OT: How to buy a house - timescales, etc...

[John Rumm]

They are legally obliged to disclose any connections between the vendor and the agent in the ads these days...

[Andy Burns]

Had never heard of the last one ... clicking their "how much is my home worth?" link leads to a form which demands that you enter "Approx property value", marvellous.

[Tim Lamb]

Something I tripped over recently.... estate valuation. HMRC take a close interest in property prices. One of the few nice things about death is that your estate does not have to pay capital gains tax.

However, where estate duty at 40% is balanced against CGT at 28% (now to be 20%) or 10%, there may be a temptation to under value residential assets.

Once the estate values are accepted, a new benchmark is set for future CGT calculations. There may be a further temptation on the part of inheritors selling the old family home to disguise such a gain...

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[John Rumm]

Also difficult in a rising market, since what may have been a perfectly acceptable valuation on the date of death, could be significantly below market rates by the time the inheritors are able to sell it.

[polygonum]

Blame Sarah Beeny!