Home Buyers Survey results - ok or scary?

missjy

The property I am purchasing has been valued at exactly what I am paying for it. Below are the survey findings - which would you say must be done before I carry on with the purchase and which can wait til afterwards? Is there anything that would make you worried? Also, how are estate agents about you bringing professionals over to give quotes etc before completion? I need quotes on the things mentioned below and thus need access to the property.

Thank you.

Three
Walls – Dampness found to parts of ground floor walls. A specialist timber and dampness company should undertake further examination.
Electricity – Unlikely to meet current NICEIC standards and upgrading might be required. Inspection required by NICEIC electrical contractor.


Two
Windows – Timber windows require some overhaul and repair.
French windows – Significant overhaul and panelling over rotted areas may have taken place. Requires upgrading or overhaul.
Veranda – Immediate removal. Might require ancillary repairs to brick work and mortar work as a result.
Roof structure – Some roof spread has occurred and some restraint should be installed to prevent any further outward movement. This roof spread has caused some cracking in the small bedroom. Need a roofing contractor to provide recommendations and estimates.
Ceilings – Cracking should be ok with cosmetic repairs in the short-term. Polystyrene tiles should be removed. Replastering of ceilings required.
Drainage – Drain pipes in kitchen are amateurishly installed and these should be upgraded.
Water heating – Gas multi-point water heater in bathroom. It is old dated and should be inspected by a Gas Safe Engineer.
Garage – Some overhaul of joinery required.

chambta

The EA would liase with the vendor for access to the property - there's no reason why they wouldn't allow it if they want to sell the house.

gazebo

I'd say the cause of the dampness needs to be established as well as the extent of the damage - could the dampness be linked to the amature installation of drains in the kitchen for example?

In terms of electricity, it's telling you it's old and needs rewired (well - not actually telling you that, but strongly implying it).

The windows with the rot/overhall/repair - depends on just how bad they are - again, are they causing the damp?

roof and veranda would put me off - or at least make me renegotiate the price I'm willing to pay for the property, simply because not doing the work will cause further damage, resulting in further decrease in value of the property (and would possibly make insuring it difficult I wonder?

the heating will just need inspected, but as per the electricity you'd have to anticipate the cost of re-doing completely.

The garage, more pointing out that it's not as sound as it could be, but could be ok in the shorter term.

In terms of needing access to get quotes etc, if the estate agents are actually wanting to sell it - they should be ok with you getting folk in.

Your first sentance worries me slightly though - you say you've already bought it?

missjy

Sorry I meant to say I have made an offer on the property and it has been accepted. Really really want this property!

I was planning on removing the verandah at the back which serves no purpose and looks in a bad state.

As the above poster mentioned the dampness and the poor piping might be connected so will get someone to take a look.

The house has very recently had a new roof put on so I don't understand why there are problems with it already

The house is empty. The vendor doesn't even live in the same city. Would EA have to be there while work men are coming to give quotes?

gazebo

if it's recently had a new roof, it's possible that the load now on the beams etc is greater than the old roof (as in, the new roof material is heavier than the old stuff), surely there would be a warranty for the work carried out then? as such, has the job been done by cowboys?

I know you really really really want the property, but to just ask, has it been valued at exactly what you have offered only to assist in the getting the level of mortgage you require? Reason I ask is this used to happen in the past, the surveryor would manage to price it at what you're paying for it (sometimes inflating the price slightly), just to ensure the mortgage goes through.

In terms of EA being in while getting quotes, it'd be sensible if they were, otherwise, anything gets damaged, who would get the blame.

Honestly - what you'd be best doing is taking a step back for a second and thinking about the property without the emotional 'I really want it now'.

If you had seen the report before putting in the offer that has been accepted, would you have wandered around the property looking at it in a different light? As in, would you be trying to spot the problems thus ticking off in your mind, well that'll cost around £5K to fix, don't like the look of that plumbing etc, or would you still have gone around saying I want it?

I'm currently looking to buy as well, but in Scotland, there is a homebuyers report carried out by the vendor - it lets me see what's wrong before I go to view - and as such, allows me to be more rational on the whole gut feeling of wanting a place now. That being said, I've found myself falling in love with a place I know I won't be buying because of the issues flagged up in the report.

missjy

Also the house needs central heating. What order should I do these - central heating, electrics, plastering of walls and ceilings??

missjy

To be honest I could see alot of the problems when I went to see the house - cracks in ceiling and did query the electrics with the EA so nothing has been a big suprise in the survey. I bought the house knowing that it would take about £12k to fix up. Houses on that street are selling easily 30k more than what I am paying for it just cos they have been renovated and remodernised. The vendor is in a care home after having lived at the property for 60 years and his son is keen for it to get it sold asap. The only 'internal struggle' I have is that I wanna move in asap but all this work will take a good few months!!

gazebo

plastering of walls and ceilings should be done last

if it needs central heating, that'd rectify the issue of the gas/hot water thing flagged in the survey - surely a new boiler would remove the outdated current method of heating the water.

Ideally, you'd really have to start with the structural issues, strip back the house to it's bare bones and see what's really going on.

Fix anything structural (support in roof, ground floor woodwork where damp etc)

Install new electrics, gas and windows (windows, would be silly not do to if replastering - if letting water in, new plaster would just stay damp)

Have place re-plastered

Install new kitchen/bathroom

Redecorate

enjoy new home a few thousand pounds poorer for all of the above works.

Good luck with it though. To me, if you can get all of the above done for around £12k, you're doing well, but that's just me. I don't know how many windows, how big a home, how much plastering is required etc.

gazebo

bumping this thread - it goes along with the rewiring thread

missjy

I have asked the EA if he has any paperwork/certificate about the water heater - if not whether he could arrange someone to come and have a look at it. Am still awaiting reply.

Am getting 2 professionals to look at the central heating on Friday and 2 electricians to look at the electrics. Am hoping that the electrics are ok cos it'll mean I save myself a lot of money! The estate agent will be there when they come to see and quote and if the electrics do all need changing I will talk to him about it. Although before the survey I did ask him what would happen in such a situation and he said that as I was getting the house at a good price he didn't think that the price could be lowered much. But I suppose that decision is for the seller to make not the EA.

Everything else I am going to deal with when I move into the propert - too much stress!!

DizzyDasher

Can your surveyor not give you a cost estimate for the works needed? Ours did, and some of the more "scary looking stuff" (lateral restraint, roof reinforcement, etc.) was actually quite cheap. The things that surprised us were things like curtains (gaargh!! expensive!!)

Worth looking into the costs more - and then I guess you have to decide whether to try to get the seller to pay some of it. Sounds like you had factored the veranda into your offer already, and it might be worth mentioning this to the seller if you do go back with a new offer to emphasise that you are being reasonable (i.e. the survey came back with A, B, C and D problems: I already knew about A, I would expect B in a house of this age, but C and D are news to me and will cost some money to sort out that I haven't budgeted for, and therefore would like vendor to contribute to/cover the cost of this).