The bathroom is almost finished, surfaces are still missing on the upper floor, and the owner wants to sell because of a change of location. In the fictitious Austrian case she can no longer have all the previously planned works carried out unchanged. Should she finish them first or put the house on the market now? The decision requires more than an attractive visualisation of the possible final state.
This article compares two marketing routes and describes our editorial preparation method. It does not assess technical execution and does not decide whether individual building measures are approved, completed or contractually validly promised.
First an inventory without future words
The owner describes what actually exists today. Started, visibly completed, professionally confirmed and not yet commissioned are different statuses. A paid invoice can document a service, but does not replace every required confirmation of quality or permissibility.
For essential areas, existing documents are brought together with the concrete condition. Which works were carried out by whom? Which technical certificates are still missing? Which connections, rooms or functions are actually usable? In case of professional doubts a specific inspection commission is formulated, instead of summarising the condition with a single word such as “kernsaniert”.
Route one: sale in the described current condition
This route requires organisationally that interested parties can understand the stock actually being offered. It is not simultaneously presented as an already completed desired variant. Open works receive a clear assignment; a previous personal finishing idea is not declared the promised performance of the buyer or seller.
For the owner this route can mean that she no longer plans new completion orders into the sales process. This does not imply any statement about achievable price or faster conclusion. The specific market, condition and financing needs remain to be assessed independently.
Interested parties also need a comprehensible boundary between confirmed attribute and their own later possibility. A room that could only be made usable after further works is not treated as already available just because of an attractive picture.
Route two: sale with a specific promised completion
Here it must be clear before advertising which further service is actually to be assumed. “We’ll make it nice” is not a usable common scope of work. In the example the affected areas, the intended change and the proofs still to be clarified for it are described.
Time, access, commissioned execution and possible delays belong together. A preferred completion before the move is initially a wish as long as the actual prerequisites are not established. For contract drafting the open consequences of non-performance and the payment processing are professionally coordinated. This article does not invent a blanket retention or a standard clause for that purpose.
The legal starting point makes the description important
§ 922 ABGB links warranty in principle to conformity with the contract and deals, among other things, with described characteristics. Public statements can also be relevant under the conditions set out there. [BESCHREIBUNG] For that reason listing, image captions and specific agreements are not treated as advertising worlds independent of each other.
Which effect the individual statements and contractual provisions have in the specific sale remains to be examined separately. A general note on the unfinished condition does not replace a comprehensible description of a result that is at the same time explicitly promised.
Images must allow the two routes to be distinguishable
Current own photographs show the designated actual condition. A self-created representation of the possible later appearance is clearly labelled as such and assigned to the corresponding planning stage. It is not photographic documentation of an already existing fitting.
In the example the original advert contains a fully furnished bathroom, although the fitting has not yet been completely installed. The owner does not simply change the small addition in the final paragraph. She checks title, image order and description together so that the predominant impression matches the service actually being offered.
Link the decision with money and remaining time
Both routes receive their own complete preparation status: still expected expenses, funds actually available, commissioned services and temporal dependencies. A possibly better sales result is not assumed as already existing money. Likewise, one’s own coordination during the move is not treated as available without limit.
The owner then decides which route she can realistically bear. If this route changes, the entire offer is compared with the professionally prepared contractual basis. A house with open works can be offered understandably; preparation becomes problematic when current condition, desired future image and promised completion run together unnoticed.