Page 3 | To not list all of the houses faults when we come to sell it?

NC223344 · 2022-01-09T18:37:03+00:00

It’s wonky, damp, some radiators don’t work, taps are linked up wrong way hot/cold, windows are shit, oven not actually screwed into the unit, it’s built on a brook.. you get the picture the list goes on. Anyway, if I want to sell it do I have to tell people this crap or do they just figure it out themselves sold as seen type thing. If I have to say then nobody will ever buy it, surely.

Dibbydoos · 09/01/2022 19:51

Bad things get picked up in the survey, otherwise caveat emptor applies ie its down to the buyer to figure it out....

But if you are asked a direct question you must be honest because if you're not, then you are at fault and they can make a claim against you.

tilder · 09/01/2022 19:54

Our house is wonky and damp. It's called character. Most houses round here are the same. Old houses are generally like that.

Don't hide stuff, answer honestly. Don't misadvertise. If we listed everything to do with our house, it would be a book.

PissedOffNeighbour22 · 09/01/2022 19:55

Might be worth saying it's a renovation project - unless that's obvious?

For my old house the surveyor did all the silly things like turning on the taps. For the house I've just bought which I had a full survey on, they tested practically nothing. The house is full of issues we didn't know about and the previous owners lied about a flood. The internal doors don't even close, they didn't admit to the rodent problem and didn't bother to put any drainage in so all the downpipes just run against the house. They're the easiest to fix but there's much worse to deal with.

I think with very old houses it's expected that they're not up to standard and you could uncover just about anything (as we have).
Sadly ours is too bad to sell on without a full renovation.

BasketBlocks · 09/01/2022 20:00

We had an issue with our extension roof after moving in. There was historic water damage - nothing major - and just assumed that it’d been sorted. It hadn’t!

In fairness, we should’ve asked more questions and got a better survey.

whirlycarly · 09/01/2022 20:03

We once bought a house with a conservatory - the seller didn't disclose that they hadn't actually paid for it and I got a nice visit from the bailiffs a few months after we'd moved in.

This kind of shit puts me off moving. Its awful to slowly discover the problems. I get issues sorted when they crop up, irritating though it is.

CreamFirstThenJamOnTop · 09/01/2022 20:03

I wouldn’t expect to be told about these things - anything major should be picked up on during a survey and anything else is just stuff you have to deal with as and when you find it.

Every house we’ve bought has had a load of unknown shit to fix. Annoying but not unmanageable.

incognitodorrito · 09/01/2022 20:04

It’s a super cunt move to not disclose these to buyers. Sort it before you move OP

Original poster

NC223344 · 09/01/2022 20:19

Sort it before you move OP

Hmmmmm, one rad will cost approx: removal of flooring, removal of floor boards, removal of pipes that have been chased into the walls.. then once kink is found repair and replace everything. What a fucking palaver when a £30 electric radiator has done the job sufficiently well.

We’ve had people out.. lots of people.
As I’ve said before the cost of fix to irritation ratio doesn’t make sense.

OP posts:

FuzzyPenguin · 09/01/2022 20:24

We were very honest about the flaws in our old house when we came to sell. Rising damp, leaking roof, windows blown and goodness knows what was happening in the attic to name just a few things.
We figured that there was no point in hiding them at the viewings as they would show up in the survey and even if they didn’t I would have felt awful as we were not told the truth when we bought the house.
If was disheartening when we had low views and we would have liked more money for it. But after 9 months it sold.

Cosmos123 · 09/01/2022 20:29

You should really maintain the property you live in.
Houses always need care and attention to stop problems becoming expensive headaches.

bilbodog · 09/01/2022 20:32

If your house needs a lot doing which shows up in a survey then you will only get offers accordingly.

Valmur · 09/01/2022 20:35

I the questions you are asked by the buyers’ solicitors cover this type of issue. If you lie and deny problems that exist (or try and fudge it by not mentioning issues that exist) then there is a possibility of you being found to have undertaken a fraudulent or negligent misrepresentation. The buyers could sue you and secure substantial damages.

Quite aside from the moral aspect this also means that your new house may end up being owned by your lawyers. Why take the risk?

Dibbydoos · 09/01/2022 20:35

Didn't the solicitor check about the conservatory? How awful. People are predisposed to be liars and cheats cos we like in a capitalist world. Remaining hopeful for life in an honest and honorable society one day when we realise money is worth shit....!

Original poster

NC223344 · 09/01/2022 20:54

Cosmos you haven’t read my posts, we’ve spent thousands making good as we’ve gone along. The things left aren’t ‘worth it’ to repair. This is how we found the house..

OP posts:

AlbertBridge · 09/01/2022 21:00

With your taps, are the pipes engraved with H and C? Or could you just swap the tap heads over?

GreenFingersWouldBeHandy · 09/01/2022 21:02

Be honest. Please.

