Survey Results & Mixed Messages from EA.

san09

Hi all,

We recently had an offer accepted on a house we love.
The survey came back valuing it at £1k lower than our offer (not a problem), however it high-lighted some things that are of concern.

ie.
Paving stones have dropped in front of the house possibly indicating a drain problem.

Electrics need to be certified, Gas needs to be certified, and tiles need replacing on roof.

Our main concern is the possible drain problem.

Now we're 1st time buyers and have pretty much mortgaged to the limit so we dont have the cash to finance a big repair job.

The EA at first told us she would get the vendor (a builder who has taken the house as part ex) to do all they can to provide reassurance on the above issues (ie. provide safety certs etc), however they're now saying all this is down to us and we need to do further investigations of our own.

Do all prospective homebuyers have to do this? I'm thinking if we were buying off another couple they would be at pains to reassure us that the property didn't have major problems. We knew we'd be responsible for the repairs once we moved in, but am surprised we need to be forking out so much before we even own the property. Is this the norm?

We just dont have the cash for a full drains test, roofer, sparky and a gas fitter! Not to mention any repairs they come up with!:(

G_M

You cannot relay on anything the EA says: he just wants to encourage the sale to go through so he gets his commission.

Same with the vendor. Just wants to sell. If work DOES need doing, better to do yourself so you know it's done properly. Seller will do the cheapest work possible to persuade you to buy.

Rely on your own investigations - that's why you paid for a survey.

Paving stones have dropped in front of the house possibly indicating a drain problem.

Electrics need to be certified, Gas needs to be certified, and tiles need replacing on roof.

Talk to the surveyor about the drain issue. And/or pay a drain company to stick a camera down.

Or go and check yourself! Take a crowbar or similar and lift the manhole covers outside. Look at the drain beneath - clean or full of debris? Get someone to flush toilet/run taps - does water flow through quickly/easily or trickle through bringing debris with it? It's really not rocket science!

Electrics and gas - surveyor is saying he's not an electrician or gas engineer so does not know. If you are concerned, get an electrician/gas engineer. How old is the house? How old the boiler? Are the light switches old fashioned round ones or modern? Fuse box type?

One or two roof tiles (£50)? Or the whole roof (£2000)? ASK!!

san09

Yes I know what you mean.
The EA doesn't exactly inspire us with confidence (Seem pretty shady tbh. We've never been able to get a straigt answer).
The vendor hasn't budged an inch on this deal but is putting pressure on us to exchange contracts asap or the deals off. We're paying them what they paid for the house.
It's just starting to feel like a money pit. We really didn't expect so many things to be highlighted (the above are just some of the main ones).
Do you think we could knock off the price of all these extra investigations on our offer? We just hadn't budgeted for this as you wouldn't think anything was wrong with the house.

jahudson72

Has there been much interest in this property? I ask because if you are the only person around interested and he needs to sell it then you could have some leverage here.

Producing boiler service reports and NICEIC certificates on works that have been carried out since 2005 are pretty standard questions these days on the looooong list that you get from your solicitor as a vendor. I'd want them, in fact I have both on the house I am trying to buy and the house I am trying to sell.

New central heating systems cost £££ and if you have to do it then you need to re-negotiate your price.

Tiling a new roof (dependant on where you are) is also expensive and it's a lot of money to cough up when you're a FTB.

As for the drains, I don't know anything about them but I'd want someone in.

And don't forget, the estate agent isn't working for you, they are working for the vendor so take what they say with a pinch of salt.

Although I do agree that if you get them to do it then they will be doing the cheapest there is but at least that would tide you over - what does your mortgage company say? I know they are getting very twitchy so check with your solicitor if they are showstoppers on your mortgage.

timmyt

san09 wrote: »

Hi all,

We recently had an offer accepted on a house we love.
The survey came back valuing it at £1k lower than our offer (not a problem), however it high-lighted some things that are of concern.

ie.
Paving stones have dropped in front of the house possibly indicating a drain problem. you say you must withdraw unless they do a survey as that is what your surveyor has highlighted as an unforeseen issue that you did not know about when you made your offer

Electrics need to be certified Gas needs to be certified, surveyors always pass the buck on this but are they saying it is not current standard, as they should know this and tiles need replacing on roof. you ask the seller to do that

Our main concern is the possible drain problem.

Now we're 1st time buyers and have pretty much mortgaged to the limit so we dont have the cash to finance a big repair job.

