Recommendations on Homebuyers Survery

chickmeistergeneral

Hi everyone

I wonder if you can give me any advice. I know this is a tough thing to ask for comments on, but im not sure who else to ask.

I have recieved the Homebuyers survey on the property i have an offer accepted on. There is a few reccomendations, which i am not very clued up on.

They are:-

* New incoming communication pipe for the water main. Including new drain off facility and stop tap inside.
* Registered Corgi Gas inspection for the whole of the gas installation.
* Lower the ground level against the rear elevation for the paving.
* Install new airbricks in the front elevation.
* Be aware of the addled plasterwork to the internal face of the external walls.
* Realign the gutters front and rear and remedy the leaks.
* Rebuild the top two courses of the chimneystack and re-flaunch the pots.
* Be aware of the addled external rendering to the front elevation.
* Increase the roof space insulation and install more air vents to the roof space.

There are a few other minor jobs mentioned but the above are the recommendations.

The surveryor valued the property at £103,00 at the moment, and £106,000 after the completion of any recommended works necessary.

The property was on the market for £109,950, and our accepted offer was £106,000. Does anyone have any idea if the recommendations would add up to £3,000? I will ring the estate agents tomorrow to try to negotiate the price, due to the work needed.

Does anyone have any advice for a naive first time buyer, who would prefer to pay £103,000 for it now!

Thanks for reading

xx

lilyann1

All homebuyers reports come back saying get the electrics checked if it is an older property and get the gas checked ,as surveyors are not corgi registered so they cannot comment on this.
But with the other things that they recommend should be done,I would be well inclined to phone up the agent and say you can show them your report if needs be,but over £3k or work need doing and the valuation has come in lower than your offer and ask the vendor for a reduction in the price. You can only try ,even if they only take another £1k off it's a bit towards the cost you'll have to pay out.If on the other hand they say no they won't reduce the price,you have to decide whether you are prepared to fork out that little bit extra to do the jobs yourself.

chickmeistergeneral

Hiya

Thanks for the previous reply

I spoke to the estate agent today about the survey. They played it down, as i thought they would and said the survey by the mortgage company is the important one.(i purchased a seperate homebuyers as well as having the free valuation from the mortgage company) They said as i only had recommendations and no immediate points then not to worry. I think they thought id forget about the work needed.

She spoke to the vendors who said they will not accept less than the £106,000 whatever the mortgage valuation says. They wouldnt consider anything. I think me and my partner need to see the cost of the work, and see what the mortgage company comes back with in relation to the value of the house.

Does anyone have any other comments or advice on this?

Thanks for reading.;)

silvercar

* New incoming communication pipe for the water main. Including new drain off facility and stop tap inside.

important and could be expensive.

* Registered Corgi Gas inspection for the whole of the gas installation.

typical survey comment

* Lower the ground level against the rear elevation for the paving.

another comment that always appears. In pracctice few people do anything about it.

* Install new airbricks in the front elevation.

Yet another common comment, but cheap to do - knock out a brick replace with vent.

* Be aware of the addled plasterwork to the internal face of the external walls.

Sounds like something you would have seen before the survey.

* Realign the gutters front and rear and remedy the leaks.

Gutters need straightening and repairing? depnds how urgent and how many need doing.

* Rebuild the top two courses of the chimneystack and re-flaunch the pots.

JUst a bit of filling if your not scared of heights.

* Be aware of the addled external rendering to the front elevation.

I guess this was obvious before survey.

* Increase the roof space insulation and install more air vents to the roof space.

Every few years the regs change and more and more insulation is recommended. Doesn't sound urgent. Adding vents is cheap.

All surveys show faults, there doesn't sound anything major.

Mental_Mentor

chickmeistergeneral wrote:

Hiya

Thanks for the previous reply

I spoke to the estate agent today about the survey. They played it down, as i thought they would and said the survey by the mortgage company is the important one.(i purchased a seperate homebuyers as well as having the free valuation from the mortgage company) They said as i only had recommendations and no immediate points then not to worry. I think they thought id forget about the work needed.

She spoke to the vendors who said they will not accept less than the £106,000 whatever the mortgage valuation says. They wouldnt consider anything. I think me and my partner need to see the cost of the work, and see what the mortgage company comes back with in relation to the value of the house.

Does anyone have any other comments or advice on this?

Thanks for reading.;)

EA doing usual fob you off. If surveyor says property is worth £103k that is what you should pay - no argument! Ask for reduction in asking price through your solicitor. It is up to you if you want to give them a copy of the survey. Personally, I wouldn't.

I often find that vendor is much more agreeable to a reduction than EA thinks. If no joy - get quotes for the work. This will take time though.

Remember all offers for a property are "subject to survey" for this reason

courtjester

Don't agree with mental mentor that you should pay no more than the mortgage valuation - depends on how much you want the house and whether you are prepared to improve the current condition at your own expense.

Remember, no matter what the surveyor says, the vendor is not obliged to sell the property to you at any price other than what THEY are prepared to accept.

The faults indicated are typical of what you expect for older houses - most of the renovations point to improving ventilation and avoiding damp which is to the benefit of the future well being and saleability of the property. It would be very rare to buy an older property with no maintenance issues, so these should not be blown out of proportion.