It's your fault your bought a faulty/wonky house in the first place without researching it properly.

Original poster

NC223344 · 09/01/2022 21:05

It’s a mixer albert.

It’s been a lovey house to live in, as some have said on this very thread old houses are damp and wonky. Maybe only those with that opinion would show an interest anyway and I’m overthinking.

OP posts:

ChateauMargaux · 09/01/2022 21:31

House number one: ‘spongy floor board’ found on survey.. retention until fixed by seller which they did.. but they didn’t fix the rest of the rotting floor boards or the rotten joists or fix the leaking pipes that caused the rot in the first place. We also had to strip layers of wall paper and take gloss off wood chip and hack off tiles that had been put on over tiles.. reckon we increased the internal dimensions of the flat by 5%!

Second purchase... amateur DIY fanatic... electrics were shocking... live wires attached to switches, random inexplicable circuits between lights and switches, loft conversion which was pointless as it would never meet regulations. Worst was the garden where they spent ‘000s putting plants in that were way too big for the space so we spent years taking them out when they got too big.

House number 3... dodgy loft again but that was OK. The house was full of quirky colours and bespoke bits of semi fitted furniture, embarrassing when we put half of it on free cycle having negotiated to have it included in the sale and they came to claim it back. Every door and window was warped and didn’t fit... they had the doors dipped.. badly!! The house was Freezing!! When they come round, they did their new house was cold... And the house stank of dog.. we ripped up the carpet and lining but there was one patch where the dog wee had soaked the floor boards.

House number 4... lots of good things... but dear god the electrics.... there are literally spaghetti plates of wires in some places. We needed some new lights and rather than work out the existing wiring, the electrician just ran new ones. There is stuff of nightmares hidden behind the shower cubicle. We have a system of wiring for garden lights... concealed under paving slabs the garden with uncovered cables wrapped in tape and the piece de resistance (we are in France) is the underground watering system, discovered when we were renovating the bathroom.. it came on all on its own, pump sunk into the ground sounding like it was going to jump out, hithertoo concealed sprinklers popped out of the ground and it took us best part of 2 hours to work out how to turn it off... no switches, no stop cock, not connected to main water mains and the previous owners genuinely seemed to think we had lost the plot when we asked. It was part of project by pervious owners we believe which has also thrown up other issues which are too expensive to fix, not least the totally useless ‘spare house’ which blocks our view of the mountains and our access to our own garden. We rent it out but would rather knock it down, but as they built a huge wine cellar under it, the demolition costs would be astronomical.

So be like every other fucker and say nothing!!!

Kite22 · 09/01/2022 21:33

@Tal45

No one told us any of the issues we found in either of our houses and I would not tell people if I was selling either. I wouldn't lie if I was asked but I'm not going to go round telling them all the flaws.

This ^

It is up to the people buying a house to look out for things that are important to them.

Sold as seen tho be aware that things like that will come up on the survey
Most of what OP has listed wouldn't come up on a survey. (Having looked at a survey within the last week)

Everyone who buys a house is going to uncover things that need work as they start to live in the house, the same as you do when you have lived in a house forever. As long as you are honest with the forms you have to fill in, you don't have to go around pointing out it's flaws on the advertising material - of course you don't.
The EA can market it with "in need of a little TLC" or "In need of some updating" and house is priced accordingly.

ExchangedCat · 09/01/2022 21:38

How do you describe the previous owners of your house when discussing how many problems the house has and how much you've had to do? Because that, or worse, is how the next owners will describe you.

LettertoHermoine · 09/01/2022 21:50

It will come back and bite you on the arse. Low down, shitty thing to do. You are selling a house for a price that people think is worth it and then when they move in they find out they have been duped. Lowest of the low.

HardbackWriter · 09/01/2022 22:13

I am curious about whether the people who say they would declare every single flaw of the house to prospective buyers have ever actually sold a house?

I've never seen a property advert that lists anything along these lines - if it's an absolute wreck then it's 'in need of modernisation', if it has literally started to fall down then it's 'a possible renovation project'. Otherwise every house on the market is described as if it's flawless. I have also never seen a house that didn't have at least a few issues.

Hb12 · 09/01/2022 22:19

We've never told anyone anything when selling. Agent does listing, viewings etc. Never spoken to buyers really.

Presumably a survey and searches would show up most things?

Hb12 · 09/01/2022 22:20

And is valued accordingly by an agent?

daimbarsatemydogsbone · 09/01/2022 22:23

@HardbackWriter

I am curious about whether the people who say they would declare every single flaw of the house to prospective buyers have ever actually sold a house?

I've never seen a property advert that lists anything along these lines - if it's an absolute wreck then it's 'in need of modernisation', if it has literally started to fall down then it's 'a possible renovation project'. Otherwise every house on the market is described as if it's flawless. I have also never seen a house that didn't have at least a few issues.

Exactly - this is ridiculous, these are houses not a brand new TV set.