I recently wrote about the new law making it compulsory for sellers to make a declaration about the condition of the property they are putting on the market so that the buyer is fully aware of its condition including faults that may need to be fixed.
I am told there is a Gauteng family that bought a house at an auction only to find it occupied by “illegal tenants” who did not want to move out.
I have been asked discuss how this can be avoided or addressed.
My advice is simple: sellers should declare what they know about the property and they should draw up a contract that makes it clear that the buyer is buying a property that he/she has seen and done the necessary investigations on their own.
The new law regarding seller declarations has only just come into force and it’s not surprising some people could be facing challenges when buying property and don’t know how the new law could assist them.
To begin with, the new law means that the seller is required to declare any faults or condition of the building that is being sold or those that he should reasonably be aware of.
Remember sellers seldom have the skills necessary to know whether or not there were, for example, problems with the foundations unless these had caused problems in the past.
In my opinion, this is yet another piece of legislation that gives more rights to purchasers than they should have.
While I am happy that sellers should indicate any serious problems that they were aware of or should have been aware of, it should also be a requirement that a buyer should understand that they are not buying a new property and should take reasonable care to know what they are buying.
This includes the physical state of the building and anything else that could be going on at the property.
It has always been the case that a seller could never deliberately hide problems – for example, cover over serious dampness with a bookcase or not let a buyer know about roof leaks.
But, in my opinion, it is simply making it more difficult to contract freely.
On the other hand, buyers should carefully look at properties that they are considering buying.
Nobody can expect them to climb into roof spaces and again buyers cannot be considered experts in buildings.
Normally serious problems would be visible from the inside or outside of a property.
Both sellers and buyers should look carefully to see that water flows properly and that there are no serious problems with the building on the market.
They should also remember that not every small defect is a problem.
I have lived in my house for over 45 years.
Is it perfect?
No.
But those small problems – little cracks or a solar system that trips if there is especially heavy rain are not serious problems.
Bottom line: one is buying a second-hand product and not a new one.
It is therefore important to thoroughly inspect it and be sure about its availability before entering into or concluding any purchase agreement.
- Mike Spencer is the founder and owner of Platinum Global. He is also a professional associated property valuer and consultant with work across the country as well as Eastern Europe and Australia.