First Time Buyer-should we renegotiate?

COOKIES

Hi there, myself and my other half have had an offer accepted on a victorian terraced property.

We spoke to the vendors directly and they were very nice and we reiterated that our offer was subject to surveyors report and they were fine with that. We also asked them to take the property off the market and they said yes. This has now gone through the EA and has been made official and all of the paperwork is going through.

Anyways, having just got back the surveyors report, in its current condition the house seems to have been over valued quite considerably by the EA. We have already had our offer accepted at £5k under the asking price, but the house has been valued by the surveyor at £5500 less than our agreed price!!

The house needs damp proofing, timber treatment and electrical upgrading and we think this has been taken into consideration in the report when giving their valuation.

We spoke to the vendors directly very briefly and they took it very personally that anything should come up on the report and got very animated with us although not much was said really from our end, aside from giving them the heads up, so from now on all negotiating will be going through the EA!

We have not exchanged contracts yet, the vendors are downsizing from living seperately in two properties to live together so selling this one, we are in no particular hurry to move in as we are first time buyers. so do we renegotiate for more money off the purchase price or do we ask them to have the works carried out first? what would be fair?

hazyjo

Usually people are given the choice. And not all come down the entire amount - sometimes they might agree a 50/50 reduction, ie half the £5500.

Depends if the lower valuation affects your mortgage, I suppose.

First step would be to send a timber & damp specialist round for an estimate.

Always deal with the agents where possible. I know it sometimes slows things down, and that not all are brilliant, but it's what they're being paid for.

Good luck.

Jx

hazyjo

PS and an electrician's report. Is it currently dangerous or illegal, or is it just that it's got a limited lifespan or that it's advisable to upgrade?

Jx

COOKIES

Hi HazyJo, Thanks for your response, I think its outdated in places and needs upgrading rather than being dangerous, we have contacted someone to go and have a look so we can obtain a quote, thanks for your advice.:)

Jackinbox99

I have just had a surveyers report done on the house I am buying and think you really have to take it with a pinch of salt. Some of the things the surveyer has flagged are very minor and yet the way they are worded it sounds like the house is going to fall down tomorrow. For Example: The surveyer said there was some damp in a seperate lean too building, but not in the main house. So, I have a damp report done. Damp report comes back saying they advise fitting 2 ventilation fans in the main house at a cost of £600!!!!! So that contradicts what the surveyer has said and sounds to me that the damp company are just looking to make some easy money as the fans in question only cost £24.99 each.

Another point my surveyer has flagged is that the fuse box is not upto modern new build regs and therefore I should get an electrical report. Of course the fusebox isnt up to newbuild regs, the house is 1970! And so whilst the electrical report I am now having to pay to have done will give a full test of the wiring, I know they will "recommend" fitting a new consumer unit for some extortionate price.

Im supprised my surveyer didnt flag that the walls of the house are also not to new build regs (which they arnt) and advise i knock all the walls down and rebuild them to new build specs.....

So, you have to be realistic when reading the report and working out what is "nice to have" and what is "critical". The way I see it, is that it cant be that bad if there is someone already living in the place.

mudshark

Surveyor reports can be a bit over the top but I'm not sure that the valuation will really take these problems into account - maybe worth asking.

BTW, these might be of interest - this chap thinks woodworm and rising damp treatments are a bit of a con:

http://www.askjeff.co.uk/woodworm.html

http://www.askjeff.co.uk/rising_damp.html

paul1964_2

COOKIES wrote: »

Anyways, having just got back the surveyors report, in its current condition the house seems to have been over valued quite considerably by the EA. We have already had our offer accepted at £5k under the asking price, but the house has been valued by the surveyor at £5500 less than our agreed price!!

Up until your surveyors report/valuation, you were basing your offer on a mixture of a valuation made by the vendor's EA and your own gut feel. The EA is obviously acting solely in their client's interest and has a clear financial incentive to maximise the price that you pay. Your offer was made from a position of weakness - the vendor had the backing of an experienced property salesperson, whereas you have limited property knowledge.

You have now had a valuation provided by a qualified surveyor who has no incentive to over/undervalue the property. This has levelled the playing field.

You current options are to a) accept the opinion of your surveyor and reduce your offer accordingly or b) ignore your surveyor and pay more than he thinks the property is worth.

Personally, I would listen to your surveyor - otherwise, why go to the expense of employing him?

COOKIES

Thank you everyone for your very helpful comments,these have been taken on board

JonnyBravo

It's a buyers market. Ask for the full 5500 off. There is a slim chance you'll lose it but it's a slim chance. How long has the house been on the market? Much interest from others?

COOKIES

JonnyBravo wrote: »

It's a buyers market. Ask for the full 5500 off. There is a slim chance you'll lose it but it's a slim chance. How long has the house been on the market? Much interest from others?

Hi JonnyBravo, its been up for about 2 months, dont know much about other interest really but she's taken it off the market, I agree its a buyers market we're going to renegotiate this week and see what happens, i'll update everyone soon, thanks for your advice

G_M

The house needs damp proofing, timber treatment and electrical upgrading and we think this has been taken into consideration in the report when giving their valuation.

What exactly does the report say. as has been pointed out, surveyors write things to cover themselves.
All older houses will have outdated electrical systems/fuse boxes. But they work perfectly well. Buy an older car and it will not have a catalytic converter or stop/start technology. But it still works fine!

Surveyors are not damp/wood experts. Did they just recommend getting a specialist report? Did they use an elecric meter (so-called 'water meter')to measure electrical conductivity in the walls, find conductivity and assume it was caused by damp?

I would phone the surveyor and ask. they'll often say a lot more than they'll put in writing.