Enquiries- what do buyers enquire about?

[QueenOwl]

I get that solicitors might have enquiries based on search results or whatever, and perhaps surveys might throw up questions, but I've seen loads of posts here saying buyers have raised tonnes of queries (saw one post that quoted nearly 100!) and I'm curious, what enquiries? Are they deal breaking enquiries or just nice to know stuff?

We are buying a house and I feel like we asked all the important deal-breaking questions before we put an offer in? We've had a few things thrown up by the survey but even then I don't think the vendors have a clue re the random concerns thrown up, and they weren't significant. We'll take the risk..

What enquiries did you make and why? Should we be making enquiries on our purchase? What should we be asking?

These are the standard enquiries solicitors raise

Local authority search carried out with the borough council to check for planning permissions, building control sign-offs and rights of way
Checking your mortgage offer to ensure that any specific requirements that the lender insists on are adhered to. (These could include a promise on your part to undertake specific maintenance works on the property within an agreed period)
Checking for any other charges secured against the property such as secured loans
Highlighting anything restricted by covenant in the deeds. (Such covenants can prevent you from developing the property or from a changing the land use)
Reviewing current ownership of the property
Checking for relevant gas safety checks and boiler maintenance
Checking the environmental report for issues of contaminated land
Checking when the property was last rewired and whether that is in line with current regulations
Asking whether the property has ever suffered from flooding, subsidence, structural defects or drainage issues
Checking whether any previous owners have ever been denied buildings insurance and if so, why.
Checking for any additional insurance premiums in place due to environmental factors (These could include close proximity to a river which leads an increased chance of flooding)
Checking trees near the property to assess the risk of structural damage and whether a tree preservation order is in place
Checking that all drains at the property clear and accessible if repairs are required
Checking who is responsible for drain maintenance and any associated costs
Checking whether there is a septic tank associated property and if so, how many properties share it and what arrangements are in place for its maintenance and any repairs
Confirming connection to the local water system

Plus there are many others buyers will raise that are specific to the property.

It's more buyer requested ones I'm curious about. Sorry, perhaps I worded my OP badly!

I understood what you meant OP ☺️ We haven't asked our sellers anything and can't really envisage asking anything beyond what our solicitors would ask, but reading some of the experiences on here I'm slightly terrified that we'll have loads of enquiries from our buyers as they're FTBs and seem quite easily spooked 🤦🏻‍♀️

They should really dig into relations with neighbours...

When people say "their buyers" have raised loads of enquiries, I think they do generally mean the solicitors rather than the buyers themselves.

One that we got directly from our buyer was whether there were any rules to stop her planting "a tree of a certain size" in the garden.

And one that we raised for our own vendors was whether there were any service arrangements in place for the air conditioning system.

Add a whole load more for a flat.

When i was a first time buyer I asked about council tax and utility costs because that was really important for my budgeting. They didn't tell me though.

Many many questions from their survey.

There are also legal enquiries to do with the title, rights granted and reserved, restrictive covenants, right of way etc

You have good information here, and I would add as @Hels20 suggests, this is vital, and if you can dig in person, chatting to various neighbours as your own detective, you will discover more than the solicitor could be expected to know. The 'whose boundary' question is a potential future vexation, too. Also, local talk will know about the peculiar no-man's land of planning intentions which will go ahead, and will affect you, but which have not been formally processed by the local authority and therefore won't show on standard searches.

On a similar point, the standard enquiries before contract may be limited to immediate proximity, whereas the intention or even the fully approved plans to do something may be technically outwith the area covered, but would very much make a difference to your decision. e.g. a mega development which will bring construction traffic and noise for years, then swamp the quiet neighbourhood with a vast additional population, and devalue the peace premium you are buying.

With a newbuild, there are chances of faulty construction. Disgracefully, developers routinely demand purchasers sign non disclosure notices, as a condition of doing repairs, with the deliberate intention of not letting word get out about all the faults.

However, the idea of asking the seller is of limited value, since a) they may not be worth suing and pursuing and b) it may not be provable that they knew, even if the rest of the neighbourhood did, and c) in the case of neighbour disputes, as long as nothing is actually on record, they could later say they got on well with all neighbours, even despite any 'occasional misunderstandings'.

I got asked, "on the form you say there is on street parking, but I see that you have a garage on the listing. Please clarify" clearly from the solicitors, rather than buyers. I felt like just saying yes, but instead had to explain the concept of on street parking still being there despite the existence of my garage
They also asked if my maisonette had any communal areas internally. (definition of maisonette being no internal shared areas. Lol)
They also disputed the definition of the word shed for three weeks until the buyers were told to reign their bloody useless solicitors in, and we exchanged the next day

We are buying and our conveyancer asked about the conservatory structure and roof and the boiler service cert

Surely rather depends on the house, it’s age and the buyer? Recently built house on a cookie cutter estate needs rather less info for the buyer than a 300 year old cottage with numerous more recent additions. Even recent houses can be subject to the Spanish Inquisition from overly cautious buyers.

