Buyer has survey queries

flutterby_3

We accepted an offer on our house 3 weeks ago and the survey was done a week last Weds. Our estate agent phoned us Thurs to say the buyer's mortgage had been approved etc so he was optimistic that the survey showed no major problems.

Yesterday the agent left us an answerphone message saying that the survey had thrown up 2 potential 'problems'.

The first is regarding the electrics and he asked us if we could get a quote to upgrade the fuse box and put extra sockets in. Now the house is a nearly 100 yr old mid-terrace, and as such does have an adequate but limited number of sockets. The fuse box isn't modern, but is perfectly safe. When we had our survey 6 yrs ago, similar advice was given and we had a knowledgable friend look it over for us to satisfy ourselves it was safe. Am I correct in thinking this sort of comment is pretty common and not particularly of any concern?

The other issue is regarding the roof which was retiled nearly 30yrs ago with concrete tiles. The surveyor believes the timber supports are not strong enough for the load. Our survey specifically states that the supports are adequate for the load. We have been asked to get a builder in to quote on additional support.

We are going to respond with quoting our survey re the roof and basically say that a) it's not our place as the seller to obtain the quotes, b) we are moving out quickly into my parents as we've not yet found a house at the buyer's request and therefore what use will such quotes be as we've already stated we won't budge on the price (unless the survey had shown big problems which I don't believe it has!).

Do you think this is reasonable? It's our first time selling and as much as i want to smooth the path, I'm not prepared to run around doing both the buyers and EA's job! Surely our EA should have told the buyer to organise her own quotes?

silvercar

how old is your fuse box? flippy switches or pull out fuse wires? I was told that, even if you don't rewire the house, changing the fuse box is a good idea as the sensitive newer ones will show up any wiring problems. cost approx £300-£500.

As far as the circuitry goes, how old is the wiring. plastci covered cables or cloth? If cloth this is 40+ years old and a fire hazard.
Now the plug points, are they in the skirting board or higher up? that will tell you how old they are. If they are in the skirting board they may not be complete rings and overloading them is likely to cause problems.
Light circuits, are they earthed? Anything over 25+ years old is unlikely to be.
bathrooms and kitchens require good standards of wiring due to the hazard of mixing water and electricity. are the bathroom radiators and any pipes earthed?

just telling you the things that are now required. Of course there is no reason to expect that the new people can't live in the house as safely as you, but the danger is in accidents waiting to happen.

flutterby_3

Thanks for quick reply! The fuse box is flippy switches and the shower one has an earth leakage breaker on - so my dad says (electronical engineering degree!), we are complete electrical novices! All of the sockets are inthe wall not skirting boards and the cables are plasitic covered.
I think the lighting circuits are earthed - my dad has done some work over the past 6 yrs and is such a safety concsious bloke that I'm sure he wouldn't let his dd live in an unsafe house lol!!

Ah well - I guess it may well be a case of replacing the fuse box and adding some sockets then. Now I'm glad we have kept back the fixtures and fittings form as a bit of bartering - the buyer asked about white goods when she viewed and we don't particularly want to keep them all!

benood

I think if you quote your survey on the roof that should shut them up - if the tiles were too heavy surely problems would have been evident by now. On the electrics - if they want new build why are they looking at 100 yr old terraces?

Of course it will make life much easier to just negotiate - £500 should cover the cost of the survey.;)

epz_2

if you get the quotes then you can pick the lowest one in case they try to renegotiate the price.

frankly its mostly a labour cost (so era specific) to add sockets and a little messy(ruteing), most folks would be happy with a £10 bus bar.

fuse box again is a relatively minor job, the good news is you arnt looking at anything that will disrupt or inconveniance the buyers, i would bet on a few hours for the fuse box and its impossible to tell with sockets, best let them figure where they need them. if it were me i would do the sockets myself and your looking at £10 per double socket parts.

flutterby_3

Thanks for advice so far!

I guess what I'd really like to know is should we be expected to arrange the quotes or should the buyer do it? Also, if any work is not a condition of the mortgage and the house is perfectly safe without it being done, are we expected to negotiate on the price? Can we use fixtures and fittings (ie curtains/blinds/some white goods) to negotiate? As we are moving to family to accomodate the buyer, can we use this to negotiate?

Sorry if the questions seen basic - we've not sold before!

Mrs_Arkwright

We as sellers have just had exactly the same issue. However I disagree that it is solely the buyer's responsibility to get quotes - if you get them as well as the buyer, you can then come to an agreement with all the prices you get quoted. You don't know that the buyer won't get his best mate to quote him a massive price to enable them to negotiate you down, unless you get quotes of your own. Our buyer got a huge quote for a relatively simple piece of work, we got a quote and the EA also got an independent quote - our quote and the EAs were exactly the same, about four grand cheaper than the buyer's quote. I think it's in your best interests to get one of your own.

Debt_Free_Chick

Additional sockets are the buyer's choice and their cost. What next - will they want you to get a quote for new carpets?

Re the roof - it might be that a cautious surveyor is suggesting an additional purlin. Not expensive - a couple of hundred quid last time I did it.