Buyer not getting survey - Do I need to point out all the problems?

doodling

Hi,

youth_leader said:

I do wish it was a legal requirement to reveal problems in a property.  My beautiful sheltie started coughing after six months here, and had a fungus in his nose when he died because my survey didn't pick up every floor in this bungalow was black with mould. 

It would be a pointless requirement.

Buyers would be faced with proving what was in the mind of the seller.  Good luck with that in all but the most obvious cases.

Jonboy_1984

youth_leader said:

I do wish it was a legal requirement to reveal problems in a property.  My beautiful sheltie started coughing after six months here, and had a fungus in his nose when he died because my survey didn't pick up every floor in this bungalow was black with mould. 

That is incredibly sad to hear about your Sheltie. The L3 surveys we had would not have picked up on it as they were non-invasive.

The issue to me with the idea of seller revealing problems is how far do you go to define a problem?

Is a 2mm crack in the plasterboard behind a bookcase that the current owner never sees a problem?
Is the doorbell not working on the side door the current owners don’t use, but the buyer might a problem?
Is the poorly patched up plaster after a dado rail was removed behind the TV a problem?
Is the TV aerial or satellite dish, that the current owner doesn’t use, not being correctly aligned a problem?
Is the uninsulated, as built 100 years ago, bay window a problem?
Is the felt over the porch getting towards the end of its working life but still watertight a problem?

I think there does seem to be a lot for the Scottish system of upfront surveys taking a lot of unmotivated sellers out the picture, and could possibly see a case for mandatory electrical and gas inspections upfront. I am not sure how far you can realistically go to pushing the onus onto the seller to make sure the property is right for the buyers needs without simply pushing up legal costs all round for the process and potentially making it more long winded after completion.

For me a greater part of the problem seems to be lack of general knowledge on keeping the house in good order to begin with.

Gavin83

timehastoldme said:

Our buyer didn't, we thought that was absolutely insane but we weren't going to point it out. We were honest in the forms, a bouncy floor board needed replacing and literally every window was blown. If a survey had given him cause to negotiate we would have been in trouble with our onward purchase so we were relieved, but very confused.

If it's visible, and if you've not hidden anything, you've nothing to worry about 

AFAIK a vendor is even free to hide something. For example if there's evidence of damp on the walls they're free to repaint to hide it. If you discover the previous owner has taken steps to hide a problem you've still no comeback against them. They just can't lie, so if you specifically ask about damp issues and they say 'no' and then you find evidence they've covered it up you might have a case.

Buyer beware and all that. If you're buying make sure you do the necessary checks.

youth_leader said:

I do wish it was a legal requirement to reveal problems in a property. 

I think this causes more problems than it solves in all honesty.

chanz4

if england no, you can ashume they have seen also be prepared for last min drop in price

DullGreyGuy

chanz4 said:

if england no, you can ashume they have seen also be prepared for last min drop in price

Thats what happened with my mother's cash buyer... there was a crack on the wall of the attached garage (the wall to the outside world, inner skin only) which was plain for anyone to see. A couple of hours before exchange £5k knocked off the offer price because they'd "just become aware of the crack in the garage wall" 

Albermarle

DullGreyGuy said:

chanz4 said:

if england no, you can ashume they have seen also be prepared for last min drop in price

Thats what happened with my mother's cash buyer... there was a crack on the wall of the attached garage (the wall to the outside world, inner skin only) which was plain for anyone to see. A couple of hours before exchange £5k knocked off the offer price because they'd "just become aware of the crack in the garage wall" 

Or similarly selling my in laws house. Potential buyer came round and was shown and informed, that the garage roof was at the end of its useful life and  leaking. Offer accepted, then before exchange they went round to have another look. ' Didn't realise the garage roof was in such a poor state'  and reduced the offer by £XK
Luckily there was no rush so just cancelled the sale and reoffered it to the market which really upset them . Shame....

fluffymuffy

We won't hesitate to put it back on the market if the buyers want us to drop the price for anything in plain sight. We're already wondering if we pitched it too low. We had 7 viewers and 3 offers within 4 days of putting it on the market. We didn't even have a For Sale sign. (We've got one now with Sold STC on it.)

Emily_Joy

When I bought my first house without a survey, I offered under asking price budgeting for a fact that there definitely will be something to fix that neither I nor my partner who knew way more about houses haven't noticed. It worked out about right. 

DullGreyGuy

Albermarle said:

Luckily there was no rush so just cancelled the sale and reoffered it to the market which really upset them . Shame....

For reasons unknown to me my mother wanted to sell quickly and exchange/completion was same day so at the time the reduced offer was received everything was packed up on the back of a lorry ready to go to storage so ultimately she accepted the reduced offer. 

She wasn't buying immediately but moving in with her sister in another city (where she grew up) so in theory other than the removal costs could have walked away.