I've just had enquiries from my buyer. My lawyer could answer 75% of them (copy of head lease, when was building last decorated, copy of last service charge blah blah). A lot are just box ticking (I don't really think the buyer cares to know how much was spent on fire safety checks three years ago).
The other questions were : will instructions for XYZ be left, who maintains the balcony, where is the allocated parking space, confirmation the orioerty will be empty snd clear of possessions etc. Not very earth shattering questions.
I'm buying and I'm sure my lawyer will ask for, if not already provided: gas safety certificate, insurance certificate, any building regs sign offs (if applicable), information about the alarm system, and so on.
Delays can happen because one side's lawyer complies the questions after combing through provided material (taking a few days), sends it to the other sides' lawyer, who attempt to answer, (a couple days) then they ask their client questionsctheu couldn't answer, who may take a few days to respond, then lawyer writes it up (another couple days) and then send it back to other side who review it (another couple days) then further queries raised if needed, then complie report for their clients (another few days) send that out and the client reviews it (or not).

I'd ask age of the boiler, windows and roof as they are big expenses once they're old. I turn on all the taps and showers to check they work and don't leak. Check they have the keys to window locks. I would potentially speak to neighbours or ask about neighbours. We asked if any noisy dogs next door. As pp said, it depends on the house.

When I was a tenant in a house my LL was trying to sell I had viewers asking for council tax and utility bills, what neighbors were like and so on. It was not my job to sell the house for my LL so I told them the neighbor had tried to steal a parcel from me and had several times sent work people onto the property without notice or permission in order to do work on theirs. Needless to say the house did not sell!

We asked about the boiler, the electrics and the extension that they built. We also asked about neighbours and fence ownership -maintenance responsibility.

A couple of small things came up in the survey, like drains and loft access and we asked about those.

Based on our enquiries we stipulated that we wanted the boiler to be serviced and a certification from Thames water that the drains were moved when they extended. All straightforward and was done.

With flats, enquiries often are related to following up partial info in the seller’s pack or chasing the evidence.

It could include:

• info about ground rent and receipts to show it has been paid up to date
• name and address of freeholder (absent ones cause issues on sale)
• info about service charges and if paid up to date
• info about planned major maintenance works and cost sharing

-info about management companies and their contracts -info about neighbours having paid their shares of service charges/maintenance work

• queries onerous lease terms and possibilities of those being amended or indemnity insurances being funded by seller...could include discussion about lease extension being started and passed onto buyer etc
• queries about evidence and certification of previous work such as FENSA certs for double glazing or certs for cavity wall insulation

Often sellers don’t provide all this info initially and have to be chased for it. Sometimes they don’t have it or never had it and that’s where indemnities are often organised as the quickest and easiest way to over these.

There can also be ongoing enquiries to establish funding of the buyer....money in bank, gifted deposits, mortgage approval and any terms attached to it.

Queries may arise from searches about Japanese knotweed, chancel repair commitments, planning permission granted nearby, radon in the area.

Most of it is standard stuff conveyances do every day. They just keep raising the Qs with the other solicitor, and the other solicitor contacts their client to get the answer or approaches whichever organisations have the answers and feed back the answers. Often they answer some of the Qs raised but not all. So then the original solicitor asks again. And again and they keep going until all enquiries are answered or it is accepted that there are no answers or evidence for some and then if indemnities are needed, or it is just possible to proceed without that info.

Some solicitors are quick to ask and to respond. Some clients are quick to respond and others take ages to find evidence or get back to their solicitor.

The thing in your control is to respond by return to any questions asked of you and to send the evidence asked for. Having all your ducks in a row before starting helps massively. Keep several photocopies of everything ready, lots of large A4 envelopes and lots of large envelope stamps and know where your last posting post box is. Have access to a scanner too and keep the email address/phone number/fax number of the solicitor or mortgage co in your phone or with you. Expect to put time into shifting it all along.

Yes, buyers might also want to know about who is responsible for each fence, they might ask about if neighbouring properties are owner occupied or rented and about neighbourly relations and maintenance. They might want to know about how recently boiler replaced, how recently decorating done or kitchen out in. Council tax is often asked about and some people ask for estimates of gas/elec costs.

Some buyers carry out non-official enquiries...ie not via solicitor. They might drive by to assess parking or traffic at different times of day or week (should do this before offer not after) or might loiter to talk to neighbours about area and neighbours and to listen to traffic or children playing out etc....they are getting a feel for the area. Again, most of this is done by those who are interested before offering.

Some buyers get overly interested in fittings and fixtures. Some ask to do multiple visits for looking at curtains (if included) or for measuring up if not. Many people agree that after offer is a accepted, one more visit close to exchange is okay, but more than this is a bit ridiculous. People need to take careful notes about a property before offering ...many do this on a 2nd visit. Typical things to note (or that some later ask about are)

• number of sockets in each room
• curtain systems - poles or tracks
• clarifying kitchen cupboard numbers and style
• checking shower type and boiler type
• noting damp and decorating defects
• noting fence condition, greenhouse , shed etc

I’m not sure if this has already been said but if your Buyer is having a mortgage the Conveyancer may have enquiries that are not from your Buyer but part of the lender requirements.

Big issue for our buyer was the fuse box. We had been told quite a few times that we needed a new one, so we had one put in by British Gas just before we put the property on the market. The question was 'Is it plastic or metal?' We replied that it was metal, had been fitted on X date, complied with current regs etc. After going and froing for quite a while the buyer insisted on coming round to inspect it.