FTB - Survey & Valuation Results - Advice needed.

cabbage

Dont worry about revising your offer. The purchase price is only what the estate agent thinks it will sell for. He may have even told the owners to market at a lower price and they've refused.

You are perfectly within your rights to reduce your offer in light of the survey. The owner should be realistic as any other surveys done by potential buyers will probably come out at the same price. The estate agent should point out that you were not put off by the survey and he could have the property sold and move on himself. Many first time buyers are put off by Homebuyers or structural surveys so your seller is lucky that you are still interested in buying it.

Its best to get all the searches available before getting to exchange of contracts or completion. In the housing market it is "Buyer beware" in other words its up to the buyer and his/her solicitor to check out the property thoroughly before committing to purchase. Obviously the seller is not allowed to mislead you or blatently lie but the onus is always on the buyer to ask all the relevant questions rather than the seller to voluntarily disclose.

As for the property up the road being on the market for a higher price - I agree with the other post in that it hasn't sold at this price yet. Its worth checking a comparision on the web using propertyprices.com or similar to see what others have sold for in that area.