The asking price presumably already takes into account the current condition of the property - if it doesn't, look at other properties which you would expect to be in better /improved condition.

The only area which looks suspect is the requirement to renew the incoming water main - this coudl be expensive - you might want to ask the surveyors direct why they recommend this.

There is absolutely no reason why you should not advise the vendor that you wish to re-negotiate the offer because of this expensive item which is a significant repair, although few if any of the other items really give you amunition to ask for a reduction. You need to understand whether you want the property enough to bear all the costs yourself, or if you have your own limit.

Example, you will proceed with purchase if vendor meets you halfway to cover some of the costs of the main expense relating to the water main - say dropping their price by 1-2,000. They don't have to accept and you must be prepared to walk away if they don't.

marybishop

Mortgage valuation is not the important one - it's the homebuyer's that's important but then what do EA's know. Have a look at the RICS website for definitions of each type of survey.

Jorgan_2

Have you actually got any quotes for the works listed? As has been said, they don't appear to be major. Have you asked if the seller prepared to to carry out any of this work themselves or are you after a straight price reduction?

Unlike Metal Mentor, I would show the seller/agent the survey, it provides substance to the reasons you are trying to re-negotiate the purchase price. Many vendors do not realise the potential problems they have in proeprties they are selling. Many will see in their own survey, when they bought, that there it was suggested remedial work be carried out, but never did and are then surprised when 12 years later it comes up as a problem that requires immediate work.

The problems with their property, highlighted by your survey, may not show on another buyers survey, if they decide to re-market and sell to some one else. In which case the seller will feel vindicated in not reducing their price to you. If the same problems do show up, then they are back to square one.

Whether or not you can re-negotiate the price, really comes down to the sellers willingness & ability to re-negotiate. They may be buying another property & feel they need every penny they can get. If they are involved in a chain of 6 properties, ask the agent to go up the chain seeing if they can get contributions from anybody. If everyone in the chain can contribute £500 towards the costs, you pay £103,500 on the figures given, the problem is solved.

Get back onto the agent to try & sort things out.

chickmeistergeneral

Hi

The agent is sticking by 'wait to see what the mortgage valuation comes back as' as that hasnt been complete yet. My homebuyers survey was an independant one. They have asked for a copy of the recommendations, and the valuation parts of the survey which i was going to give them.

I found out today that the vendor has had an offer accepted on a property so they maybe trying to save money, but they have made £65,000 on the property to what they paid for it 3 years ago. They told me on viewing the house that they had a valuation early last year and it was valued at £125,000 so if that is true maybe that is sticking in their heads. Im not sure if that would be accurate as they had it on the market at their current valuation of £109,950 (big difference in theirs and mine)

I was thinking of letting the solicitor push for a negotiation in price, and i am in the process of getting some prices for the jobs, mainly the water pipe as thats looking like the most expensive. The house is a lovely property, and iv found it very hard to find one in the same condition, same price in the same area, so id be gutted not to get it in the end, but it wont stop me trying to get either the jobs done by them, or a reduction in the price. I am going to contact the surveyor today and see what importance the stop !!!! for the water makes being outside, instead of indoors, apart from convenience. As it stands the stop !!!! is outside the gate at the front of the property.

This is all new to me, so thanks very much for the advice is much appreciated!

chickmeistergeneral

Hi everyone,

I thought id give you an update on my saga so far...

I spoke to the estate agent again today.The vendor is going on holiday tomorrow for 2 weeks, and because they estate agent told my mortgage surveryor the survey had been completed, they cannot get out again now until the vendor returns.(vendor wont leave keys so no access)

I mentioned to the estate agent that if the 2nd valuation, the mortgage one comes back as less than £106,000 then we could not pay the extra as we are getting a 100% mortgage, so if the vendor would not consider reducing the price to what it is valued at, we may have to pull out. The estate agent said the vendor has said they are already losing money on not holding out for £109,950 and are not prepared to lose anymore, so they will take their chances on the market, and would prefere to spend money on marketing the property, than knock money off. They feel they could get the full asking price.

I did say to the estate agent that i hope the 2nd survey does come back saying the value is at least £106,000 but if it doesnt, what makes the vendor think they will ever get the full asking price for something not worth it, with a least one expensive repair? The estate agent said again, the vendor said they will take their chances.

Its really pi**ed me off the attitude of not negotiating at all, or even listening to reason. They dont want to know anything under £106,000 and will take their chances. The have had an offer accepted on another property, and are making over £65,000 on this house, im not sure why they are so adamant they can get more than its worth, they dont even want to know about the survey as they think its not an issue at £106,000???? (were getting a good deal)

Fingers crossed now the mortgage valuation comes back with at least £106,000 as the house is great, but now the shine has well and truly come off it. Iv even had a quick search on rightmove.co.uk, just incase we have to look again. I am prepared to walk away if need be, as i wont pay more than its worth.

I am wondering as the mortgage is advanced in process, if we did have to pull out, would we still have to do the whole process again with another house, or would they keep us on file for a couple of months?

Its a stressful time at the moment for me!!

Jorgan_2

Whilst the mortgage valuation may tell you, the EA & the seller what the lender thinks the property is worth & willing to lend against it, the homebuyers gets down to the nitty gritty of the properties construction. The mortgage valuation will not pick up nearly as much as detail.