One of the things that needs to be done before selling a property is to inform a potential buyer about any structural problems that pose a danger to the health of the inhabitants. For example, whether there are cracks in the foundation in the house, pests or, perhaps, lead paint.
But an equally necessary thing is an explanation of the «emotional defects» that housing has. The list of such «defects» includes murders, suicides, and any violent crimes that occurred within the walls of the dwelling. Moreover, in countries such as Spain, homeowners should even report rumors of any «paranormal activity» when selling.
It doesn't matter if you believe in ghosts or not, this information is legally binding and can even become the subject of legal proceedings. For example, in cases when a tenant or a buyer of real estate finds out, after signing a contract, that the house is rumored to be «haunted». Therefore, due to superstition, a person demands an urgent termination of the contract due to the fact that the owner hid this information and even compensation.
Therefore, do not neglect the following steps:
- If you are a seller, then study the local laws on what information should be provided to the buyer when offering the goods. In each city and region, and even more so in countries, there may be their own, extremely specific regulations for such activities. Sometimes the seller will even need to dig into the history of real estate that preceded his taking possession.
- If you are a buyer, then you should not always rely only on the integrity of the seller or the law. Take the time to independently study the history of the housing that you want to purchase. In such cases, it is better to resort to the help of specialists, since the study of history may require familiarization with many documents, up to newspaper clippings.
- Also, if you are a buyer, take the time to get to know and talk to future neighbors. They may have information or rumors that you will not get access to by other means. Neighbors will also tell you about the area, other neighbors, the identity of the seller himself.
- In both cases, read in detail the history of purchases, sales, repairs of housing. It will be useful to establish its origin, including who, how and when built and, if this happened, carried out repairs.