Buyers solicitors

[NewLife4Me]

Are asking me for copy of full service history for boiler, a copy of my building insurance, work done on roof that we have no knowledge of, who owns land behind the property, damp course certificate, and a zillion other questions I have no answers or documents for.

Are any of these reasons for him to pull out?
He said he could complete in 2 weeks, one reason we accepted his offer.

His solicitor stated that the surveyor valued the house on consideration there was a damp course certificate. do people have these on really old properties which have probably sold many times since damp course built.

[HuckleberryGin]

It might mean that the surveyor down values the property, so buyer might want to negotiate price. You'll just have to say you don't have them.

We have boiler servicing as we get it done each year, the plumber writes and signs the front of the warranty book. But our boiler is only 6 years old.

[BumbleNova]

they might be New - it depends on whether he deems any of them serious enough to pull out and he would be entitled to do so if you cant answer his questions. it is very normal to raise lots of questions though, do you not have any docs from when you bought the house?

yes re the damp course - it came in with victorian building regs in 1860s. it was a physical one and air bricks were used. chemical damp proof courses are later.

[seven201]

We were asked for all of those things (except roof) and numerous others. We even had to get an asbestos check done on the communal hall that we only used to check our electricity meter - our front door was separate. The questions never end and we had to take out various indemnities for stuff we didn't have proof for eg for a longer some previous owner had put in above a window! Was worth it all in the end though. Damp certificates is pretty standard - are you sure you didn't get given those when you purchased? They often come with guarantees, some with Windows etc.

[NewLife4Me]

No, we had none of these when we bought and it was only 2 years ago.

I have copied our gas safety certificate for the boiler, but have no certificates.

Is he entitled to ask for my building insurance, I paid online and it's due to run out this month anyway?

Oh well, I guess if he wants to pull out it's up to him, I haven't paid anything yet.
Our solicitors didn't seem to ask many questions about damp etc. Maybe his are more thorough.

Thanks for the comments I was beginning to think he was playing games with us.
Maybe trying to renegotiate price, which we won't do.

[LaurieFairyCake]

You just say not known to what you don't know. I knew nothing about my last house and it didn't affect the sale at all. When extensions were built (80 plus years ago), damp proof (no clue but no damp).

The solicitor has to ask the questions, you don't have to know the answer.

[wowfudge]

Answer the queries honestly - if they relating to things which were done before your ownership, just state that. We got asked for copies of our gas, electricity and water bills. On the basis that all are metered and the new owners' usage could be completely different from ours I thought that was crackers, but hey ho.

[snowspider]

you do have to keep the buildings insured until completion though, even though the buyer will also have buildings insurance from exchange

[Spickle]

These questions are pretty standard ones. You can answer honestly, say you do not know and the buyer must rely on his own inspection and survey. Obviously anything done before your ownership you may not have paperwork for, so just say that. The local search may reveal building regulations or planning permission and will state whether a certificate was issued at the time and in this case, you would be expected to provide it or pay for a duplicate (or indemnity insurance). If you don't have full service history for your boiler, be prepared to get it serviced before exchange and provide the service report. The request for utility bills is just so the solicitor can confirm that services are connected to the property, i.e. connected to the mains sewer rather than private drains, sceptic tank etc. If you don't know who owns land behind the property just say that.

Just bear in mind that if you are evasive with your answers, the buyer's solicitor may sent a whole lot of new queries for you to answer - this all takes time and will scupper any chances of a quick completion. The quicker you can provide answers and/or paperwork, the better. Also, as the seller, you should pay for indemnity insurance not your buyer.

[seven201]

I was asked for buildings insurance and asked to see it on the house we purchased. Very standard. I don't see why anyone would take offence at that...

[NewLife4Me]

I have paid £22 for Indemnity already and have never heard of this before.
I must have had some ropey solicitors in my time.

Well, if they aren't satisfied this time, it's hard luck.
I wasn't trying to be difficult but never heard of all this stuff before and have bought and sold lots of houses.
I'm not paying for a hard copy of my insurance and can't remember my pass word anyway. As it runs out soon, it might not be the valid one they'd need anyway.

Thanks for all the comments, I guess I'm still annoyed he said he could complete in 2 weeks, back at end of february.
There's no chain, house completely empty and I have signed my contract.
Have a feeling he's going to try something like a reduction, in which case he'll lose the house as I'll just stick a tenant in.

[southwest1]

My buyers solicitors have asked us to take out an indemnity policy for almost £400 as the house is built over the sewer. Every house in the road is, they've been here for over 100 years, and we have a proper double sealed manhole cover in the back porch to access the sewer. The answer our solicitor got back was no thanks, we didn't need that, so they don't.

[StepAwayFromTheThesaurus]

Southwest: they can always buy it themselves if it matters to them.