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Comment by DerArzt | Hacker News Reader

This is an interesting personal project, but as someone who would want to sell a house why would I want potential buyers to know issues that I have had with my property? If I don't legally have to disclose something about the house when selling, odds are that I would want the buyer to not know about it unless it was something beneficial like a new roof (which I would list anyhow).

This is an interesting idea, but if you are planning to try to make a business out of this (it's unclear if you are to me) I don't believe that people will be on the same wavelength as you about the history of a house.

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I really appreciate that, and this is one of the main pieces of feedback I was looking for. I would like to make it a business, so I've been studying the issue and it seems there is a gap in the market for homeowners who want to plan and document their work outside of Excel, paper, etc. I've also heard that there are some sellers who would like to transfer detailed "knowledge" about a house to future owners, and certainly many buyers who would value that information. But I certainly don't plan to force anyone to share anything about the house (issues, work done, etc.) that they don't want to share. Your perspective is extremely helpful.

If it doesn't make sense for homeowners, I'm also wondering if there's an interest in using a tool like this for the upkeep of buildings and structures in the public interest (schools, infrastructure, etc.), in which case transparency and ability to transfer knowledge might make more sense. But I know that's a completely different animal altogether.

i think its great for hoa and leasers, really. or people owning multiple apartments and their leasers.

Yes totally agree with this. I renovated a house recently and got in all sorts of problems (plumbing electricity) i certainly didnt want the buyer to know about the details... Mostly because he can use the information against me!!

And the buyer would be right.

What if your renovations aren't good enough and the buyer has to spend 1/3 of the buying price to repair your work?

If you want to sell a shithole, at least, be honest about it, you'll do everyone a favor.

It’s not a shithole, but I employed a person who screwed up the plumbing, I had to have the bathroom completely redone, it’s perfect now. On paper though, it looks like shit cause we had to lawyer up to get money back from the guy who screwed up...

As someone who would want to buy a house, I would like to know what issues you had with your property.

I don't like surprises after the selling.

I agree!

I'm someone who's still getting surprises from his property purchase (UK leaseholder, converted Victorian terrace).

I would have loved to know ahead of time about forthcoming issues I'd have to deal with that the survey didn't pick up.

Would likely still have gone ahead with the purchase (I was in a baby-induced rush), but with a stronger bargaining position. It's not as if UK property prices are reasonable in any case.

I _personally_ feel that not declaring serious flaws just because it's not legally required equates to lies by omission.

Exactly, in France when you're asking for a loan to buy a house, banks include the repair/whatever costs into the loan on top of the selling price.

If the buyer hides problems from me, I will still have to deal with it, and it won't be included in my loan, so it will be out of my pocket.

An advice from my father: Visit houses in winter and not in summer, you can't check the isolation in summer.

In my experience, honesty in any business works better than lies.

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