survey and house re-roof

henster

we have recently had an offer accepted on a house - having sold ours. The house we are buying needs loads of work (central heating, rewire etc.) and has been on market for ages. Survey has come back advising us to have the roof checked. We have done this and have been told that it needs a re-roof. This would take us way over on budget for work on the house. Today we have tried to renegotiate with vendors - offering to meet cost halfway etc. but no luck, they refuse to budge. They said that we knew the roof needed replacing and that the price we offered (and that they accepted) reflected that a new roof was needed - although we had no idea that the roof was in such bad condition until the survey came back.

Although we will now lose money we are tempted to pull out of the deal and look elsewhere as we are in good position having sold. what do you think? any advice? Thanks!

Debt_Free_Chick

Very many houses need a new roof, for a number of reasons. Why does this house need a new roof? And how urgent is it?

henster

Thanks for your quick reply!

Needs a new roof because it has nail rot?? Quite a few missing slates etc. Survey came back saying that we should get quotes for roof before proceeding so this is what we have done - having arranged for the roof people to quote, the vendor then told us that he had just had a quote done for a re-roof -which came back at similar price to our quote. the fact that they had a quote done after accepting our offer seems strange - as if they were expecting us to come back and argue?!

robwend

id pull out myself ,re roof is a awful lot and coudl be hidden costs under it all the fact the buyer has known this all along and had quotes themselfs but not done it worries me,and the fact they wont meeet half way is damm greedy

Doozergirl

robwend, a re-roof isn't that bad. I was surpised as they cost less than I thought and can be done with relatively quickly with little disruption. Looking at the sky from your bedroom can be a little disconcerting but in this weather it ain't so bad

OP, I'd stick to your guns. Offering to go halves is generous when you didn't know there was a problem. If it doesn't fit into your budget then you should pull out, though the vendor will only encounter this problem again as soon as they find another buyer. Try and get the EA on side and get them to point this out to them.

robwend

woohoo doozer girl!!!good to see you hun, and what do i know about roofs, diddly quat,isnt it about £10000?

annie-c

My advice is to try not to see the money put into the survey as wasted, but as a necessary expense - you needed to know about the roof issue and if, at the end of the day, you decide to walk away then it was still money well spent as it helped you to avoid making a bigger mistake.

Having said that, whether or not to walk away is a tricky issue.

I was in a similar situation when I bought my house - it was in a generally 'tired state' and I agreed a price that was lower than the asking price to reflect the need for modernisation.

The survey, however, revealed a need for complete rewiring, and a small problem with damp. I immediately got specialist reports done be an electrician and dampproofer and forwarded these to my solicitor, asking for a further reduction in price for £2800 for the re-wiring and £1200 for the damp.

The vendor initially said no, on the grounds that I had already knocked the price down for general repairs. I persisted and threatened to pull out. They held firm and said 'no'.

After a few days thought I decided tohat I would offer to absorb the cost of the damp-roofing into my 'general repair' budget but pressed on the re-wiring because it was a critical job. Still they said 'no'. So I decided to walk away.

Within a day or so they came back and offered the £2800 reduction on the price and so the sale went ahead.

The re-wiring job was inconvenient and the cost rose slightly because I needed to pay extra for re-plastering, but on the whole I was pleased with the outcome.

henster

Thanks for all your replies - this forum is really helpful and I appreciate the advice - it's much needed here!:T

Annie-c your story sounds very similar to ours. We did offer lower than asking price on the house as we knew it needed lots of work but our offer definitely didn't reflect the fact it needed re-roof. In fact the re-roof quotes will almost equal the cash we had earmarked for the heating and rewire. Survey also brought up other issues such as some damp, new windows needed etc etc and we are only trying to renegotiate on the roof costs.

Oh well - you're right, survey isn't money wasted at all, probably the opposite. We are going to walk away today and see what happens next. Will let you know. Thanks again:D

annie-c

Good decision -let us know how you get on!

Doozergirl

Hello robwend, good to see you too It depends on the house and where you are of course, but I'd expect it to be less than £5000.

OP, you're doing the right thing. Hopefully they'll come back on bended knee soon, otherwise they'll be something better along and you'll know what to look for too.

robwend

yeah make em sweat!! not hard in this heat!! lol