What you are about to read is roughly based on a true story and anyone who reads this site on a regular basis knows that I rarely use names.
Once upon a time a guy decided to buy a house but before he committed he had his friend come along and have a look. There was a swing set and a nice sandbox in the backyard. The buyer asked his friend if he knew if the swing set and sandbox would be sold with the house. The friend said yes.
I am not totally making this up. People ask friends or relatives all sorts of questions they should be asking their real estate agent and that agent should be asking the sellers directly.
Friends can be quick to show case their knowledge especially if they just bought a house and maybe the swing set and sand box were included. In the case I am writing about they were not included but if the buyer had asked for them the seller may have left them behind.
I heard a father tell his daughter that a particular repair is certainly taken care of by the home owners association but when I looked at the association documents I discovered that what the father said wasn’t true. Yes sometimes parents make mistakes.
Bringing a friend along while house hunting is a great idea but if you have questions he or she might not be the best person to ask. In general we don’t like to make any assumptions about what is included in the sale or what a home owners association might cover. That should all be in writing.
