Home defects need not mean the end of a deal

A HOME defect that only becomes appar ent after an offer to purchase has been made will obviously come as a major dis appointment to buyers who may have spent months looking for their ideal home But it may not result in financial hardship or cancellation of the deal.

Even at this late stage all is not necessarily lost says Dr Piet Botha chairman of the Nationlink estate agency group.

Bearing in mind that the sellers are probably just as anxious as the buyers to see the home transferred without any hitches they may still be prepared to negotiate an adjustment of the price or perhaps pay for the newly discovered defect to be repaired says Botha.

Most will realise that if the current buyers pull out of the deal they will have to disclose the now known defect to any future buyers and will probably achieve a lower sale price anyway.

And most sellers will definitely not relish the prospect of the legal action the buyers could instigate if they believe the defect was deliberately concealed from them in order to secure a higher offer.

Botha warns though that the scope of the problem may be bigger than initially thought and that a need for additional work may only become apparent once repairs have begun.

The buyer who agrees to go ahead with the purchase at a lower price will have to be satisfied that the saving will cover the cost of all the work that needs to be done.

Indeed the key to a really satisfactory outcome for buyers and sellers is to seek independent professional advice on the extent of the problem the repairs needed and the probable cost of those repairs Then they can negotiate who will pay and how much.

It is possible he says that a seller and buyer will agree to split the cost of the work This is a solution that may well suit buyers who have already planned some additions or improvements that can be carried out at the same time as the repair work.

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