Survey results in!

almeida24

Here is my situation...

Im a FTB and saw a house which needed a lot of work doing on it but saw the potential it had. It was on the market at a price which I couldnt afford, therefore I offered as much as I could which was 15% below the asking price and it got accepted within a few days.

I have now had a homebuyer survey done and it has came back with two category 3 repairs - one is for a full re-wire and one is regarding a crack in the wall. I did expect to carry out a full re-wire anyway, although wasn't aware of a crack in the wall. There were also a few category 2 repairs on the survey but the majority were category 1.

Im wondering what to do next? I am going to get a few estimates for the work that needs doing but should I only get them for the category 3 repairs or the 2's as well? Once I have these, should I try and get the price reduced again or do you think its not very likely because they have already reduced it by 15%?

The house is probate and the fact they accepted so quickly makes me think they may reduce it further as they will just want rid of the house and will know that I am really interested in the property and they won't want to go through viewers/selling it all again.

What do you think?

clutton_2

get quotes for everything

lee636

Get the quote for the repairs, take that into account with regards to your offer and if needs be re-offer.

Sounds like youve already offered as much as you can with no money to do the repairs? If thats the case it may be worth walking away or seeing if your re-offer is accepted low enough to do the repairs.

almeida24

lee636 wrote: »

Get the quote for the repairs, take that into account with regards to your offer and if needs be re-offer.

Sounds like youve already offered as much as you can with no money to do the repairs? If thats the case it may be worth walking away or seeing if your re-offer is accepted low enough to do the repairs.

Sorry I meant I offered as much as the mortgage lender would allow me to. I should be able to afford to get the jobs done, I'm just wondering if I should go back and ask for a reduced amount because of the survey results. I suppose I was happy with what we agreed on because I felt this was really low, although I have since found out that the same house (probably in better condition) was sold for less last year. I know the circumstances will have been different and there could have been a reason for it going cheaper but it is still in the back of my mind.

lee636

I think it always will be, im in the process of buying and keep thinking what if i see something better before i sign! :rotfl:

Im a FTB so not 100% certain of the 'proceedings' but im fairly sure that if a buyer has a survey done an EA & vendor can expect a buyer to try a reduced offer based on findings. A buyer may not be in a strong position if the surveyor & report only came back with minor things like 'needs a small amount of pointing to outside wall - 5cm long' (for example!) but if it highlights something a bit more serious such as yours has then i dont see what you can loose by going back and re-evaluating your position.

They can either say yes (depending on your offer) or no.

Find out what it would cost to repair (get several quotes) and then apply this to another offer. They may want to see your report to prove what the surveyor has put (not sure if you have to show them but doubt they would reduce the acceptance amount based on your word).

Good luck!:D

almeida24

Quick update on this...

I have had quotes for the two major work that needs doing and it comes to £4,130. I told the estate agent I would be putting a reduced offer in tomorrow, however she said because the survey valued the house at what I had offered then I had no chance. She said the vendor will ask for a copy of the survey and therefore I will have nothing to use in my favour because it shows the property is valued at what I have offered and not less. Surely the fact that I am a FTB, I am serious about buying because I have had my survey done and my mortgage offer is through and it has took a few months to get to this point, the vendor will at least consider the offer?

What do you think? Am I being unrealistic trying to get more money off? I will struggle to pay the full deposit plus having to fork out £4,130 straight away. I am even going to ask for £4,000 rather than the £4,130 which the quotes add up to.

Please advise as Im now worried what to say tomorrow!

Eric1

Perhaps you could tell them you are worried about the crack, not just the repair cost, and other potential buyers will be too.

lee636

If you give them a copy hide the valuation amount. You dont have to show them that. If youve already offered what the place is worth taking into account works your not in a strong position but if you have offered keeping in mind serious things may have needed doing then you may have a chance.

Point out that any further offers they may receive from buyers could be a lot lower than yours, potentially a lot lower than yours if they factor in the serious work needed and that even though the place may be valued at something its only worth what someone will pay.

I think you need to go in strong, level headed and be prepared to walk away, dont overstretch yourself, already knowing your sums are tight at best gives you an idea as to if you should walk away or not.

Your last chip on the table could be offering to me the vendor half way. You say you can clearly see how much the repairs cost, my first offer was fair subject to survey. If you can honestly afford to pay maybe half the repair cost then offer that up, see how far that gets you.

Cannon_Fodder

Needing re-wiring is usually pretty obvious at a glance - you say you expected to anyway. So, you cannot reasonably deduct for that.

The crack, depends if cosmetic or structural. What portion of £4k is down to the crack ? Presumably less than half, as a re-wire might be around £2k. If more, how on earth did you not see it...?

Sometimes 15% off is just a really good deal. Trying to have your cake and eat it, might bite you in return.

kmmr

If you knew or suspected work was needed, and offered a low price as a result, you can't then reduce it again. You have already mentally 'deducted' the price of the work, and the vendors could well argue that the place is sold as seen, and they accepted the price based on that.
If something NEW comes up (such as the crack) that you didn't already adjust the price for, then you could think about re-offering as a result. But to double discount for something you had already taken into account seems wrong.

jockosjungle

They may well think we accepted 15% off cos there was a crack in the wall and it needed rewiring, they may just want rid of it. The proceeds may be being split between 20 people and aren't going to be fussed about losing a further £125 or it might be one person and they are.

How badly do you want the house? Can you afford the repairs? You'll need to find the £4k regardless of what they knock off your mortgage as I doubt the mortgage company will give you the money to do it.

You can play hardball, they might be desperate to sell and get rid of it, they might not be all that desperate to sell it and tell you where to go, then where do you go?

R