Buyer has unusual request..HELP!

Biggles

zain wrote:

I am fairly sure that when writing up the deed of variation i asked for the loft to be included in the upper flat if ever i wanted to do a loft conversion. My neighbour didn't seem to worry about that. However, i am not certain- as all the paperwork is with the solicitor now. Also, it wasn't advertised as including the loft in the sale so if it isn't the new owner can fight it out with my neighbour.

Erm, you mean you don't actually know what it is that you are offering for sale??

That sounds pretty strange to me, I'm just selling and have been asked to confirm the boundaries of the property etc.

If the surveyor is on the ball (or even either solicitor) you will be asked, "Are you selling the loft with the flat?". You need to know. And it could surely make the flat more valuable; it seemed to matter to you when you bought the flat, for example?

zain

Biggles wrote:

Erm, you mean you don't actually know what it is that you are offering for sale??

That sounds pretty strange to me, I'm just selling and have been asked to confirm the boundaries of the property etc.

If the surveyor is on the ball (or even either solicitor) you will be asked, "Are you selling the loft with the flat?". You need to know. And it could surely make the flat more valuable; it seemed to matter to you when you bought the flat, for example?

Yes, just found my deed of variation and the word' loft' has been added after the word ceilings ....etc. Actually i was fairly sure but with everything that has been going on started to doubt what i sorted out a while ago.
I spoke to the EA and insisted that they supervised the whole time too. But as the poster above says they might just 'pop' out. What can i do? I would rather not be there for some reason.

Tiger_greeneyes

zain wrote:

I spoke to the EA and insisted that they supervised the whole time too. But as the poster above says they might just 'pop' out. What can i do? I would rather not be there for some reason.

That's something you'd need to work out for yourself Just as an idea, don't you have a friend or family member who could come and sit with you?

Nenen

Just to try and reassure you a little.... We have just exchanged on the sale of our 3 bed semi and our buyers had a BS survey done in the first instance several weeks ago. Then, just as we were expecting to go to exchange, our EA rang and told us they wanted a full structural survey done (that would take 3 hours). We were convinced they were 'playing games' and angling to get a reduction in price at the last moment based on the new survey... we couldn't understand why they had suddenly decided to have that done... I really wanted to say 'no' as I was so suspicious but we decided to go with it and let them have their survey done.. my dh had to take an afternoon off work. I'm so glad we did as everything went through without them asking for any reduction or any other problems... although we still don't know why they decided to do this!

To be honest I didn't think of getting the EA to supervise although in retrospect that would have been a good idea. A PP said it wasn't reasonable to expect the EA to supervise in your house for three hours, I have two (totally conflicting) views on that!
1) You are probably paying your EA in excess of 2K (ours is costing over 3K on a house work 185K). Even if they price their rep's time at £30 per hour it is a drop in the ocean of their total fee and so on that basis I think they should do it! If the sale falls through due to lack of supervision for surveyor they stand to lose a lot more than £90... even if you decide to keep it on their books they might have to show a few more buyers round and/or spend more on advertising! Part of me would want to call the EAs bluff!
2) Having said that (and playing devils advocate now) can you really trust the EA more than you would trust a professional surveyor??? Having seen one of the consumer TV programmes on EAs where EAs used properties they had keys to as 'love nests' and got up to all sorts in there, I'd be loathe to trust them!

Sorry if that's no help at all:eek: Best of luck with whatever you decide.

MJMum

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callmelinda

Nice post, Nenen. Although your case is obviously as individual as the next, I do believe the natural reaction to people having a full survey or a second fuller survey is to think they're going to come in with a reduced offer because they will collate a whole bunch of reasons to do so. And it's nice to see that this wasn't the case for you and I think it is reassuring to the extent that not everyone out there does something to be awkward or try and "cheat" you in any way and it's sometimes good to remember that.

Perhaps lower scale surveys inherently come back saying things along the lines of there could be a problem with xxx, or a further investigation needs to made to determine xxx.

We have to remember, as the vendor, we probably don't know what the wording is on the first more basic survey and when people are committing a large amount of money, they can naturally get worried if the initial survey is along the above lines. It might be their first purchase and maybe they have never even seen a survey before.

I don't know what is in each surveyors remit for any given survey, but I found one surveyor I came across humourous when he went through the house ticking that certain windows open and close but when some were locked, he said he didn't have to test it if it was locked and would merely say he couldn't check it even though they could have been unlocked if he had allowed. I wonder how useful some of the surveys people get back are and on this basis, I can see how confused people can get as to the working order of what they're buying.

* I should point out that in my post where I said "I wouldn't expect any agent to "babysit" the property for three hours" it is not because I believe they shouldn't put the effort in if they want their 2% or whatever it is. It's simply that you really can't be sure that they won't just open the flat for the survey and come back three hours later to see the purchasers off and lock up. I would rather place my trust of my property in the hands of someone I know will definitely sit there for three hours making sure your belongings are safe, hence my suggestion of neighbours, family members or friends.

I personally wouldn't let anyone in my house unsupervised for 1 minute whether they're a surveyor, EA or anything else lol. *Twiches and looks behind herself all the time*

callmelinda

MJMum wrote:

[Having seen one of the consumer TV programmes on EAs where EAs used properties they had keys to as 'love nests' and got up to all sorts in there, I'd be loathe to trust them! /QUOTE]

I probably shouldn't post this BUT...I used to have a weekend job in an estate agents. One of the properties we were selling was a second home owned by a rich business type who was in no hurry to sell. It was empty during the week. He kept a couple of very nice cars (sorry, I'm not into cars, but one was a Ferrari which even I could recognise) in the garage, fridge stocked with champagne, home cinema, etc. The young men in the office told me that they had taken girls there - sometimes during the day while they were supposed to be working (booked it in as a viewing :eek: )

Hasten to say, I don't work there anymore!

I wondered why my champagne had disappeared while I was away in Monte Carlo.

lynzpower

If my partner was a structura\l surveyor Id want them to do it ( for free!) and save myself at lest 700 notes.

Couldnt you ask them to come over on a weekend, and you could ask a freind/. relitive to step in if you really cant bear being there?

zain

I have found a solution with all your help. A very kind friend is going to baby sit the flat for two hours. I have insisted that they try to finish the survey within 2 hours ( it is only a flat afterall). They have responded that they will try to.

The good thing is we are out of the way, we don't have to rely on the EA's and we can always get feedback on what they did from my friend. My friend has said that she will not answers any questions- simply respond she doesn't know.

Anyway it is this Saturday between 2pm-4pm. Wish me luck.

TTMCMschine

Good luck zain. I think if this guy has the option to have a full survey for free then he is better off doing so. You hear those stories where people could have saved a lot of money if they'd have had a full structural survey, when the house is about to collapse. Most people spend more time researching the car they're going to buy than their potential house. I wish i was personal friends with a surveyor now. Oh well.. it's not what you know it's who you know!;)

p.s wonder if that's why he's going out with her! He'll be dating an interior designer within a month of moving in i bet!:rolleyes: