The Discipline of the Second Look

A house on show day is a house at its best. The lawn is cut, the lights are on, there is coffee in the kitchen and the sun is in the right place, and that first impression is mostly a performance.

The second look comes after the excitement has settled. A careful buyer goes back on a weekday afternoon, ideally in the rain, to see where the water runs off the driveway and whether the back bedroom gets any light once the sun moves round. They drive past at night to hear what the street sounds like. Then they turn to the paperwork, which never performs at all. The approved building plans can be compared with the house standing there, because a garage turned into a flat or a lapa added on the side may never have been approved by the municipality. The title deed may carry a servitude, a right for someone else, perhaps the municipality or a neighbour, to use part of the land for a pipe, a power line or a right of way.

None of that makes the house less lovely. But a buyer who takes the second look before signing the offer to purchase knows what they are actually buying, and can still negotiate the price or ask for repairs while the seller wants the sale.