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When (if?) to tell buyer about... idiosyncrasies?
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I would leave a note after the sale at most. Our sellers told us via solicitor that they couldn't find window keys etc and we took it at face value, then moved in and discovered they had told us the tip of a very large and horrible iceberg. So if anyone started listing small problems to me again, rightly or wrongly I would see it as a red flag.
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but where would the fun be for a new buyer…? Finding all those little "idiosyncrasies" (oooh, you really did pick out that word with tweezers eh OP…?) is part and parcel of the process.
Bit like putting butter on the cat's paws - distracts them from the new environment until they have settled in.0 -
Maybe I'm being naïve, because I haven't been burned by a bad housebuying experience, but I imagine most experiences won't be like yours, it'll be a genuine case of the sellers trying to be kind.
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You could be right but once you've dealt with someone else's used toilet brush, left in a container of brown liquid, you tend to stop defaulting to thinking people are being kind at the house sale stage!
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Fair enough, I think that would push me over the edge. Did they leave a forwarding address? They might want their bog brush (and liquid) back!
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If it's important, as in could be harmful if they don't know, then tell them. (I'd stick in this category the shower that ran scaldingly hot with absolutely no notice after a few minutes of use, and the failed thermostat AND thermal link on the immersion tank that our seller left us with when we bought the flat. The first scalded MrEH - although thankfully he was fast enough in reacting that it wasn't serious. The second could have killed us.)
Minor stuff, either leave a note at completion, or just let it go. Ultimately, you're selling as an executor so can't be expected to know detail about the property anyway.
We left a folder with paperwork for various things and some details about how to use the heating (E7/storage heaters) when we sold - the buyer threw it away. She subsequently had to ask us to go round to explain how the heaters worked…although we suspect not much of it sunk in!
🎉 MORTGAGE FREE (First time!) 30/09/2016 🎉 And now we go again…New mortgage taken 01/09/23 🏡
Balance as at 01/09/23 = £115,000.00 Balance as at 31/12/23 = £112,000.00
Balance as at 31/08/24 = £105,400.00 Balance as at 31/12/24 = £102,500.00
£100k barrier broken 1/4/25
Balance as at 31/08/25 = £ 95,450.00. Balance as at 31/12/25 = £ 91,100.00
SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculatorshe/her0
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