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Patrick's Property Politics

Share All The Sh*t

Friday 23rd February 2024

By Patrick Bullick

My father was a country solicitor in Scotland, which meant - in practice - he spent a lot of his time selling properties, as was the way in those chilly Northern Territories at that time.

The Scottish method has long been that; once an offer has been accepted it is binding, a bit like an auction in England. So, all the ‘material information’ had to be gathered and revealed to buyers, in full, in advance.

There are pros and cons to this binding offer approach. A buyer may have to make offers on multiple properties without success. It can be a time consuming, dispiriting, and expensive process.

When I fell backwards into estate agency in 1989, my father’s advice was to ‘share all the shit’ with the buyer on the basis that; if they still offered then the deal should ‘stick’. Plus, he couldn’t waste time driving 10 miles, only to find the buyer dismiss the property for something they had not understood in advance, even if with his driving 10 miles only took 10 minutes!

I have adopted that philosophy all along - minus the driving - and it has served me well. On the odd occasions where we have not realised something material in advance, that is when a sale runs into trouble. Proving the point.

Trading Standards ‘material information’ rules for estate agents in England are gradually being introduced.

Part A has been in place since June 2022, though you would barely know it by the shear inaccuracy of the information on the main property portals - Rightmove, Zoopla and On The Market.

As an experiment last week, I did a search in Rightmove for flats in SW3 between £1m and £1.5m. On the first page alone, there were 20 agents - who had omitted even the most basic required information, such as lease length or service charge. These are definitely ‘material information’ under Part A, so those agents are all breaking the law - facilitated by Rightmove.

Don’t believe me? Have a look for yourself.

If you are buying a car on Autotrader you expect to see the exact model, the engine size, fuel consumption, insurance group and much more. So, when you go to see it, the decision will hinge on whether it smells of cigarettes or some foul air freshener. It should be the same with property.

Trading Standards Parts B & C come into effect from 1st June 24. Some of the required information is overkill but on the other hand the airing upfront of material information is vitally important to help smooth a sale.

Look out for more accurate representation of properties by agents from June. We hope!

If there is any aspect of this you would like to discuss do, please contact me.

Until next time….

PB

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