HELP-Surveyors report is bad news - how to negotiate house price?

malteser

Hi

I'm not sure where best to post this, but we are in the process of buying a 3bed 1930 semi and have just had a full building survey done. The full report will be with us on Friday but over the phone the surveyor has said the following:

1) there is cracking to the brickwork and render, and during a prolonged dry spell there is likely to be further movement. (After our offer was accepted we discovered that 10yrs ago there was cracking around the bay and porch caused by conifers, these were removed and a recommendation was made to do resin crack bonding, complete repointing of ground floor brickwork and forming a movement joint between porch and main house) These recommendations were not done by the owners but they did repoint the front bay. They seem to have gotten away with it but it is unlikely that we will and that the house needs strengthening.

2) The roof is pretty poor, it will need re-roofing as it may last around 5 years only.

3) Heating boiler is very old (15yrs) and needs replacing. The hot water cylinder is very old

4) Electrics are very poor, again 30yrs old and amateurish

5) Dampness in the back room and in the chimney brest which needs further investigation.

6) Drainage problem, rear blockage

We will wait to see the final report and recommendations with costs but in the meantime i wondered how does the process work? If for example it costs 30k to put all this right , would it be reasonable to expect to get 30k off the price of the house? My feeling is that we did not expect this level of problem and we based our offer on everything being ok. We did expect issues as its 70yrs old but not this level of problem.
This is my first place and i wondered if anyone has been in a similar position? Is it reasonable to take the number the surveyor quotes and expect that to be the amount the house should be reduced by?

I would appreciate any help or advice.
Thanks
m.

margaret_3

Are you really desperately keen on this house? If not, look for another.
We bought a gorgeous bungalow despite the fact that it had suffered subsidence and a few buyers had withdrawn. It had a 30 year guarantee against further subsidence so we were happy as there was nothing else wrong with it. In fact it was beautifully maintained. However, when we came to sell it, we found that to be very frustrating as prospective buyers immediately withdrew when the surveyors reports came through.
I would advise against buying this property.
Margaret

malteser

oh no i was really hoping that you wouldn't say that! we are really keen on this house and we have been looking for over a year and its the only one that we have wanted to put an offer on. its also on the same road as my parents which is great and handy for babysitting!
we are still looking at other houses but we keep preferring this one, we are very open to other houses but there just aren't many around coming onto the market here.

dougk_2

You have three options really.

1) walk away and forget the house
2) Get quotes (from several parties) for all the work , add these up and add a little extra for "added risks" and the increased premium for the insurance (based on subsidence etc). Reduce your offer by this much at least.

3) Get the owners to have the work done in advance of sale by safe and reliable companies along with long term guarntees (pref. backed by insurance) and again reduce the price to allow for additional insurance premiums and the possible difficulties in future selling.

Remember no house is perfect. Though the heating is 15 years old , it may last for another 15 years (though it won't be very efficient!). I am now only just changing a 32 year old boiler which is running fine still!
If there is a flat roof , every surveoyors report I have seen states about replacing the roofing.... its a backside covering statement.

Personally as this is your first house it maybe wise to avoid it unless you can get it at a low price and are prepared for future work.

Rafter

Surveyors need to cover themselves, so the report always sounds bad.

However, roofing, electics, damp, drains is a pretty damning catalogue of problems and even if you got a good discount, you need to find the cash to pay for all that lot and their is no guarantee you would get a mortgage on a property in that condition anyway.

Even if you get the discount, you have to deal with all the hastle of finding tradespeople and the mess of living in a house with new roofs.

Rewiring for example may require complete redecoration and lots of plastering after the new cables, switches etc have been laid.

After never imagining living in a new house, I am now a complete convert. New stuff, no draughts, good insulation and a 10 year guarantee against major stuff going wrong.

I would walk away unfortunately - unless you can get an amazing deal from the seller.

R.

margaret_3

Yes Rafter. It would have to be a really AMAZING deal to buy this house.
I'm sorry,m, but it is a terrible risk for such a huge purchase! As I said, I've been there and our house was beautiful except for the history of movement. There is SO much wrong wih this house.
Sorry.
Margaret

frugal_dougal_3

Rafter wrote:

Surveyors need to cover themselves, so the report always sounds bad.

