FTB some advice needed.

magga2000

Hi,

We are first time buyers in East Anglia , After trying few lower offers at and being told to owner couldn't sell for less as they had negative equity? (BTW. Is there a easy way of checking this?) we offered full asking price in the region of £120.000 for a 3bed house as we wanted to secure the property, (the location is good for our needs). And we did miss few nice houses early this year and had enough of viewings and would like to move, buy before Christmas. Although the house was not our dream one but it could be a good first one for few years.

We had some correspondence with the owner regarding the work they going to do the the property, although they had not promised a lot. There is still some work outstanding. We had a mortgage offer and valuation survey done already few weeks ago. All ok, unfortunately after our last viewing few days ago we discovered that no progress was really done to the house and the work is still outstanding and this will require more effort and $$ on our side then we though.

We also discovered that the roof is leaking a bit in loft next to gas central heating air vent, probably the current owner just put some materials to cover this but the valuation didn't mentioned this(no wonder just a bank quick one) and the EA also,the work so far is done is to a very low standard in our opinion and some we will need to repeat, like painting doors,walls etc.

We would be still keen to buy the house but would like this and some other issues to be fix before we buy(electric instalation might need a check). What would be the reasonable way of solving the problems now? When we are almost half way through the process? We would still like to move before Christmas and don't like to lose the house as there is nothing better at the moment in this price region in the area. Any advice or similar stories welcome?


What we plan to:
-e-mail the EA to cheese the owner to finish to work in next 2-3 weeks before exchange
-probably have a proper survey done to the house? The quote I had from a local surveyor was 425GBP ? It's quite a lot for 2hours work? Any advice on a cheaper way? I had some cheaper quotes on-line but from companies 100miles away(in Norwich)
-should we involve our solicitors, I e-mailed them all documents and asked if there is a legal way to secure that the work will be done to good standard but, had not heard back on this?
-Is it reasonable to ask for price renegotiation?

Any feedback welcome?

Best.
M

GavB79

I do not think moving before Christmas is realistic, to be honest.

DVardysShadow

Land registry will tell you for a fee how much mortgage there is on a property, I believe - although this won't tell you how much has been paid off.

It is a bad idea to get vendors to complete work [unless there is no alternative due to external factors such as lender insistence]- their hearts are never in it, it may not be done right and you are in a much harder position to get any redress if there are problems. Plan to get it done yourselves and drop the offer. You might get the negative equity argument, but if they can fund the work themselves, they should have money in hand to deal with negative equity.

magga2000

GavB79 wrote: »

I do not think moving before Christmas is realistic, to be honest.

Hi,
Apologies I was thinking about exchange - complition late december. Moving hopefully before new year.

Fire_Fox

Most solicitors shut down over Xmas and New Year. Why haven't you had a decent survey completed, a valuation only is usually a false economy? Why are you relying on the vendor to do work to the property, normally a house is sold as seen?

magga2000

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Most solicitors shut down over Xmas and New Year. Why haven't you had a decent survey completed, a valuation only is usually a false economy? Why are you relying on the vendor to do work to the property, normally a house is sold as seen?

The owners where doing the house up anyway at that time so we offered few k GBP less to be sold as seen and we would end all the work but they didn't agreed ,as needed more money. So we paid the full asking price with the view of them finishing the jobs and this was agreed in writing. But the quality looks now poor, and this now unlikely to be done to the standard we want, and we discovered that roof is leaking a bit. We have a tight budged and a 425GBP for a survey is rather expensive especially if we found the faults on our own. We would hope to complete exchange before 22.12 but i know it might be tough.

tek-monkey

A survey may be the best £425 you ever spent, what if there are problems you haven't spotted? If the roof leaks and they didn't tell you, what else have they held back?

Fire_Fox

magga2000 wrote: »

The owners where doing the house up anyway at that time so we offered few k GBP less to be sold as seen and we would end all the work but they didn't agreed ,as needed more money. So we paid the full asking price with the view of them finishing the jobs and this was agreed in writing. But the quality looks now poor, and this now unlikely to be done to the standard we want, and we discovered that roof is leaking a bit. We have a tight budged and a 425GBP for a survey is rather expensive especially if we found the faults on our own. We would hope to complete exchange before 22.12 but i know it might be tough.

You think as FTBs you can spot all the problems a qualified and experienced surveyor can? :rolleyes: £425 is a bargain, surveys invariably pay for themselves as you can renegotiate the price or walk away from a complete turkey! That £425 pays for three years at university, registration with RICS, office premises, travel time getting to the property, detailed inspection, time to prepare a written report, the surveyors insurance etc. And yet you are willing to pay the vendor several grand to paper over the cracks ... badly??

Milliewilly

As first time buyers if you have spotted the roof leaks (presumably because it was raining?) think what else the surveyor will spot. You already say you are on a tight budget? If you can't spend £425 on a survey I think you need to reconsider. The fact your vendor 'needs' more money is not your problem. This is also a warning that they can't afford to get the work done properly anyway.

I would have a proper survey carried out, reneg to get any work done yourself so you know its been done properly or walk away.

magga2000

Thanks we ware planning to send a surveyor in next few weeks,anyway.
If you know anyone good and affordable in Cambridshire area please post. Should we let the agent know about the roof problems we spotted before and await some action response from the owners? or it's better to wait for a full survey?

g_attrill

Check how much a similar survey would be through your mortgage provider, they are done by a RICS surveyor, the sort of person who you might approach anyway. Mine was less than £200 more than the (mandatory) valuation, so it was a no-brainer really.