Selling my mother in law's house.

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My mother in law is in the early stages of dementia so we have bought her a flat in an assisted housing complex much nearer to where we live. My wife, who has power of attorney, is in the process of selling my mother in law's old house. we have a buyer who has offered the actual written price, as in we asked for offers over and they have offered the price we asked for offers over for, hope that makes sense. Anyway we have accepted that offer and now her solicitors have sent us a questionaire asking about various aspects of the building.

There is a plastic porch attached to the rear of the property that my mother in law had built when she moved in 2002. The solicitors have called it a conservatory and are asking if planning permission was obtained. We cannot find anything to say that planning permission was involved and as I said it is a plastic porch not a conservatory. There is no permanent wall built at the base of the porch and it is just screwed to the outside wall of the building and to the floor and then edges sealed. I could, quite easily take a sledge to it and knock it down without affecting the structure of the building in any way.

The kitchen area is a small square area off the main living room. Any dividing wall that was there has been knocked down (presumably) and a covered RSJ (again presumably) runs from the bathroom dividing wall to the outside wall. This was how the house was when my mother in law bought it back in 2002. They have asked my wife if this is a supporting wall. I have said it isn't BUT I am not qualified in any way to say whether it is or isn't a supporting wall and we can find no written evidence one way or the other.

They have also said that the area is a known subsidence area, news to us to be honest, but they have asked if there is any subsidence in the house. Again we have said no but we are not qualified to answer that question.

The last question they have asked is about the prefab garage that is on the premises. Again, this was in situ when my mother in law bought the house in 2002. They want to know if planning was obtained when it was built. Again we can find no written evidence of planning permission ever being obtained.

As I have said my mother in law is in the early stages of dementia and whilst, at the moment, she is quite able to carry on a near normal life she has no idea what these questions mean nor can she answer them. My wife has been asked to answer these questions and then sign a contract of "Whole or Registerd Transfers" for the land registry people.

My questions are:- Should I be concerned that the these questions have been asked?

Shouldn't the prospective buyer be engaging her own surveyor at their expense if they have any concerns about the structure of the property?

Should we sign the contract at this point in time or should we take advice? Who do we ask about all this stuff apart from here?

Apologies for the long post but these things are worrying me a little bit as this is the first time we have sold a property and the bottom line is that it is not our property nor our money after the sale so I want to make absolutely sure that my mother in law is not taken for a ride.
 
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I believe the procedure is simply to answer the questions only to the extent that you know or have reason to believe, but in each case add "your surveyor will advise". Then it's over to them.
But I'm not an expert, just quoting what has been my experience.
 
All standard questions - we moved last July and had the same. Just reply unknown if that is the case. Be prepared for the request you purchase indemnity insurance for these aspects. All a load of tosh from the solicitors. We told them to poke it and if the buyer felt indemnity insurance was necessary, they could purchase it. Also got asked to supply chancel repair insurance for the property we were selling - told them to poke that too. Can't imagine the response of the vicar knocking on the doors in the street asking for money for a new church roof! Don't even know where the church is..... Brace yourself for the unnecessarily over complicated house selling system. At least your not buying too.
 
Thanks for that both that is reassuring. The indemnity insurance question was asked but, as far as I am concerned they can take a running on that one. My take on it is that the purchaser should sort out any structeral queries by engaging a surveyor and any insurances that are needed should be purchased by the buyer. BUT as I say this is the first house we have sold and we are no experts. As I keep saying to my wife, "bottom line to this is that it is not our house nor will it be our money and if we get mucked about too much, i.e. with queries about reducing the price etc we can just take it off the market as we are not prepared to take anything less than we have accepted.
 
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All those things are well out of the enforcement periods for planning or building control, even if they needed either in the first place. Point that out to them if they start wibbling about indemnity policies.

Cheers
Richard
 
. BUT as I say this is the first house we have sold and we are no experts. As I keep saying to my wife, "bottom line to this is that it is not our house nor will it be our money and if we get mucked about too much, i.e. with queries about reducing the price etc we can just take it off the market as we are not prepared to take anything less than we have accepted.
We sold my wife's uncle's house at auction. My wife was executor. Easy no fuss method;)
 
Most of your replies will be, "N/A, as the property is as was when originally purchased".

As to the "conservatory", just suggest they look at the sales photos to confirm your description, and comment no planning permission required.

As to the question of subsidance, reply "none know, please refer to purchasers suveorys report for a more qualified opinion". If there has been susidance, then it would have been dealt with prior to your mothers puchase, so wouldn't be relevant; and you're mother would certainly have told you about any subsidance if she'd found any.

As to garage. Built prior to purchase in 2002.

As others have suggested, any indemnity insurance can be purchased by the purchaser, as it's for their peace of mind. And if they fail to instruct a structural surveyor, then any problems they find afterwards, will be their responsibility - caveat emptor applies here. You can sign the land resistry forms without any worries.

But why isn't your solicitor advising you accordingly.
 
Just sounds like the standard crap they reel off every time. I just answered to most things "No, to the best of my knowledge", and the lawyer then passed this on or adapted the wording as required.

It does amaze me how little property lawyers seem to know about property law sometimes!
 
Trust me, you'll get used to them - or more likely not. They just tick boxes to make sure they do nothing wrong, and that's about th best that can be said of them.

Hope it goes well though.
 
Should be obvious but do make sure the house is being sold by the attorney under the powers of attorney. Otherwise you will get caught for Capital Gains Tax.
 
Otherwise you will get caught for Capital Gains Tax

CGT only applies if you own the property as a second one or an investment, and then sell it later for a higher price. With the power of attorney, the OP is dealing with his mothers assets, so this wouldn't apply to him.

Solicitors raise these enquiries to justify their existence

More to cover their rear ends, as they really have no idea what they are doing.
 
More to cover their rear ends, as they really have no idea what they are doing.

quite the opposite it's because they do know what they're doing. They have to act in the best interests of their clients who aren't expected to know the ins and outs of these things. They ask the questions to ensure that their isn't any come back from their clients in the future.
 
Sorry Chappers, I've bought and sold enough properties to have come across only 2 good solicitors in all my dealings. The people you deal with in most conveyancing offices, are actually the clerks, and it'll only go near the solicitors if there's a problem, and they have to review the files. And as most of the clerks are still learning - on you that is - there will always be daft questions being asked.

I've got a good one at the moment, and I always hand over an expensive bottle of something at the end of a transaction, and everything seems to go smoothly each time, but still not perfectly, as he's admitted that it's still a conveyor belt system. The cut price conveyancing firms can be good and bad, as they handle a lot of properties, so learn quickly, but you can't guarantee who you get to do the work.
 

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