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Whether you are selling or buying a property a LIM or Land Information Memorandum is something you should obtain.

A LIM is all the information the local authority – which in our case is the Wellington City Council, has on a property, such as plumbing and drainage, building consents, permits, heritage classifications right through to Tsunami and wind zones for the property.

For most people Building Consents and Code of Compliance Certificates (CCC's) are a priority, but depending on the property any of the information can be important in deciding whether a buyer is happy to buy it.

As an owner it is important to know there are no stumbling blocks that are going to stop buyers from wanting to buy your home. It is far better to know for example that all your building consents are signed off and a Code of Compliance Certificate issued, rather than having the issue come up once you have entered into a conditional agreement. LIM Reports take up to ten working days to get from Council and if a buyer is left to get one it firstly slows the sale process down by at least ten working days and then if something is found to be an issue, you as the seller (owner) lose control of the issue and the buyer gains the upper hand (control).

It is far better to know if there are any issues prior to going on the market as you then have the chance to resolve them. It may also be the case that you have some information that the council for whatever reason doesn’t have and this can then be provided to prospective buyers. Issues declared up front are far less of a problem for buyers than ones they discover and can often be resolved or accepted far easier.

A LIM report costs around $325 and given every Lawyer I know wants to see one, it is a wise investment to help streamline your sale.