The EA at first told us she would get the vendor (a builder who has taken the house as part ex) to do all they can to provide reassurance on the above issues (ie. provide safety certs etc), however they're now saying all this is down to us and we need to do further investigations of our own.

Do all prospective homebuyers have to do this? I'm thinking if we were buying off another couple they would be at pains to reassure us that the property didn't have major problems. We knew we'd be responsible for the repairs once we moved in, but am surprised we need to be forking out so much before we even own the property. Is this the norm?

We just dont have the cash for a full drains test, roofer, sparky and a gas fitter! Not to mention any repairs they come up with!:(

good luck op

dimbo61

The EA is acting for the vendor NOT YOU !
He/she gets paid by the vendor NOT YOU!
Its important you have a gas safety check carried out of the boiler/central heating Approx £50 by a gas safety registered engineer.
Same with the electrics get someone in and ask for a report which you pay for !! not the vendor/EA
do you know a good builder/roofer to check the roof

san09

Thanks for your replies.
There has been a few viewings but as far as we know no other offers.
Our mortgage provider didn't see any problems with the survey as only £1k difference.

I would have thought that the Gas & Elec certificates would be pretty standard too. The drains is the biggy for us as this could potentially lead to a foundation problem, and who knows what else.
I think if it were me selling a property I would make every effort to appease the buyer. The EA and vendor are beginning to make us feel like a couple of fools tbh. It's as if we're getting it a such a knock down price that we should be grateful. Believe me it isn't knockdown...a cursory look on rightmove proves that much.

We asked them did they have any knowledge of the potential drain problems and they sent us a copy of the vendors 'Valuation Report'! Literally it was just as if someone had glanced briefly at the house and glanced at a couple of others nearby and slapped a price tag on it. Apparantly this is all the proof we need that no problems were highlighted! Is it me or are they having us on?Surely a 'Valuation Report' and a 'Homebuyers Survey' are 2 different things!

As for replacing the tiles on the roof. You would think the current owner being a builder they would do that?

jahudson72

You don't have to provide the gas and electrical certs etc but it makes life a lot easier if you've had your boiler serviced and had any electrical work by someone that NICEIC registered and that they've given you the paperwork.

Yeah I would have thought that one of the things I would have done if I had a couple of loose tiles would be to get them fixed. It's not a lot of money to do. It seems odd.

What does your gut instinct tell you about this? I'm afraid it sounds like one of you is going to have to spend money on the drains issue if you want to proceed.

Lots of other houses out there.... you've only spent a couple of hundred quid on a survey, it's nothing in the grand scheme of how much we pay for property but you have to be sure. Any doubts need to be settled

DVardysShadow

san09 wrote: »

The vendor hasn't budged an inch on this deal but is putting pressure on us to exchange contracts asap or the deals off. We're paying them what they paid for the house.

Personally, I would take not a blind bit of notice of the pressure and I would do whatever I wanted to do to check out the purchase. But if they said once to often that the deal was off unless contracts are exchanged, I would tell them to go right ahead. Respect to builders, but builder's houses with dodgy issues and ultimatums does not look good.

san09

Honestly I'm starting to get nervous about it.
I really don't want to pull out as we do like the house but nothing seems to have gone smoothly. I know it's supposed to be a buyers market, but they really are making us feel insignificant, as if nothing we say matters and that our concerns are completely unnecessary. We've never done this before and we feel like a couple of idiots. I never thought I would feel this bad. We went from an initial feeling of excitement to a feeling of foreboding about it all recently.
We have 2 little ones and we really dont need to be taking on a project at the moment.

G_M

Look - buying property is expensive. If you have no contingency for small extra expenses (yes a drain inspection, gas report is a minor expense - especially compared to the potential cost of NOT getting it done) then you are stretching yourself too much. There will always be some unexpected costs.

But really most of this is common sense. It's not hard to find out if it's a few odd loose tiles (a totally insignificant problem not worth worrying about) or a new roof. Go and look yourself? Ask the surveyor? Send round a roofer?

Drains too as I said before.

Boiler? Did you check it worked when you viewed? If not, go round again. Turn on the heating - do the rads get hot? Hot water in the taps? If so, it works. Spend £60 on a service after you move in to get it top notch and check CO2 etc. Even if you get an 'official' Gas Safety Certificate or whatever from the deller, that doesn't guarantee it won't break down or even die in 6 months.

Th trouble with surveys, especially full structural ones, is that they
a) list every tiny defect and
b) are full of caveats where the surveyor can't see or isn't qualified.

And FTBs read this stuff and panic.