does anyone know about survey results???

charliee_3

Hi, we are FTB and we are in the process of buying an early 70's ex-council terraced house.
our surveyer has just called me to go over a few of the issues he came across when he was in there today, i apologise if im not that clear but he told me over the phone, i am not up on all this and i am doing it from memory!! he said the house itself was solid but....

1. the house is riddled with asbestos- i expected some as it has warm air boiler so expected it in flue, etc, but he thinks it is EVERYWHERE.
2. the extension on the back (small utility room) was very poorly constructed and it is coming away from the wall, he thinks it may need a rebuild if it is still moving as it has a big crack on one side
3. he spoke to the neighbour who helpfully said that they had replaced the bathroom after one was put in badly and they had a tremedous leak which could mean rotten floorboards underneath?
4. there is someting with the joists and a supporting thing in the loft but he said it was only about £50 to fix but would stop them collapsing in strong winds (???!!)
5. the patio has been badly done and would need sorting if we wanted to put a conservatory over it
6. the double glazing is cheap and nasty, rubbish glass and has no ventilation so poss a bad problem with condensation (also something about polystyrene backed wallpaper pointing to condensation issues?)
7.the house is only about 40 ft from a large electricticy substaion- i know this was obvisous when we looked at it but he thinks it may affect resale?
8. a couple of stairs need replacing/fixing
9. there is poss a leak in the downstairs loo
10. the boilers both need replacing
11. the electrics are not tested but dont look like they are up to code
12.the insulation in the loft is not great (we knew this from the HIP)


now i am a novice at this business but that looks like a scary and daunting list to me on top of all the other things that need doing (decor, knocking down walls, etc)

i am worried about the asbestos and i am guessing looking at a couple of thousand to remove and the heating we kind of guessed as the boiler was ancient, but the double glazing is news and i am worried about the flor under the bathroom..

does anyone know how we now proceed? do we get different people in to do quotes for the work and then try and renegotiate on the price taking them into account? i am thinking specifically the shoddy extension, electrics, potential rotten floor, asbestos and boiler being the major sticking points?? if we have to get a couple of quotes for each job its going to be a right pain in the a**e!!? do people do quotes for free or do you have to pay them? should i contact the solicitor to tell them to hold fire on whatever they are doing until this is resolved?

or do we cut our losses and look for a new house? if so does the mortage still stand for the next house?

HELP please!!!

thanks
charlie
x

edited to add that the electical substation is not just one of those boxes its actually a small/med one wth all the electrical doobrys coming out of the ground..surveyor says they are less of a problem than pylons but may put people off..

MrC-117

You should be sent a full report by them, and they usually estimate some repair costs.

Then it's worth getting some estimates. These should all be free estimates, just a bit of hassle arranging someone to be there to let them in as it's not your house. The estate agents might be willing to let them in if you're lucky. As you're buying it's in your interest to get expensive quotes so don't worry too much about shopping around. Get British Gas round to look at the boiler, etc.

Once you've got a figure for repairs, decide if you think it's worth the effort and renegotiate.

Surveyors do tend to be quite fussy and a long list of problems makes it seem worse than it is. As you said, you noticed some things like the loft insulation (which is a cheap fix). Something like the boiler might be just a bit old and inefficient (e.g. costs you £50 more a year to run than a more modern boiler) or it could be that it doesn't work and needs replacing now. Hopefully the written survey report will tell you that.

The survey on my first house came up with a lot of things valued at £2000. Some of them were minor and fixed myself. I renegotiated and got the seller to pay for some of it. I had a friend that bought a house and it needed a new roof and the seller paid half of it.

The electrical substations can put some people off a bit, but I always think people buy houses there. Just means perhaps they're worth a little bit less in a similar house in a different street (but that should be reflected in the asking price so isn't such a big problem).

kunekune

Surveyors do not usually telephone you. At least, not in my experience (others mileage may vary, this is MSE of course). Nor do they talk to neighbours ... or if they do, admit that they did. Your account suggests this is so bad he thinks you shouldn't go ahead at any price. Riddled with asbestos? Extension coming away? Talk to him and be prepared to cut your losses. This is miles worse than the average grumpy, somewhat pessimistic report the rest of us get.

poppysarah

The substation might not bother you but there are some scary reports out there implying they are bad for your health.

My surveyor for here was very nice, gave me a brief chat on the phone in preparation for his report - was one we paid for though.
I'm sure the report with advise a further inspection because there may be damp, asbestos, etc

charliee_3

kunekune wrote: »

Surveyors do not usually telephone you. At least, not in my experience (others mileage may vary, this is MSE of course). Nor do they talk to neighbours ... or if they do, admit that they did. Your account suggests this is so bad he thinks you shouldn't go ahead at any price. Riddled with asbestos? Extension coming away? Talk to him and be prepared to cut your losses. This is miles worse than the average grumpy, somewhat pessimistic report the rest of us get.

lol, he seems really nice, he called before the survey as well to ask about what our plans were for the house an if we had any concerns, i told him about the walls we wanted to knock down, asbestos concerns, potential for a conservatory, etc... it is one we are paying for ourselves for our own peace of mind, so he only has us to answer to and thank goodness we did as i happened to be passing by the other day when i saw the mortage valuation surveyor, so i collared him and chatted about what he thought and all he said about the extenson was that the flashing needed some work... but then he wasnt being paid to do the homebuyer survey, so i forgive him, but if we had taken the EA advice (oh these ex council houses are solid, we never have any problems with them) and not had a proper survey we wouldnt have known about the potential problems. he has also given his opionion of the works we want to do and the walls that can be removed without causing problems and how we can improve it over time, which was handy!!

mind you he says the neighbour was very nice and told him about the water fights in the summer and the bbq's so it sounds like a nice neghbourhood to live in...

thanks for the replies so far, i'll await his actual report which he says should be done friday... i think i'll instruct the solicitor to hold fire until i've seen it as if its as bad as it sounds this house is going to end up being way over our budget......

thanks for the advice about the quotes.. good point about not shopping around too much...

