Flooding
Monday, July 4th, 2011One question that my clients bring up often, is what happens if the house isnt in the same condition when we take possession? Well, if you are a buyer, you will be happy to know by law it has to be in the exact same condition!
With all the rain we have been getting, there have been alot of flooded basements over the last few months. Some might be because of faulty foundations, and some might just be a once in a lifetime thing because of the record rainfall we have been experiencing – nonetheless, no one wants to move into a wet basement! Therefore, if a house floods in between the time of sale of the house, and the actual possession date, the seller is responsible (and quite often it is not covered by insurance). There are a couple ways to deal with this:
1) Either the seller can replace everything with the same products that were used before possession date.
2) the seller can offer cash back (usually through reduced sale price) to the buyer for an agreed amount, and it is then the buyers responsibility to fix.
Either way, there is usually an open dialogue between the buyer and seller so the result is in everyones best interest. The same principles appy to anything that may happen (ie. fire, hail, damage to the property) – it is the sellers responsibility to keep the property in the exact same condition as it was when the buyer did their last viewing. However, if something like a flood was to happen the day after possession, it is now the buyers sole responsibility to fix (unless it was a result of something the previous seller knew and did not disclose.)
Now you can rest assured on possession day you will be getting the house you bought!
