Renegotiating price after survey

evoke

Out of interest, is it worth renegotiating the price if the survey reveals a hot water and central heating system that is on its last legs, zero double glazing (with mould caused by condensation), a rodent infestation in the loft and leaking guttering?

The whole lot above is likely to cost around £11K.

Also, is it is worth trying to renegotiate the purchase price, what sort of deal should I come to? Is it customary to ask the seller to meet me halfway for the costs?

jjsimcox

evoke wrote: »

Is it customary to ask the seller to meet me halfway for the costs?

Most definitely. That's the norm.

Although I see from your reply to my thread that the surveyor has said that it is worth what you have paid for it. So has your surveyor not incorporated this £11K of work into his valuation?

hcb42

not necessarily, it depends on the selling price. You could be buying at a price which reflects the current condition, not the value if upgraded etc

Yorkie1

As a seller, I'd expect the buyer to have factored into their offer anything which is reasonably obvious to the untutored eye. So, you should have noticed the lack of DG and the mould when viewing / assessing your initial offer.

Unless the rodent infestation has affected wiring, I wouldn't necessarily consider that to be sufficiently serious to start quibbling over purchase price. Probably ditto for the guttering.

However, a central heating system and boiler is significant I would seek to renegotiate on that basis. I'd start at the whole estimate for that amount and see whether the seller will contribute half.

evoke

Ah, I see. The surveyor valued it at the price I am paying. However, the rodent infestation issue is something that requires immediate attention so could I get the sellers to deal with that or knock off whatever it costs to deal with the infestation?

timmyt

evoke wrote: »

Out of interest, is it worth renegotiating the price if the survey reveals a hot water and central heating system that is on its last legs, zero double glazing (with mould caused by condensation), a rodent infestation in the loft and leaking guttering?

The whole lot above is likely to cost around £11K.

Also, is it is worth trying to renegotiate the purchase price, what sort of deal should I come to? Is it customary to ask the seller to meet me halfway for the costs?

only for central heating and everything else was ref;eted in the price. if the seller gets it all fixed, then they can charge you more! maybe even the heating was reflected in the price too

G_M

'Rodents'? What mice? rats? Either way a few traps and some poison down when you move in and the problem is solved.

Guttering? Depends on the problem but after you move in, get a handyman round with a ladder and re-seal the joints or re-align the gutters whatever.

Double glazing? Did you not view the house before putting in your offer? I'd expect you to have taken that into account in the original price you agreed.

The boiler is more significant, but what makes the surveyor say 'last legs'? Is he also a (GasSafe registered) heating engineer? Surveyors might note the age of the boiler, but only an engineer could really comment seriously. My boiler had rust on the outside, wa 25 years old, but lasted happily for another 6 years before I decided to upgrade to a more modern one.

Yes, try negotiating, but much depends on the vendor, his evaluation of the boiler (he's been using it for years), and whether he believes the agreed sale price reflects the age of the boiler etc.

loverly9

Yorkie1 wrote: »

As a seller, I'd expect the buyer to have factored into their offer anything which is reasonably obvious to the untutored eye. So, you should have noticed the lack of DG and the mould when viewing / assessing your initial offer.

Unless the rodent infestation has affected wiring, I wouldn't necessarily consider that to be sufficiently serious to start quibbling over purchase price. Probably ditto for the guttering.

However, a central heating system and boiler is significant I would seek to renegotiate on that basis. I'd start at the whole estimate for that amount and see whether the seller will contribute half.

If I was a seller then I would accept the highest offer I thought I would get. My opinion of the condition of the property wouldn't come into it. If there was something hidden and significantly devaluing then I would only reveil if a) i thought buyers wouldn't get a mortgage on it or b) it was critical to sell quickly without problems.
Accepting a lower offer without informing the buyer of the problem would be pointless - since they still might feel it is necessary to get the problem resolved or get money knocked off for it.
Telling all the buyers about the problem would reduce the number offering and ultimately would reduce the sale price. If a buyer has got used to the idea of living somewhere then they are much less likely to pull out (never mind their financial commitment to the sale)

loverly9

evoke wrote: »

Ah, I see. The surveyor valued it at the price I am paying.

Ha!, Our surveyor gave us a useless valuation as well. It's really annoying isn't it.
From reading info on the web, I have realised that a valuation that comes out exactly the same must be based on the principle that "a house is worth what someone will pay for it" which of course its not necessarily true. This is because at the point of offering you have no idea what anyone else has offered or will offer in the future or will ultimately pay after the survey has been done.
If the valuation is for the mortgage company then it makes sense to value a house in this way unless the deposit won't cover any repairs. Otherwise the LTV is screwed and you have to start again with the mortgage (and the mortgage company might actually want to keep your custom!).
Our mortgage company did their own valuation that said it was worth what we paid. That was a good thing.
Our surveyor was supposed to be doing a valuation for us but just said the same. Still, I will be contacting him to clarify - will the house be worth more if all the problems were correct or less if they are not!!

loverly9

I wonder Evoke/others would you be able to help me and clarify the implications of pulling out?
We still need to understand the cost of the work we need to do but we also need to work out the implications of pulling out if the seller doesn't accept any reduction we ask for.

We are first time buyers so there was no complication of selling. But we have also started applying for a mortgage. We paid the booking fee, they have done their valuation (which came good) and now they are just assessing our documents. The problems were found when we commissioned our own survey.

Booking fee was £200, the valuation was free and then there is an arrangement fee of £800.
Is it likely we can transfer the mortgage to another property? What would be the costs?
Can we change the amount we are borrowing? What would be the costs?
Would the mortgage company want to know why we are getting the reduction? Could it compromise the mortgage?
If we just cancelled we would loose the booking fee - but does anyone know about the arrangement fee - would that still be charged?:eek:

FYI with our solicitor, we understand we have to pay for the work/searches already done and give an extra £100 if we pull out. i.e. i reakon we're probably up to at least £400 2 weeks in.
Plus also our survey was £340.

loverly9

Got some help on this from another thread. Alas i can't post any links, but the jist is that i won't have to pay my arrangement fee, but with other mortgages you might and in addition you may well have to pay fees!
:T