Doozergirl

Don't be afraid of calling him as well once the report arrives - highlight any scary bits to ask him about.

Also ask him if it were him buying it, what would he do? You always a get a straight answer with that one!

huntersc

Charliee

If you are prepared to deal with all of this then great but, in my opinion, as a first time buyer, I would personally run. I've bought houses that have had bad survey results but what you have written adds up to a LOT of money and in the current market there's no need to take on these kinds of problems.

IF you can get a serious discount then perhaps, maybe it's worth going further with this but it would need to be a deep discount for me

No one should be scared by a little bit of damp or a dodgy window or two but this is a really bad report. Honestly, I'd like to say go through with it but from what I have read I think you should scarper as fast as you can and count your lucky stars your surveyor has been kind enough to point this out and call you.

Just the sub station issue and resale value is a massive thing and should make you think about this very carefully.

formulaonefan

charliee wrote: »

Hi, we are FTB and we are in the process of buying an early 70's ex-council terraced house.
our surveyer has just called me to go over a few of the issues he came across when he was in there today, i apologise if im not that clear but he told me over the phone, i am not up on all this and i am doing it from memory!! he said the house itself was solid but....

1. the house is riddled with asbestos- i expected some as it has warm air boiler so expected it in flue, etc, but he thinks it is EVERYWHERE.
2. the extension on the back (small utility room) was very poorly constructed and it is coming away from the wall, he thinks it may need a rebuild if it is still moving as it has a big crack on one side
3. he spoke to the neighbour who helpfully said that they had replaced the bathroom after one was put in badly and they had a tremedous leak which could mean rotten floorboards underneath?
4. there is someting with the joists and a supporting thing in the loft but he said it was only about £50 to fix but would stop them collapsing in strong winds (???!!)
5. the patio has been badly done and would need sorting if we wanted to put a conservatory over it
6. the double glazing is cheap and nasty, rubbish glass and has no ventilation so poss a bad problem with condensation (also something about polystyrene backed wallpaper pointing to condensation issues?)
7.the house is only about 40 ft from a large electricticy substaion- i know this was obvisous when we looked at it but he thinks it may affect resale?
8. a couple of stairs need replacing/fixing
9. there is poss a leak in the downstairs loo
10. the boilers both need replacing
11. the electrics are not tested but dont look like they are up to code
12.the insulation in the loft is not great (we knew this from the HIP)


now i am a novice at this business but that looks like a scary and daunting list to me on top of all the other things that need doing (decor, knocking down walls, etc)

i am worried about the asbestos and i am guessing looking at a couple of thousand to remove and the heating we kind of guessed as the boiler was ancient, but the double glazing is news and i am worried about the flor under the bathroom..

does anyone know how we now proceed? do we get different people in to do quotes for the work and then try and renegotiate on the price taking them into account? i am thinking specifically the shoddy extension, electrics, potential rotten floor, asbestos and boiler being the major sticking points?? if we have to get a couple of quotes for each job its going to be a right pain in the a**e!!? do people do quotes for free or do you have to pay them? should i contact the solicitor to tell them to hold fire on whatever they are doing until this is resolved?

or do we cut our losses and look for a new house? if so does the mortage still stand for the next house?

HELP please!!!

thanks
charlie
x

edited to add that the electical substation is not just one of those boxes its actually a small/med one wth all the electrical doobrys coming out of the ground..surveyor says they are less of a problem than pylons but may put people off..

Why are you still even considering that house with so many issues? There are so many houses out there and you will find a better one. I wouldn't leave anywhere near those electrical sub-station. Its not good! It does affect property value.

charliee_3

hmm... well.. i mean, its not totally ramshakle, i just dont think its had much TLC in the last few years and a dodgy builder doing work which is a shame as it may put the work needed out of our budget... i DO like the house and i have lots of ideas of what i;d like to do in there, but I know i could probably find someting similar as it is just a bog-standard estate house really.. it just seemed like a bargain as we got it knocked down from 159k to 145k as it is a divorce and they want rid. it hasnt had anyone living in it for 5months...
i hadnt realy given the sub-station much thought as i dont put much sway on that sort of thing, but the more i think about it, having a baby now as well (who's designated bedroom is the one overlooking the substation-typical) it is looking less and less like our dream home...
if we pull out now we will obviosuly lose the survey money, etc but does the mortage application still stand until we find somewhere else?

JayZed

charliee, as someone said upthread surveyors do tend to be quite fussy and list lots of minor problems... but some of the things on this list look really daunting ! You should certainly get some quotes, but I really would be prepared to walk away - it sounds as though this could be not only a money pit but also difficult to sell on.

poppysarah

charliee wrote: »

if we pull out now we will obviosuly lose the survey money, etc but does the mortage application still stand until we find somewhere else?

It might well do. You'd have to check with them.

Don't think of it as losing the survey fee, think of it as escaping form house of doom!