New house has damp - getting money off?

jimbugalee

Update: The second damp report shows damp at the front of the house as well as the back which is why it's a lot more money.
I would say that they are going slightly OTT as we measured the damp at the front of the house and it was minimal. Plus there is ivy growing through the bathroom window so I am not surprised it's damp!
This puts us in a fairly good position as we've gone to the vendor to say it's going to be £1,800 as per the quote (they don't know about the first one). Even if we get half we think it'll be enough once the house has had a good airing.

But ..... the EA is useless!!! We asked him to approach the vendor asking for the money off. He was VERY hesitant. In fact, he wasn't even going to approach them even though we had insisted. His argument was that we 'bought' the house as is. We agreed this included the necessary renovation and modernisation but not the damp. This was unknown to us until the survey was done.

He is now apparently going back to the vendor to ask. I personally don't think he even will but either way I know the answer will come back as they're not going to pay for any of it or take any money off.

So .... where do we go from here? Realistically we're not going to pull out but this might be the only way to get him to actually do something. It's a big risk for us?

If the vendor says no then fair enough but I'm annoyed that I don't think the estate agent is even going to approach him or at the least put up a very poor case. As you say I know he is working for the vendor but surely everyone wants the sale to go through.

angelavdavis

Please please please, put your terms in writing in a letter marked "By Hand" and take into their office! I can't emphasise this enough. Don't trust the EA who is working for the vendor to convey these terms correctly!!! If the EA doesn't pass on your comments, you don't have a leg to stand on.

EAs are legally obliged to pass on all offers from potential buyers, but if you don't have proof of the conversation, he might not do this. I lost out on a property due to the fact I made an offer over the telephone on a friends' parents house (having not seen the property through the agent because I knew the property) and the offer wasn't passed on by the agent due to the fact his mate was buying it for a knockdown price! I discovered this after a conversation with my friend who was wondering whether I was going to put in an offer! I always put everything in writing now.

Follow up your conversation with him with a letter confirming the conversation.

If the vendor isn't prepared to meet you at least halfway especially in this market, bearing in mind how honest you have been about the damp, then the house is simply not for you and there is another house out there for you.

jimbugalee

Thanks Angela. Let's see what the estate agent comes back with.

I said to my boyfriend just to say 'ok we will have to think about this so leave it with me' so we can think about what we want to do and go back from there.

hethmar

Thing is - have they taken into account all the work that needs doing and feel they are offering the house at a bargain price anyway? How old is the house?

jimbugalee

House is 1935. It is structurally 'fine'. It needs major redecoration and modernisation.

Unfortunately the owner (Housing Association) hasn't ever seen the property so he has always relied on other people to tell him what is is worth etc. He also has the authority to agree what we have paid for it but any other negotiation will have to go higher up.

ninky_2

When I bought my place a couple of things came up on the survey (such as the house exterior was due to be painted under the conditions of the lease, the rail on the balcony was unsafe and needed replacing etc). My solicitor wrote to the vendor stating these issues needed resolving and so they fixed them before we moved in.

What is your solicitor like, could they do something similar? I wouldn't necessarily trust estate agents to negociate as they have a different agenda.

jimbugalee

We haven't heard back from the EA so don't know what he is doing.

However, we do have a good solicitor He said he doesn't have time for the EA's in the town we live. They are all 'useless' apart from 2 of the more established ones.

He said wait to hear if the EA comes back with anything. If not, he will write to the vendor's solicitor and say if they agree to meet say half of the costs we will proceed quickly i.e. 1-2 weeks.
He said he is checking out some other things for us as well. It's great to have a good solicitor!

We are now aiming for half of the £1,200 and move in date of 3rd April who hooooooo. Can't believe we only offered 3 weeks ago today! We'll never be this lucky again.

ninky_2

good luck!

jimbugalee

Thank you all