Write It While It Is Fresh

Who remembers, on registration day, that the seller promised the curtains, the pool cover and the spare gate remote could stay? Often nobody, unless it was written into the offer to purchase while the promise was still fresh.

Viewings are full of spoken promises. A seller says the cracked window will be replaced before transfer, or that the borehole pump stays with the house, or that the outside room will be cleared. The buyer nods and moves on to the kitchen. A few days later the offer is drafted from memory, and the details that felt settled on the day are simply missing.

Fixtures attached to the house generally go with it, but loose items and promised repairs are exactly the things that turn into an argument on moving day. A clause in the offer listing what stays and what will be fixed, written the same day the promise was made, takes a few minutes. Reconstructing it after occupation means two people with different memories and nothing on paper to settle it.