FTB. Are the seller and estate agent taking the micheal??

junglist_grans_2

pickledpink wrote: »

Some people would think you were making the whole story up!

Only you I think. What possible reason would anyone have for coming on a money saving forum making up stories about a house move???

Your quite pathetic.

Thanks to everyone else who responded with helpful input.

sonastin

Just because the surveyor has said the house is worth xxx doesn't mean you can afford xxx if you have to put in new windows as well. The vendor can hold out for someone who can afford to pay xxx or he can take the bird in the hand now in case prices drop another £9k in the time it takes him to find another buyer willing to live with shoddy windows...

joerugby

junglist_grans wrote: »

Estate agent asked me if it came in at **** and I said yes - did I do that wrong then?

Hindsight is a wonderful thing but a better answer might have been "The report says the windows are shot to death and are going to need replacing, I'm getting some quotes".

Arthritic_Toe

Your offer was made without the knowlege of the additional 9k that would be needed to be spent. It is perfectly reasonable for you to reduce your offer by this amount. The EA is sensing that you will back down and pay the offered price - it is a judgement call by them based on experience, conversations with you etc, and that you have already paid out the survey. You have to make a decision here - either that you will reduce the offer and be prepared to walk away if they wont budge, or to pay the original amount. The valuation is pretty much irrelevant to this.

hazyjo

Your offer was presumably made 'subject to survey' not 'subject to valuation'.

If the survey comes back with expensive issues, you have every right to drop the price.

The house I'm currently in needed a new roof which came up on the survey. I'd initially dropped them a couple of grand, then they dropped the full amount of a roof overhaul of about £2-3k after the survey had been done.

The common line is either they do the repairs themselves, or you drop the price.

In a rising market, they might tell you to go whistle and they'll get another buyer. In this market, they'd be mad not to drop, even if they only offer to drop £2k - the cost of replacing them with d/g or something. If you choose a more expensive option, that's out of your pocket.

Good luck!

Jx

westlondonbuyer

When I bought my first flat, I had a very similar problem. My survey valued my flat at the agreed price (also a strange number), but it also pointed out some serious issues with the windows. It was a tiny flat, but if you are having to replace defective uPVC DG windows, you either have to use uPVC again (which I didn't want to do, as the building was built in 1850 and was beautiful), or shell out for hardwood DG, which costs a fortune. You can't just go for SG off-the-shelf wooden sashes because of building regs. I didn't realise this at the time of my offer. The vendor said the condition of the windows reflected the reduction on the asking price he'd already given me, and the surveyor's valuation supported his position.

My mum gently pointed out to me I couldn't afford this flat AND the work it required, and persuaded me to back out, which I very reluctantly did. It wasn't a negotation strategy - I just didn't have the money. The vendor put the property back on the market. A month later he'd had no other offers and came back to me and offered me the flat at the price we'd originally agreed less the cost of the new windows! Maybe I was lucky, but if you do walk away from the deal, don't bolt the door behind you.