Type of survey and does the vendor have to see it?

stilernin

Asked solicitor to organise a full 'everything' survey as I will be paying cash and didn't want too many surprises over the next few years.

This came back with some probs, damp, fire wall, etc etc. Surveyor gave a very rough estimate of £5000 'depending' on what was found.

I contacted the agent to say that I am now waiting for a quote from a builder and will want to renegotiate the price to reflect the cost of this work.

Agent asked for a copy of the survey............ is this normal/advisable? I understood that the agent worked in the interest of the vendor and I paid for the survey after all.

Also, agent asked for the surveyor's valuation. Asked the surveyor and he said he hadn't been asked for a valuation and this would cost me more. When I asked the solicitor to organise this, I made it clear that I wanted the 'full monty' from the surveyor. Have I been short changed somewhere along the line here?

EDIT... I did fax the agent the page from the survey which listed work that needed 'immediate attention', and I am waiting for the builder's quote which I will forward. It is the whole of the survey I am a bit protective of.

bs0u0128

the vendor may want proof of the works cost b4 negotiating

stilernin

Have edited the original post.

silvercar

it is normal for a full structural survey to be considered separately from a valuation.

Usually you arrange the full survey privately and get the mortgage company to do a valuation. From experience you cannot get the mortgage companies to do full surveys with their valuation, they will only go as far as home buyers reports.

To be honest, if you are not getting a mortgage, why do you need a valuation? You know what price you are prepared to pay so I doubt that a valuation will be worth much to you.

pawpurrs

Normally if one was having a mortgage as per course you would have a mortgage valuation. This is what they mean. What they will want to know is if the surveyor thinks the house is worth what you are paying for it even with the work that needs doing. Without knowing that the vendor may not be happy to renegotiate. I would want to see a copy of the survey if you were expecting a reduction on the strength of it. Why should I reduce otherwise?
Most surveyors do tend to put a line that the house is valued at x in their survey report, seems a bit off to want to charge more for it.

silvercar

I think it right that you have shown the EA the key areas but not the detail. Should give them enough info to realise work needs doing. If they want sight of the whole survey the vendor should pay something for it - it cost you enough.

As far as price negotiating goes, I think it only right to negotiate on things that you could have been expected to see when you agreed the price ie if you see that the house is single glazed , you can't really expect the seller to drop the price by the cost of double glazing. Negotiating after survey is for unexpected problems.

mr.broderick

Did you pay full asking price or less?

stilernin

The house went to full and final bids and I went over the asking price.

The extent of the rising damp, rot beneath the floor, etc was not apparent when viewed.

loujay_2

My EA asked to see the relevant parts of the survey done on my house when a problem arose. I was shown only this so that I could address it. I wouldnt think it fair for the whole survey to be sent to EA.
Only thing that would worry me is as you have gone over the asking price as more people were interested, the vendor may refuse to reduce the price and threaten to sell to the next best bid he got. (if that bid was higher than the final price you want it reduced to). Just a thought.
Hope you get it all sorted.

marybishop

Full structural surveys (building surveys) do not include a valuation as part of the survey whereas homebuyers do.

Debt_Free_Chick

stilernin wrote:

I contacted the agent to say that I am now waiting for a quote from a builder and will want to renegotiate the price to reflect the cost of this work.

Also, agent asked for the surveyor's valuation. Asked the surveyor and he said he hadn't been asked for a valuation and this would cost me more.

The problem is that you don't know the value of the property in its current state. I would have wanted the surveyor to answer the question .... "Given the work that needs to be done, what is its current value?". That would then tell you by how much you would need to revise your offer.

The vendor may come back and say that the asking price reflects the work that needs to be done - but you will not have your surveyor's opinion on this.