Building survey's report

cherry76

Just had a chat with the surveyor and he has identified major issues regarding the building survey. For an extra £100, he will do the costs for me. I have paid £750 for the survey. The house needs re-wiring or at least part of it as he says the house is old and the electrics needs upgrading. Leak through the roof, gutter needs replacing, damp in living room, owner said it was damp proof three years ago, needs ventilation in the roof. He said the bulding itself is structuraly sound. What do I do guys, I am gutted, shall I go ahead with the sale, I paid 300k for this house, how much all these are going to cost by the thousands I think? Re-wiring a house can be costly as much as 5k, am I correct. Please can somebody advise!! Thanks

mustang1

Work out how much all of these things will cost to fix and then go back to the seller asking them to take this much off the price. Any other buyer's survey would reveal exactly the same things so make that point to your seller.

If they refuse then, as hard as it may be, I would walk away as you would be paying over the odds.

monkeypea

Work out how much all of these things will cost to fix and then go back to the seller asking them to take this much off the price.

I agree, we are going through a similar thing.
I personally wouldnt pay extra £100 for the surveyor to give costings, (£750 was high price btw) I would contact the EA and tell them that significant defects have been found on survey and that you need some estimates for the work. Then contact the relevant tradespeople for quotes for at least the roof and electrician for rewiring.
Then negotiate price, when negotiating show that you are prepared to foot the bill for the things that you should have been aware of when viewing, but electics and roof stuff you werent to know about.
If you are dead keen on this property be aware that the sellers depending on their position could get the work done and remarket , so dont be too greedy and miss out the sale.. in this case meet them somewhere with the costings , maybe you paying 2/3;)
Remember anyone else having a survey would find out the same things, and as you know surveyors do cover their a*ses big time so its always a major filtering process to sort the over kill from the serious.
good luck

G_M

I paid 300k for this house,

So have you already bought this house?

If not, don't pay the surveyer for cost estimates a builder will give you for free! Arrange with the vendor/estate agent for a builder to go round. Explain why. If the vendor says no, walk away, but he's going to be keen to sell and knows these defects will alarm any other buyer as much as it does you.

Make sure your builder talks to YOU about his estimates and NOT the vendor!

Poppy9

cherry76 wrote: »

Just had a chat with the surveyor and he has identified major issues regarding the building survey. For an extra £100, he will do the costs for me. I have paid £750 for the survey.

What level survey was this?

cherry76 wrote:

The house needs re-wiring or at least part of it as he says the house is old and the electrics needs upgrading.

I had my house rewired 14 years ago and no doubt if it was surveyed to sell they would recommend upgrading electrics. My house is 60 years old and none of my close neighbours have had their houses fully rewired.

Get an electrician around to find out what really needs doing and to check whether current electrics are safe.

cherry76 wrote:

Leak through the roof,

Get a roofer to look at the roof. Is it just a few broken tiles or a whole new roof needed?

cherry76 wrote:

gutter needs replacing, damp in living room, owner said it was damp proof three years ago, needs ventilation in the roof.

Leaking guttering can cause penetrating damp problems. Replacing guttering can be a DIY job. Sorting out the guttering might get rid of the damp problems. If owners have a damp proof course do they have a guarantee and is it transferrable. I had a 25 year guarantee with my last house and it transferred with the sale. The new owners did have a problem with damp again a few years later and it was rectified under the damp proof guarantee.

cherry76 wrote:

He said the bulding itself is structuraly sound. What do I do guys, I am gutted, shall I go ahead with the sale, I paid 300k for this house, how much all these are going to cost by the thousands I think? Re-wiring a house can be costly as much as 5k, am I correct. Please can somebody advise!! Thanks

• How old is the house?
• How much is the house worth?
• How much do you want the house?
• Did the asking price reflect the condition of the house?

If you buy a house that needs "some upgrading" in EA speak then you would expect asking price to reflect this.

cherry76

The house is very old 1890. Agrred price 300k for it, was on the market for 6 months and then reduced to 315k. When I bought the house, I did not expect to find so many issues with it e.g leaking roof, I think it is only part of the roof as he said I only to replace something (did not understand what he meant) not the tiles. I did ask about the tiles as the house is in a conservation area. I do like the house and I am a cash buyer with the help of my parents but I do not know how much they are willing to pay. Meeting the owner half way may be. The owner is desperate for a quick sale & expect everything to complete by the end of June.

I do agree whether I did the right by paying the surveyor an extra £100 for the costing and I do not know how accurate with the price he will be? £750 for a building survey is on the expensvie side. I thought once I have this in an official report, I could re-negotiate with EA. Any idea how to a find a competent electrician and roof contractor!! I will think I will ask in my home forum. Thanks

G_M

shall I go ahead with the sale, I paid 300k for this house,

I still don't understand if you have already bought this house & are trying to find the best way to fix it, or are still negotiating the purchase....!

When I bought the house, I did not expect to find so many issues

The owner is desperate for a quick sale & expect everything to complete by the end of June.

cattie

Why on earth pay a surveyor £100 to do costings? Any surveyor I've had in the past has always given me a rough indication of how much any work he has highlighted in survey is likely to cost.

Besides this, you can phone round electricians, roofers etc to get approximate over the phone estimates & all you pay for is the cost of the phone calls. Most are happy to oblige in this way when you tell them the work is for a house you are in the process of or thinking of buying.