The list of problems wouldn't necessarily put me off buying as surveyors always lay it on with a trowel if you'll excuse the pun. Whatever he/she values the house at is only their opinion so it would be wise to also get some quotes from some builders and electricians to find out what the repairs will cost.

I do not trust surveyors totally as I have known them to give totally conflicting opinions about a property.


The bottom line is that the more you want the house the more research and mathematics you are going to have to do.

Natelle_2

If you're looking for a refurbishment project then re-negotiate the price with the aim of a reduction on the basis of estimated repair costs plus 20% surcharge for inconvenience.

If you're looking for a problem free home then WALK AWAY !

Remember it's a buyers market at this time, and probably will be for the next few months at least, so don't let your heart rule over logic.

flea72

in all effects it doesnt sound that bad to me - any house of that age will have cracks to the brickwork/render - unless it has actual land slip subsidence then there is no prob, the cracks have resulted from the trees, which were removed, and the land will have settled if these were removed 10yrs ago, the surveyor is just covering his !!!!!! - if there was any real probs, you wouldnt be able to get a mortgage or insurance cover, as they just wouldnt take the risks lending the money

heating and electrics again are neither here nor there, its routine maintenance on a property of that age - prob due to be replaced, either get the owner to do it now, or ask for reduction

dampness, again could be nothing major, more airbricks needed, new damp proof course injection, or chimney needs repointing/new flashings - could be tied into needing new roof, or blocked drains - again get quotes, ask for work to be done by owner, or ask for reduction

if the works are going to cost £30k - which i would doubt - then base your revised offer on a 30k reduction - most owners will get the work done, as they dont want to loose a sale, or have an offer reduced by such a large amount

i had a house, that basically needed rebuilding according to the surveyors report - but a few minor repairs, that cost a couple of grand, sorted everything that was wrong

once you have the full report, get quotes for various things - the owner should be willing to let tradespeople have a nosey around - and then decide if you want to proceed - i wouldnt get too worried, until i knew what the monetary damage was going to be

malteser

Thanks for replying, we should know more specifics tomorrow.

We are not afraid of doing any work but obviously want the price we pay to reflect this and the current price is that of an immaculate home that is considered ready to move into and thats what we have been planning for months, we are desperate to get into the house but now the fear is that it may not be safe especially with a young child.

Longer term we are hoping to do an extension in say 1-2 years, the plan is to extend the kitchen and create a large kitchen/dining space, convert the garage into a room (playroom) build a small bedroom on top of the garage and maybe convert the loft. Also knock out the upstairs fireplaces and knock through the living and dining rooms. Its a fairly typical extension for this type and style of house and we are buying with a view to do this BUT also have to be realistic and think that things could change in our circumstances and therefore we may not financially be able to do any of these things.
Its definately not a refurbishment project right now and we want to move in and live in it as a family home as soon as possible (yesterday!)

I'll know more tomorrow but if you know rough costs for any of the things that need doing for this type of house it would be very helpful. I have no idea how much it would cost to get a new roof on a 3 bed semi for example. By the way its near Kingston in Surrey if that helps with costs......

thanks again.
m

SnowyOwl_2

malteser wrote:

we are really keen on this house and we have been looking for over a year and its the only one that we have wanted to put an offer on.

Hi Malteser, if the house has been on the market for this length of time then I should imagine the pensioners who are selling will be open to negotiation. Also what springs to mind is that if they had knocked it down to a price to allow for renovations then Mr Investor would have snapped it up long since. It's so hard to get a house that you just "fall in love with" so I would say persevere and start negotiating hard. Also on your side is that the owners won't have a mortgage to pay off so while they might be disappointed at a lower sale price it's not essential they meet the asking price with regards to paying off their mortgage. Maybe they need the dosh for their next property but if they are downsizing or whatever then they probably don't need as much as they might want.

I think give it a go - it won't hurt to try and if it's a no-go then you'll be no worse off than you are now and you will never have to wonder what would have happened if you had tried to negotiate. Best of luck, I hope it works out for the best for you.