Keep the Story Straight by Living It Straight

A seller who describes a house honestly never has to remember what was said about it.

Say a house has damp in one bedroom that comes back every rainy season. The seller paints over it before listing and tells viewers there is no damp. Now that story needs maintaining. The agent has to steer viewers past that wall, viewings have to happen in dry weather, and the answer has to stay the same when the buyer's inspector asks. If the damp shows up after transfer, the buyer will want to know whether the seller knew, and a voetstoots clause in the offer to purchase is generally poor protection for a seller who knew about a defect and hid it.

The other way is cheaper. The seller says there is a recurring damp patch, explains what has already been tried, and lets the price reflect it. Some buyers will walk away. The ones who stay are buying with their eyes open, there is nothing to defend later, and the conversation at transfer is about keys and meter readings rather than lawyers' letters.