Seller refuses to renegotiate after bad survey, help!

yllim

We have had an offer accepted on a property of £164,000, the asking price was £169,950. The property is a 1930s semi and we knew that it needed a certain amount of work doing to it and obviously our offer reflected this.

We have since had a Homebuyers Report done on the property and this highlighted alot more problems than we anticipated including a new roof, complete re-rendeing to the exterior, repairs to the chimney and wood boring insect infestation treatment! This hasn't put us off the property as we really do like it but we have taken the surveyors advice and had quotes from a local builder to put right the urgent things (marked as a 3 in the report) and the quotes are in the region of £16,000.

We then contacted the EA to advise them that we would like to renegotiate and that we didn't expect the vendor to drop the full amount of the repairs but wondered if they would meet us halfway and reduce the price by £8,000. We provided them with the relevant information from the Homebuyers Report and also the quotes from the builder to show willing but the EA has come back to me today and advised that the vendor isn't prepared to renegotiate a penny!! Those were his exact words! We don't know what to do now as as I have said we really do like the house and we are only two weeks away from exchange.

Has anyone any advice or has anyone been in this situation before and what did you do?

Thanks in advance.

Sparx

Let the EA know that you are withdrawing your offer - they will come crawling back to you wanting to re-negotiate..

somethingcorporate

Start by getting a second and third opinion on the work that needs doing. Our survey was the same with a new roof but a couple of builders said it was just the surveyor being super cautious and rather being £10k for a new roof it was simply a £500 overhaul and it has been good as new since.

Also, get a second and third opinion on the price of the work. For replacing ours we had quotes range from £4k to £12k, the opinion and price from one person would not be good enough (IMO) to renegotiate from.

If the work is not urgent (like I guess the rendering) then I think a 50% deduction is a good starting basis for negotiation.

At the end of the day, if they are not willing to renegotiate then you won't be able to buy the house. The seller will no doubt have the same problem with the next buyer when the survey throws up the same things. Good luck!

yllim

Sparx wrote: »

Let the EA know that you are withdrawing your offer - they will come crawling back to you wanting to re-negotiate..

Do you think that will work?! I am scared of losing the house but also don't want to back down on renegotiating.

Also we have a buyer for our property and don't want to mess them around if we do have to pull out and find something else.

go_cat

Ask the ea to view other properties on their books ... This may help them change the vendors mind

Sparx

yllim wrote: »

Do you think that will work?! I am scared of losing the house but also don't want to back down on renegotiating.

Also we have a buyer for our property and don't want to mess them around if we do have to pull out and find something else.

Well, to be fair my advice is a little rash.. I'd go with somethingcorporate's advice first and get a few other quotes done as the surveyor could've been overly cautious.

But I've heard plenty of stories with EA/sellers putting it on when they don't want to budge, you withdraw, they come back to you..

yllim

somethingcorporate wrote: »

Start by getting a second and third opinion on the work that needs doing. Our survey was the same with a new roof but a couple of builders said it was just the surveyor being super cautious and rather being £10k for a new roof it was simply a £500 overhaul and it has been good as new since.

Also, get a second and third opinion on the price of the work. For replacing ours we had quotes range from £4k to £12k, the opinion and price from one person would not be good enough (IMO) to renegotiate from.

If the work is not urgent (like I guess the rendering) then I think a 50% deduction is a good starting basis for negotiation.

At the end of the day, if they are not willing to renegotiate then you won't be able to buy the house. The seller will no doubt have the same problem with the next buyer when the survey throws up the same things. Good luck!

In the opinion of both the surveyor and builder the rerendering is urgent as it is currently covering the damp proofing and encouraging damp to enter the property, tbh that is more costly than the roof!

The builder is actually my Uncle so I trust him and his company 100% and know that if it didn't really need doing he would tell me and he has definately provided competitive quotations.

The house was on the market for 12 months before we put our offer in and I agree that if if goes back on the market surely the next buyer will have the same issues!

Thanks for your reply!

yllim

go_cat wrote: »

Ask the ea to view other properties on their books ... This may help them change the vendors mind

I think the EA is cross with us, he was rather off on the phone today!! Guess it might work though. Thanks for your reply!

Ulfar

If the vendor is not willing to negotiate and you don't thin the property is worth what you offered then withdraw.

Given the way the market is they may come back to you.

girl_withno_name

yllim wrote: »

Do you think that will work?! I am scared of losing the house but also don't want to back down on renegotiating.

Also we have a buyer for our property and don't want to mess them around if we do have to pull out and find something else.

In that case, if it doesn't work then you'd genuinely want to withdraw your offer anyway... surely?

yllim

girl_withno_name wrote: »

In that case, if it doesn't work then you'd genuinely want to withdraw your offer anyway... surely?

Yes I guess so, it's just a shame as the house could be perfect and was just what we were looking for.

Also as I said we are so close to exchange and I don't want to mess our buyer around but if the vendor won't renegotiate he leaves us with no choice!

The whole house buying process is a nightmare!

Thanks for your reply!