Understanding a mortgage offer (when you're a thicky)

kford224

Hello All!

We are FTB and received a formal mortgage offer from Santander in the post today :T. I thought (optimistically) that it would involve documentation saying "Hurrah, here is the money we are going to give you!" but am finding elements of it a bit confusing....

The survey (Valuation for Mortgage Purposes) is included, and in it under "Repairs recommended as a condition of the mortgage" it has:

"Instruct a specialist contractor to inspect the whole property and report on internal dampness and the condition of all timbers including the roof void. All necessary works to be carried out. The inspection to be carried out irrespective of existing guarantees, invoices or estimates"

Underneath this it says "Recommended retention - £2000" (I assume this relates to the property being valued currently at £173,000 and us buying it for £175,000?!)

Can someone please advise as to what the process is from here?! Is it something the solicitor will lead and advise us on? Is it saying that we need to get these works done in order to get the loan?! This doesn't make sense because we need to loan in order to get the house?!

I know I am being a thicky, but I am just unsure as to the process from here

Many thanks in advance!

kingstreet

As it stands, the surveyor thinks there's £2k worth of work on the timber and damp course to bring the property up to the purchase price. To sort this, you need to get a specialist in to establish what, if any, repairs are needed.

You can get a firm which carries out remedial timber and damp work to report, probably free of charge, but can you be sure the work is really needed and not just a nice little earner for them?

Here http://www.property-care.org/ you can find independent specialist surveyors who will inspect the property and tell you if anything is needed and what it might cost to put right. You can then look at any existing guarantees provided by the vendor (get your solicitor to obtain) to determine if there's anything which will actually cost money.

If guarantees are to be used, get the vendor to get the ball rolling on those repairs!

Otherwise, on receipt of the reports (and existing guarantees), send these to the surveyor who will have the retention lifted and you can proceed.

If you'd rather approach this after completion, increase your deposit by £2k and complete. Get any remedial works done afterwards, provide proof to Abbey and get your extra £2k released.

kford224

Thank you for explaining the options. It is tempting to complete and get it sorted after, but we'll do some investigating. We already have a full survey arranged for Friday and I have arranged for him to focus on these areas specifically

kingstreet

Another survey by another chartered surveyor?

If it is, you're more than likely going to get another request for specialist opinion.

kford224

That is a very good point...