Homebuyer report - am I right to be concerned?

londonlydia

Hi,

it seems generally the main thing that causes some concern is the roof. I would get a roof expert to inspect and quote to be honest. see if you can get that price knocked off your offer.

The guttering needing cleaning and sorting- not the most expensive of jobs if you can do it yourself.

Anyway...mainly I would recommend having a chat with the person that did the survey. Sometimes they are harsher on paper than needs be to cover their backs, whereas a phonecall you can ask their opinion of how liveable it is and how much it will cost to make it so if not...

thistledome

StuC75 wrote: »

seems to be focusing on needing to check (where appropriate)-

Plumber - to check back boiler and heating - range of rooms covered by the system-- at very least you need to check this over before using (buyer beware and all that)..

Gutters and pipework , and the roof sounds like needs further investigation - is there damp or leaks from the roof - as room description lists plaster ceilings needing attention -- how water tight is the property... blown plaster near windows might be a sign of moisture problems...


Sounds the standard though in highlighting everything that you may need to get checked (to cover the surveyors back....).

Its more a case of..

How much did they value it at in its current condition - compared to what you have had accepted??

I agree with this.

Most of the paragraphs in the OP are standard paragraphs (check boiler, electrics etc) and are put in all or nearly all reports. They are things that the surveyor is not expert in and as said above, to cover him/herself they will recommend that you get necessary expert to check (i.e., electrician/plumber/roofer etc). This doesn't mean that they are necessarily in need of attention (nor does it mean they aren't though!).

OP, have you phoned the surveyor and had a chat with him? He might be able to help you reach your decision. I used to work for a surveyor and he was always happy to talk to clients if they needed to ask him something.

Unless the house has defects that significantly affect the value, they will pretty much always value it at the offer price, (as long as the offer price is reasonable for that area/condition/type of house, obviously).

edit: doh, lydia posted the same whilst I was typing.

jozbo

i'm assuming it's a victorian terrace?
tbh there's not much there that you wouldn't find anywhere.
Did you knock the 15k of the asking price on the basis of repairs needed?
don't worry about being "nasty" in requesting a reduction from the vendor, that's the least of your concerns. Find out if this house is going to cost you more than you budgeted for.
Seek further inspections on electrics, plumbing and roof if you had not budgeted for these. If costs to repair are negligible, go ahead as planned with original offer.

sgun

back boilers usually need meticulous servicing once a year. I would be wary of one without a service history. Also they need to be correctly ventilated or they can be unsafe.

Mrs_b_4

Thank you all so much for the advice. I think the next step for us is to speak to the surveyor tomorrow as suggested. Once we have spoken to him if we are still interested then we will get some quotes for repair - I'm thinking we should get quotes for the roof, electrics and plumbing. Does anybody think we need any other quotes?

At least from there we know exactly where we stand and then we can decide whether we want to negotiate on the price or whether to walk away

Jozbo the house was built in 1955

Mrs_b_4

I've called the surveyor and been advised to call back this afternoon to discuss the report. I've called the estate agent and let him know that we have concerns following the survey. He has of course suggested that the report will be overly exaggarated and to let him know once we've spoken to the surveyor...

Yorkie1

Yeah, the EA is completely impartial and your surveyor is completely biased (NOT!) ...

Mrs_b_4

We still haven't received a call back from the surveyor. Do you think we should speak to the estate agent and try and get some quotes sorted in the mean time?

Gonzo33

I wouldn't get the EA to sort the quotes out, I would go on check a trade or similar and get someone out or if you know any tradesman ask them. Don't forget the EA has an avested interest in selling the property.

Mrs_b_4

Sorry its the way I've worded my post. What I meant to say was contacting the EA to speak to the vendors about the days we can go round. I'm just not sure whether we should just start getting quotes even though we haven't spoken to the surveyor yet?