Buyers Questions

[sellingmyhouse2024]

Name changed due to location being named on previous post.

Our buyers have had a survey done ages ago and are now asking questions that we feel should have been covered in the survey.

Drainage, Chimney stacks, damp, asbestos, flood risk, subsidence, floorboard condition- the list goes on and on!

We don't want to answer their list of questions without legal advice but the estate agent is encouraging us to do it.

The surveyor should be answering these questions in our opinion. We don't want to put them off but also don't want to do anything that could come back to bite us.

Yes I do think you need to answer their questions. I had absolutely loads from the buyers solicitor, weeks after the survey. Many of these questions are so that they are legally covered and so you need to be absolutely honest and not sugar coat anything. At the same time, you also need to take reasonable steps to answer so it’s not always enough to put ‘not to my knowledge’, if you can reasonably have found out a bit more.

So for example, I was asked ‘what was the cause of the damp in bedroom 1’ - I did not actually know there was damp as it was a very small corner. So I put that I did not know the cause and enclosed any previous damp proof surveys and work.

@regenerate are you my buyer haha!? I know the curtains in the lounge are hideous 😀

So just to follow up. You are not a surveyor, so are not expected to ‘find out definitively’ but as the home owner, they are asking if you have any knowledge, any previous knowledge, or suspected knowledge on something that you reasonably should know.

You may not know about whether your ceilings are asbestos. But if you have had knowledge, and you don’t pass this on, then this could be bought up later.

How cynical 🤨

I feel as if my OP was worded wrong - I ramble on!

I have no problem answering the questions. They are not negative answers but should it be done through solicitor rather than EA?

they asked through ea

straightforward ones through ea

thorny ones refer to solicitor

Thanks, nothing thorny apart from the massive Japanese Knotwood in the backyard obviously

I had to do both, for some questions, and some I was really put on the spot by the EA which is a bit unprofessional really. But I copied in the solicitor and the EA. I did actually ask my solicitor for advice in answering the questions but they didn’t give any. I looked up what to do online!

@SingleMum11 thanks, I'll send my answers to solicitor also. Appreciate all the advice.

These are definitely NOT the sort of enquiries the EA should be fielding - are they inexperienced? I’d direct them to go via solicitors.

hi there, while I understand your worry, you needn't be :) I'm a buyer and asked my vendor the same or similar questions, simply because their property is very old and they were nice enough to share they hadnt updated it for 30 years (it was obvious). They just told us what they did or didn't know and that was it. They were very responsive and we could tell they were trying to be helpful. It just helped us out and added to the surveyor report. for example, surveyor found damp in the chimney, so we asked them about it... has it happened before, any repairs, any problems etc etc. In this market, you may lose your buyer if you come across unhelpful or witholding. It really is up to you, but you could run it past your conveyancer first, but there is nothing to be worried about. under certain circumstances, you are legally obliged to share some things e.g subsidence and things like that. i hope this was helpful from the other side :)

@cupcakesarelife thats a great help thank you. We definitely aren't hiding anything but wanted to be protected from any fallout. You're right though and we can only answer to the best of our ability.

Conveyancer hasn't got back to us so we'll gather the info we need and get some answers together. They're a lovely family and we want them to be happy here :)

I can completely understand why it feels worrying and your concerns are valid. I feel they (your buyers) are probably just looking for that "reassurance" to take the big step towards purchase. Don't give them a reason to back out, but also, don't say about the house what might not be true. I completely believe you that you have nothing to hide :) Just be as forthcoming as possible and I think human? :) Just show your keen to sell and trying your best, they will end up relying on the surveyor's report anyway, but just sound like they need a more "psychological" assurance about their decision. Good luck!