer them.

Doesn't that add to the likelihood of them pulling out though (for example as a buyer I would wonder what you might be hiding) 

If it does (having answered every other question about the title of the property) then the buyer isn't a serious one.

I'm just saying it works both ways. If I was a buyer and I was refused the info I would really wonder why. Sometimes in life we don't even know why people ask things as they're not relevant to us. But we're not them. I don't see why anyone would refuse such information.

lookstraightahead

Debbie9009 said:

I would think it was a strange question, as others are saying cost of most of these things vary, so I wouldn’t really see how my usage would be relevant.

I’m on a water meter and am very frugal with water usage, so my bill is a lot less than the average.

I use very little gas and electric during the warm months, and I keep my costs down in the winter by using my wood burner, as much as possible.

Broadband, as I work from home I have fibre, and there is only one fibre provider in my area.

Also all my bills are online, so I would have to print them off, which would take time.  If a buyer was really insistent I would provide them, but due to some issues I had with a buyer of a previous house, I would send them with a note making it clear this shows my usage and cannot be relied on.

And that would be really useful info to a buyer.

Schwarzwald

user1977 said:

Martico said:

user1977 said:

lookstraightahead said:

lika_86 said:

Martico said:

If I was selling, I'd be happy to provide that kind of info. Depends on the vendor I guess, and any rapport you've developed with them already

I'd be the exact opposite. Bills are what bills are based on usage. If a buyer started asking me questions like this then I'd start to wonder whether it's because actually they're thinking about affordability and are considering pulling out. They aren't questions related to the title so I'd decline to answer them.

Doesn't that add to the likelihood of them pulling out though (for example as a buyer I would wonder what you might be hiding) 

As a seller I might think you a flakey buyer if you're only now thinking about your budgeting when we're already knee-deep in the process. But I'd probably share them.

Seriously? I wouldn't see such questions as deal breakers, just good prep before moving in.
All depends on how the questions are pitched, and how the vendor/buyer relationship is, of course

Not very seriously, no. But as a buyer, if I were going to seek that sort of info at all, I'd be asking during the viewings.

Large majority of EAs on viewings are pure door openers with no real knowledge about the properties or lease terms leave alone average monthly bills. Highly unlikely you could obtain that info during a standard viewing

user1977

Schwarzwald said:

user1977 said:

Martico said:

user1977 said:

lookstraightahead said:

lika_86 said:

Martico said:

If I was selling, I'd be happy to provide that kind of info. Depends on the vendor I guess, and any rapport you've developed with them already

I'd be the exact opposite. Bills are what bills are based on usage. If a buyer started asking me questions like this then I'd start to wonder whether it's because actually they're thinking about affordability and are considering pulling out. They aren't questions related to the title so I'd decline to answer them.

Doesn't that add to the likelihood of them pulling out though (for example as a buyer I would wonder what you might be hiding) 

As a seller I might think you a flakey buyer if you're only now thinking about your budgeting when we're already knee-deep in the process. But I'd probably share them.

Seriously? I wouldn't see such questions as deal breakers, just good prep before moving in.
All depends on how the questions are pitched, and how the vendor/buyer relationship is, of course

Not very seriously, no. But as a buyer, if I were going to seek that sort of info at all, I'd be asking during the viewings.

Large majority of EAs on viewings are pure door openers with no real knowledge about the properties or lease terms leave alone average monthly bills. Highly unlikely you could obtain that info during a standard viewing

I'm talking about asking the seller (in parts of the country which don't have the weird habit of owner-occupiers hiding somewhere while a clueless person from the EA does the viewing).

Bluebell1000

We have always asked costs of bills when we were serious about buying. In our current house the previous owners water bill seemed very high. We spotted one of the toilets was permanently running, and a tap dripping. We also installed an IBC for garden water storage. None of those minor things had any impact on our offer or plans to buy the house, but because we knew to look for any water issues that might have caused the use (and they were spotted on second viewing), we were prepared to sort it on moving in. 

lika_86

lookstraightahead said:

lika_86 said:

lookstraightahead said:

lika_86 said:

Martico said:

If I was selling, I'd be happy to provide that kind of info. Depends on the vendor I guess, and any rapport you've developed with them already

I'd be the exact opposite. Bills are what bills are based on usage. If a buyer started asking me questions like this then I'd start to wonder whether it's because actually they're thinking about affordability and are considering pulling out. They aren't questions related to the title so I'd decline to answer them.

Doesn't that add to the likelihood of them pulling out though (for example as a buyer I would wonder what you might be hiding) 

If it does (having answered every other question about the title of the property) then the buyer isn't a serious one.

I'm just saying it works both ways. If I was a buyer and I was refused the info I would really wonder why. Sometimes in life we don't even know why people ask things as they're not relevant to us. But we're not them. I don't see why anyone would refuse such information.

If a buyer asked how long you spend cleaning the house and how much you spend on cleaning products, would not answering that be hiding something or just declining to answer a question of no relevance to the conveyancing process? Same thing, I'd give a vague, commensurate with the size of the property type answer but nothing more.

sheramber

Many moons ago, long before the internet was invented, when we viewed a house the seller had a folder containing  their utility bills for the last year, which we could look at. 

lookstraightahead

user1977 said:

Schwarzwald said:

user1977 said:

Martico said:

user1977 said:

lookstraightahead said:

lika_86 said:

Martico said:

If I was selling, I'd be happy to provide that kind of info. Depends on the vendor I guess, and any rapport you've developed with them already

I'd be the exact opposite. Bills are what bills are based on usage. If a buyer started asking me questions like this then I'd start to wonder whether it's because actually they're thinking about affordability and are considering pulling out. They aren't questions related to the title so I'd decline to answer them.

Doesn't that add to the likelihood of them pulling out though (for example as a buyer I would wonder what you might be hiding) 

As a seller I might think you a flakey buyer if you're only now thinking about your budgeting when we're already knee-deep in the process. But I'd probably share them.

Seriously? I wouldn't see such questions as deal breakers, just good prep before moving in.
All depends on how the questions are pitched, and how the vendor/buyer relationship is, of course

Not very seriously, no. But as a buyer, if I were going to seek that sort of info at all, I'd be asking during the viewings.

Large majority of EAs on viewings are pure door openers with no real knowledge about the properties or lease terms leave alone average monthly bills. Highly unlikely you could obtain that info during a standard viewing

I'm talking about asking the seller (in parts of the country which don't have the weird habit of owner-occupiers hiding somewhere while a clueless person from the EA does the viewing).

I much prefer viewing with an EA, I don't think it's down to parts of the country, often people are at work all week long. 

EndlessStruggle

My buyers asked for mine and I sent them to them with the note that they might use it differently to me.

FreeBear

Some of the energy comparison web sites auto-fill fields for usage and current supplier - This makes it easy to compare usage with similar neighbouring properties. As an example, my neighbour uses around 10,000KWh of electricity where as I consume 2,000KWh - They run aircon units throughout the summer, I don't. Gas consumption is broadly similar (6,000KWh vs 4,500KWh).