Pushy estate agent- HELP!

m0bov

I would suggest you be present with your partner. Its a big purchase and given the cover ups and underhanded tactics, you would be right to be suspcious. They've not done themselves any favours.

Are the other things like electrics and glazing ok? Don't forget, they might not entertain a reducion should the survey say it will cost £xk to fix.

Ulfar

There is no valid reason for the vendor to insist on being there unless he wants to influence the outcome of the survey.

This can either be direct by him talking to the surveyor or obstructing him,

or

Indirect by having put furniture in the way of problem areas and asking the surveyor not to move the furniture.

Either way this stinks and gives all the indication there are serious problems with the property.

At this point I would take no conditions from the vendor. I would also make your surveyor aware of what the home buyers report has said, your concerns about the property and the possibility of the vendor being obstructive.

To be honest having said the above, my gut would be saying walk away and that is what I would do. As others have said just think how much of a pain in the !!!! the vendor is going to be later on in the sales process.

I may have missed it but have you confirmed how long the lease has left to run ?

Mallotum_X

I wouldnt pay out on the survey and walk away, telling the agent and vendor why you are walking away. It sounds like there are problems they dont want you to find out about, in which case negotiating will be hard.

I wouldnt want to waste the money, and put it down to experience.

jimbog

If the husband is a surveyor then there is always the chance that there could be an 'old boys network' going on if/when they meet up.
You must walk away if you sense there is any sort of nonsense going on - is the property really worth it?

DVardysShadow

sarahse24 wrote: »

Thanks all - here's another update!

The vendor has got our letter but we have only heard this through the agent.

They will accept our choice of surveyor but ONLY if the vendor can be present! Is this normal? Why do they want to do this? They want us to rearrange the survey date and time so that they can be there.

The plot thickens!

If you gave them the ultimatum to let your surveyor take the survey or you would have your solicitor return papers, it worked in terms of getting the access you require.

BUT the defensive behaviour of the vendor is quite OTT. This is time to walk away. Leave it - your vendor is a control freak with a difficult property and you will not get to the bottom of how much of this is him being a control freeak and how much is due to genuine issues with the property until after completion.

And the whole idea of having a surveyor is to get to the bottom of things before you buy.

sarahse24

Thanks all. I think they have allowed the access for our surveyor because we wrote to them directly. I have already paid for the survey, as I had to when I booked it, and I can't get my money back so I feel I may as well go ahead with it.

The reason for their senstivity is apparently because the previous owner of the flat was a family member who has passed away, and they are not happy with the amount of surveyors (2!) that have been there/or they feel the surveyors are doing damage.

We are beginning to feel that actually the vendors are not ready to sell the flat, and perhaps are being pushed by the EA. It must be a difficult time for them but this is part of the process of selling and they are being quite obstructive.

I do feel however that if the flat was still owner occupied, the vendor would be there during survey wouldn't they? So I don't feel that I have grounds for argument there.

We will attempt to accomodate this request but will make clear to the agent that we are rapidly losing confidence in this.

Ulfar

When I have sold, I have only ever been present when the surveyor came and that was only because I had the day off anyway.

I just let him in, do his thing and then let him out.

Ivana_Tinkle

It doesn't matter if they're there for the survey or not, apart from the fact that the husband will probably be a bloody nuisance to the surveyor! The surveyor is employed by you and won't give them any info about what he's found or take any notice of what they say. I've been present when surveys were done on properties I've been selling, and I've found that surveyors are generally polite but very tight-lipped. The most you ever get out of them is a bit of a hint that all is OK - never any details.

And the surveyor certainly won't be influenced by anything the vendor says - old boys' network or not, if he doesn't find dry rot when it exists then he knows you're going to sue him later.

The bigger problem is that if he does find rot you know that the vendors are going to refuse to accept his findings or to negociate on price, so it's a take-it-or-leave-it thing.

sarahse24

Another update for those interested - the surveyor went in and did his job, which I am very relieved about. I've spoken to him and the vendor was present (not the husband though) and she was initially on the defensive but then let him do his job. Nothing too serious to report on the damp front either, which is good news (but means not much room for negotiation on price)

So we are proceeding...and hoping there are no more stumbling blocks.