Questions sellers ask

No. A house that has stood empty, is cold, or needs the roof, the damp and the wiring all seeing to is exactly the kind we buy, bring back and keep. Tell us its state as you know it; “not sure” is a good answer, because on a visit we look at everything anyway.

Terraced houses in Halliwell, Smithills and Astley Bridge, the three wards north of Bolton town hall: a mid-terrace, an end-terrace, or a back-to-back long since made into one house. We do not buy flats, new houses, or anything outside Bolton, and the put-forward form says so before you spend time on it.

It does not rule a house out. Many older terraces in Bolton are held on very long leases, and the solicitors on both sides read the lease as part of any sale. Say so in the note when you put the house forward, with anything you know about it.

No. Leave what you need to leave and tell us about it; what stays in the house is agreed in writing before contracts are exchanged, so nobody is surprised on the day.

Yes. If you live there, the visit is with you. If it is let, the tenancy carries on through a sale and we become the landlord on its existing terms; the household is given at least twenty-four hours’ notice in writing before anyone visits.

Yes: choose “I act for the owner” on the form. Before contracts are exchanged, the solicitors will need to see the grant of probate or letters of administration, or the registered lasting power of attorney, that lets you sell.

Either of you can put it forward; choose “Mine, with someone else”. Everyone named on the title has to agree to the sale and sign the contract, so we write to both of you before anything is agreed.

No. Putting it forward, the visit and our written answer commit nobody. A sale binds both sides only when contracts are exchanged, and until then either side can step back. You can withdraw it at any time, which deletes what you sent.

A person reads what you sent, then we visit: the roof line, the walls inside and out, the cellar, the yard drain, the wiring and the gas. Our answer is written after that, with the reasons. We never decide from the form or a photograph alone.

No estate agent: you deal with us directly. You do need a solicitor or licensed conveyancer of your own for the legal side, as in any sale, and we instruct ours. We never act for you or tell you whom to use.

We read every house within two working days of it arriving, and the visit is at a time that suits you and whoever lives there. After an offer is agreed, the pace is set by the legal work: the title, the searches and the solicitors. We never set a deadline to hurry you, and the completion day is one you agree to.

Yes. With the reference and your email, check it: you see each stage, the day it reached the ones it has, and what moves it on to the next.

We bring it back ourselves, in the order the building sets, and keep it as a home for one household. We do not sell it on to an investor or pass it to another buyer.

No. What you send is kept by us, for reading your house and answering you, and is not given to anyone else. The full account is on Your information.