Are we being over cautious?

dave82_2

We got a full building survey on a 1920s house which returned the following advice.

Prior to exchange please
1. Have the electics tested
2. Have the central heating system tested
3. Have an asbestose survey as their may be asbestos in some Artex.

Rather than pay for electrical and heating testing we had 1 quote on each to rewire and repalce the boiler respectively to get a ball park figure to ensure we could afford the work.

We then booked an asbestos survey. The owner a lovely elderly lady and her family are getting very angry with us for sending so many people round. In hindsight I would have booked everything on the same day.

Now for the problem the asbestos surveyor changed the time from 2pm to 9am today which was agreed yestreday. What was lost in comunication along the way was the fact that the survey would take 1 hour so when they turned up they were told they couldn't have an hour and sent packing as the lady had other engagements today. All this is fair enough.

Now for the issue!

We have found it really hard to find a decent company to do this and they are very busy so can't re-book until next week.

We feel under pressure from everyone to just carry on and exchange without getting the survey.

Are we being over cautious. This is our first home and if it is some asbestos in artex that can be skimmed fine, but I don't want to foot the bill if they find anything worse is discovered after exchange.

We are being made to feel very guilty for sending people round are we in the worng? Is this really unusual behaviour when buying?!??

princessamy86

No you shouldn't feel guilty at all, buying a house is one of the most expensive purchases in your life! If you want reports done, you get them done. Is it the agent who has said people are getting angry? If so, ignore them. It is their job to manage their vendor's expectations and explain things to them, not yours to justify what you want to do. So what if it's over cautious (and I don't think it is by the way)? How are they putting the pressure on?

dave82_2

Just constantly refering to the upset we are causing the old lady. Who we do know isn't happy about it she told us herself!! We just feel bad for causing her stress and in hindsight wish we had booked things all on one day. We just weren't aware that we were doing anything that unusual!

bella1985

No way! I don't think you should bad at all- you need to be sure of what you're buying. If they want to sell the house, they should accept you need to get surveys/quotes.

Don't know about the asbestos tho- sorry.

DVardysShadow

Looks like the lovely little old lady was flexing her muscles when she sent your asbestos surveyor packing. She knew about the appointment and cannot realistically claim that an hour is excessive.

If you want the surveys, you have them. And if she won't co-operate, then walk away. She may well get more awkward as the process continues, so don't stretch your patience too much.

princessamy86

Ok yes, ideally it would all have been done on one day but that's not always possible! Just ignore it, if the agents start getting really snotty just say-Fine, will she be pulling out then? Watch how quickly they start back tracking, it's not a market where they will/should risk a buyer over "upset". You aren't doing anything unusual, situations like this occur when the EA isn't managing things properly. Things like this make me so angry, they've probably given their vendor completely unrealistic timescales and now they've worked everyone into a panic because it's taking longer than anticipated. I get this all the time when I'm sales chasing: Oooh-my vendor's going to pull out if we don't exchange this Friday. Me: Yes but the sale only got agreed 4 weeks ago. Deal with it. It's their fault, not yours, I'm assuming you've not been causing big hold ups with paperwork? There is no reason why you shouldn't thoroughly check it out prior to exchange, but there are LOADS of reasons why checking it out is a good idea.

shane42

asbestos is in all celings done before 1990, its in the wall too, its a low value though so dont worry

Daisies

We bought from an elderly man who was moving into his daughter's house and had similar pressure problems from him and the estate agent. Whilst we did what we could to be reassuring about timings and things we did constantly have to point out that things like getting the mortgage paperwork sorted weren't down to us but the bank. We came under a lot of pressure to set exchange and completion dates early on (which our solicitor thought was madness as so much was out of our and her hands).

Also, he had lived in the house 50+ years and so wasn't used to buying and selling property and how long things take, and about doing surveys. Maybe your seller has a similar attitude? Ultimately you want to make sure that the house you're buying is right and affordable to you, so you should request what surveys etc are necessary. You can be reassuring to the seller and try and arrange timings to be convenient to her, but ultimately she's trying to sell the house so she needs to accommodate all that!

dave82_2

Thanks. We are 1000% commited to buying so just want everything to proceed. We just don't like feeling pressured and want to make sure everything is right.

Gwhiz

Do not forget that, although this will be your home, this is a BUSINESS TRANSACTION and thus you need to ensure your investment is as secure as possible.

Old ladies getting upset is neither here nor there even though you may not want to upset her. She'd be even more upset if you pulled out of the deal

alanmilstein

You are absolutely right to be concerned about asbestos and to fully complete all checks before exchanging a contract to purchase this property.
As as asbestos surveyor I would absolutely recommend that the ceilings be sampled and analysed for the presence of asbestos. Many textured ceiling finishes used pre-2000 contained asbestos, and even though the quantities may be small the damage that even these small quantities can do is not fully known.
If commissioned to undertake a survey of this type we would probably be in the property (depending on size) 1-3 hours and would take samples of all suspect materials. These would go off to an approved laboratory to be analysed and our final report would be delivered some 3-5 days after the survey. This is the ONLY way to be sure about the presence of asbestos.
In the event that the lab verified the presence of asbestos our report would make recommendations on how to deal with it based on a formula defined by the Health & Safety Executive.
If the ceiling surface is in good condition then the recommendation might be to leave it alone or skim over it. If, however, there was evidence of flaking or other damage then the recommendation might be removal by a licensed contractor.
Whatever happens, though, it is 100% essential that you don't attempt to remove or sand down such materials unless you can be certain (by analysis) that there is no asbestos present.
Asbestos kills more people per year that die on the roads and the level of exposure to cause illness or death is not fully known. The ONLY safe way to treat suspect materials is to assume they contain asbestos and deal with them accordingly.
When buying a property it is YOUR responsibility to make sure that you are completely happy with the purchase. If you have a good solicitor then they should talk you through this and help with the negotiations. If the seller of the property is being unusually difficult about allowing access to surveyors then maybe it's best to walk away from the deal as perhaps they have something to hids.
As surveyors we are often asked to offer opinions on properties that are in the process of being sold and in most cases sellers are only too happy to allow us free and unlimited access. After all, it's in their own interest.