First Time Buyers. Lighthearted Rant

[Finfintytint]

I’m selling my deceased mother’s house to a couple of first time buyers.

Please tell me it is natural for first time buyers to expect the earth.

As a first time buyer do you expect to obtain evidence of planning permission from a national house builder for a massive urban development that began 30 years ago? ( mum’s house was one of the first built).
Do you want to know the personal contact details and qualifications of an electrician sub contracted by British Gas to fit a new boiler?

Would you want evidence from the council that a main thoroughfare with associated access for footpaths, dropped kerbs, bin collection, lighting for the last 30 years has adopted the road?

I may be naive and they maybe natural questions but I am getting a bit fed up of mindless obstructions.
Apparently they really want the house and want to be in by Christmas but they are stalling the process themselves.

YANBU. How old are they, OP? It may just be a case of entitled millennials wanting everything on a plate.

YANBU. How old are they, OP? It may just be a case of entitled millennials wanting everything on a plate.

Is this a joke? Do you really think this FTB couple is asking for extra information out of a sense of entitlement? Entitlement to what, exactly; documents?

They are late twenties. They want a 30year old house as a new build.
I appreciate those who have given opinions on what is expected in terms of surveys , etc but I’m realistic. My last buy was a 150/year old cottage. I know it’s old and a bit shite. A 30 year old house is a dream.

Good winter, the information they are asking is farcical.

Looks like it's probably just millennialitis then. DH and I rent a few properties out and it's always the millennials who ask a bunch of awkward questions during the viewings. Needless to say we vary rarely accept applications from people in that age category.

They don't need to be asking you most of these questions. Their solicitor or them can easily find out themselves about planning permission and things like that. They can also call gas safe and find out if the boiler was installed by a gas safe engineer. I agree, it's very annoying and their solicitor will charge them to find out all these things but is passing the buck to you to find out and you don't get anything extra for your time and effort.

The next time the solicitor or them asks you something that can easily be found out with a little research, direct them to where they can find out. We were first time buyers 5 years a go and did the research we had to do.

It’s just what it’s like when you buy/sell a house. There are loads of queries that common sense would say must be fine, but they have to ask and have evidence anyway. And it’s never the buyers who ask those questions, it’s the solicitors, doing their job and there could be consequences for everyone involved if they didn’t. It’s also surprising how often they do find something wrong.

It’s a boring, annoying, frustrating and expensive process. I don’t think them being “millennials” had anything to do with it. I’m don’t think they’re particularly known for their love of legal minutiae.

I was a first time buyer a couple of years ago and we didn't want to do anymore than we had to in the process and it still took 11 weeks roughly as christmas was in between so not every first time buyer in their 20's is like that.
I think possibly some of the questions will be the solicitors, we weren't that bothered even about the gas safety certificate as we knew the boiler was old so would probably need testing by ourselves anyway but our solicitor said we had to have one. They were paid a fixed fee through our bank so wouldn't do anything they didn't have to.

Good winter, the information they are asking is farcical.

Ok, but I'm replying to the poster calling them millennial snowflakes. What's more likely, that they're asking for thoroughfare adoption details out of a "sense of entitlement" (how does that even work?) or that their solicitor is requesting it?

I know you know it's the solicitor, but @LensGlans' comments are just absurd.

@finfintytin
@Finfintytint

Okay boomers

Seriously, I think this is normal these days and isn’t related to either FTB or inexperienced lawyers. In any case your “lawyer” these days is more likely to be a qualified legal exec or conveyancer they are cheaper.

asking for thoroughfare adoption details out of a "sense of entitlement"

OP you appear a bit confused about who you're pissed off at and why, but I agree that anyone asking you/your solicitor for the spark's qualifications is batshit and not a normal part of conveyancing. The other stuff sounds reasonable though.

It'll be their solicitor asking for these, not the Ftb.

I don't get the frustration. These kids are about to spank their life savings on a deposit and take out a huge mortgage debt. Why the hell wouldn't they want to know the ins and outs of the asset that they are buying. Ultimately they are the ones that are going to be stuck with any liabilities if everything wasn't done by the book historically - hence the legal premise of "buyer beware". Your appetite for risk seems lower than theirs, but doesn't mean they are "wrong"!

Also, calling total bull on posters referencing millennial entitlement. You guys are the worst.

I am in mid Wales OP, and am buying a house. It is frustrating for me that the vendors' seem to be taking ages to supply basic details, eg about right of way and planning permissions. It has also highlighted their own solicitors' ineptitude when they themselves bought the house.
Good luck with it though- the market here is so sluggish atm and I do hope everything goes through for you!

Thanks everyone. It was meant to a frustrated rant

YABU in a major way

I was in a chain where my vendor almost pulled out because their vendor was unable to provide documents proving that the land through which the property was accessed belonged to the property as it was not at all clear. Basic stuff really if you think about the fact that someone could potentially cut off access to your own home if indeed it didn't. That was just one of the things and all of those things were being queried by the bank. The details of the electrician - that's required by the bank too.

Their vendor had the same cavalier attitude as you. It was infuriating for all of us in the chain.

You're selling a house. Do what's required.

My poor solicitor had to go back to the company that built the house (in 1951) to get them to do a variation on the covenant because legally speaking they'd built the wrong house on the plot! Luckily the company are still around and are also the leaseholders so wrote us a letter basically saying "Yes, we KNOW, it's on us, please never mention it again".

But the bank didn't like it so we had to sort it.

Blimey this thread escalated quickly! Planning permission documents are in the public domain so are you being asked for them or is your solicitor relating what is being asked? The issue with 30 year old permissions is that the documents are likely to have been archived, possibly not digitally, and there is additional cost and time involved in obtaining them.

Well to be fair with the ground rent scandal, whole estates were sold by the developers with the ground rent doubling every 10 years or so, then some were told, then once day a solicitor questioned it and suddenly it became clear the houses were unsalable and not worth anything in the medium to long term.
The original buyers did actually get compensated in the end, but anyone who had bought second hand were basically stuffed. You'd hope your solicitors are the ones who noticed the detail rather than the ones who didn't!

Some were SOLD not told. I mean resold by the original purchasers