Prospective buyer bringing builder round

Catbells

I have accepted an offer on my house. The buyer wants to come round this week with planners/builders etc. We haven't exchanged contracts yet. Am very concerned that this buyer may try to beat me down on price as a result of his findings with the builders.

There is another interested party in the frame who offered the same price who has contacted me personally and I told them that I chose the others on account of them being cash buyers. On a personal level I preferred these people but they weren't cash buyers.

If the chosen buyer tries to beat me down I would go back to the other buyer but how long should I wait and risk the possibility of losing them them.

iamana1ias

If they want to bring a builder round it shows they are serious. They obviously want to make changes to the house and want to know how much they will cost. This is sensible. The builder is not a surveyor. The only time the buyers could reasonably haggle on price is if something came up on the survey and/or the mortgage company undervalues it.

Catbells

iamana1ias wrote: »

If they want to bring a builder round it shows they are serious. They obviously want to make changes to the house and want to know how much they will cost. This is sensible. The builder is not a surveyor. The only time the buyers could reasonably haggle on price is if something came up on the survey and/or the mortgage company undervalues it.

Thanks. They haven't mentioned bringing a surveyor round - yet. I wish they had done this first - before the builders.

My house was underpinned 18 years ago due to adjacent tree which has now been removed. Is this likely to cause a hiccup with value?

Blacksheep1979

have you got anything to hide? If not then you should have no problems with builders/surveyors etc.

iamana1ias

Catbells wrote: »

Thanks. They haven't mentioned bringing a surveyor round - yet. I wish they had done this first - before the builders.

My house was underpinned 18 years ago due to adjacent tree which has now been removed. Is this likely to cause a hiccup with value?

Their mortgage company will instruct a surveyor - it's part of the process.

Here's an example from some friends of mine. House on market at £275k. Sale agreed at £260k. They want to make some pretty significant alterations (extensions etc) and are only interested in the house if they can make the changes. So they need a builder to see it to tell them how much the alterations would cost, and need to talk to the planning department to see whether they would actually be allowed to make the changes. This is sensible before exchange as the deal depends on these things.

Alteration costs estimated at £40-50k. Buyers still interested.

Meantime, mortgage company do their survey/valuation. Comes back at £225k - £35k less than agreed. Mortgage company won't budge, seller won't budge so they have to find an extra £35k deposit. Alters the available cash for the works, so they go back with the builder to look at other options. Seller still wants to sell, so it's in their interests to accommodate the buyers.

Buying a house is a big deal. You have to make sure you are 100% happy before exchanging as it's costly to change your mind afterwards.

You are lucky that you have another offer in the wings. Your posts do make it sound like you are trying to hide something.

QTPie

We are currently in the process of buying a house (offer accepted). We are taking a surveyor and a builder around.

The surveyor will do a very thorough survey to check for anything major, the builder is because we are going to gut the place before moving in: it will allow him to do a detailed quote, then order the materials straight after exchange. We have a 4 month old baby and really don't want to hang around...

We have no intention of messing around: we have found the house that we want, we now want to get on with it (exchange, complete, get the work done and move into our new home).

QT

Sammy85_2

I would stick with the cash buyers for now. Its perfectly reasonable for them to want to make sure that the house is suitable and/or they are able to make the alterations that they want.

If you go for the other interested party then their mortgage company will instruct a surveyor and they are most likely going to want to investigate the underpinning of the house. Potentially a whole lot more hassle.

maria6259

iamana1ias wrote: »

Their mortgage company will instruct a surveyor - it's part of the process.

Here's an example from some friends of mine. House on market at £275k. Sale agreed at £260k. They want to make some pretty significant alterations (extensions etc) and are only interested in the house if they can make the changes. So they need a builder to see it to tell them how much the alterations would cost, and need to talk to the planning department to see whether they would actually be allowed to make the changes. This is sensible before exchange as the deal depends on these things.

Alteration costs estimated at £40-50k. Buyers still interested.

Meantime, mortgage company do their survey/valuation. Comes back at £225k - £35k less than agreed. Mortgage company won't budge, seller won't budge so they have to find an extra £35k deposit. Alters the available cash for the works, so they go back with the builder to look at other options. Seller still wants to sell, so it's in their interests to accommodate the buyers.

Buying a house is a big deal. You have to make sure you are 100% happy before exchanging as it's costly to change your mind afterwards.

You are lucky that you have another offer in the wings. Your posts do make it sound like you are trying to hide something.

OP did say it was a cash purchaser, thus no surveyor from a mortgage company!

jenny74

Our buyers brought a builder round to have a look at the chimney as the surveyor said it was not straight, the builder told the buyer that it was built like that and had not moved, nor was it likely to move.

My point being, having a builder come round is not necessarily a bad thing.

Gwhiz

I went and saw a house this morning and took my builder around as I want to knock the house down and rebuild. It's a sign of intent so a good thing.

QTPie

maria6259 wrote: »

OP did say it was a cash purchaser, thus no surveyor!

Why? Surely most people in their right mind get a property surveyed before purchasing (would be like buying a secondhand car without thorough checks otherwise...).

We are proceeding as cash purchasers (being lent the money by the in-laws) and are going to have a very comprehensive survey done (to ensure that we know exactly what we are buying). We will be taking out a mortgage eventually - to pay the inlaws back - but with a 60% deposit we are not hugely worried...

QT