Beach Hut DIY Selling by Heather Hilder on August 6, 2021 “Beach Hut DIY Selling” Selling your Beach Hut to Family & Friends In my last blog, I asked the question, “Should you sell your beach hut to a friend, family member or neighbour?” Did it make you think about Beach Hut DIY Selling? Mixing business and pleasure together can create tension, disappointment and worse if things don’t go as well as expected. So let’s dive in and tackle Beach Huts – DIY Selling. In today’s blog, let’s consider the drawbacks of mixing business and pleasure: Misplacement of trust A casual conversation about selling your beach hut, maybe while you’re sitting enjoying a cup of coffee together, or a chat across the garden fence, relates to your private life. While it may seem a completely innocent statement to you, your neighbour may pounce, declaring a desire to have wanted to buy a beach hut of their own for ages, all the while having maybe enjoyed time at your beach hut in a social scene. There are acres of promenade difference between spending ‘free time’ at your hut, and taking on the responsibilities of purchase, annual licence fee, maintenance, insurance, etc. And what if your beach hut’s condition isn’t quite what your friend expected – having to spend out money he may not have on maintenance and repairs (which you’ve taken into account in the asking price of your hut, n’est-ce pas? So, take a step back – your trivial remark about maybe selling your beach hut may inadvertently lead to a potential ‘business’ relationship, affecting your friendship long-term. Are we still friends away from the beach hut? As soon as your friend or neighbour mentions his ‘first refusal’ to buy your hut, your friendship starts to alter. Imagine if you were to ‘gift’ it to your friend, for say, £1 – how would you see your relationship moving forward? Ask yourself the following questions: How much is your hut worth? How much should you sell your hut for? Should you offer mate’s rates? How serious is your friend? Has he consulted with his partner? Is he aware of the ongoing costs? Does he have the money to buy? What if he wants to negotiate? What timescales is he thinking about? You may be desperate for a quick sale to pay for your kitchen extension, garden landscaping, new car etc but he’s thinking end of summer! How will your relationship change once he’s the owner and you’re the visiting friend, hoping to continue to socialise at what was once ‘our shared hut’. Selling your beach hut to a friend can seriously affect your friendship health! Beach Hut Buddies Over a lifetime values change, sometimes imperceptibly as lifestyles, desires and family dynamics change. These may bring an awkwardness to the friendship which had seemingly stood the test of time.. Mixing business with pleasure can bring unexpected results. My advice is, if you’ve made up your mind and are comfortable in selling to your friend, arrange for your agent to call him to ‘seal the deal’. Alternatively, he can call your agent, to express his interest and go through the details in a business-like manner. Let your agent manage the sale. Your agent will make the necessary checks in terms of identity, proof of address, proof of funding i.e. that he has the money available, to meet your timescale for selling. You need to know that he is 100% serious about buying your beach-hut! Moving forward in this way keeps friendship and business on separate tracks.
