Repairs before Exchange of Contracts

sheilaluc

I am buying a house. The survey revealed a repair that needed to be done before exchange. The sellers was told of this about 4 weeks ago. How long should this take, it is only a small repair to the conservatory guttering.

I seemed to have been waiting for ever

kingstreet

Why does it have to be done before exchange of contracts? Whose idea or stipulation was that?

sheilaluc

Surveyor's recommendation and my condition of exchange

G_M

A bit of guttering? :rotfl:Oh dear. Make sure it gets done or the house may fall down!

For goodness sake, unless this is some mad stipulation by the mortgage lender, just Exchange Contracts, buy the house, pay a chap with a ladder £20 and fix it!

kingstreet

Normally, such an issue should be dealt with between exchange and completion, if believed that serious.

Dukesy

Oh come on! A bit of conservatory guttering? Is that really something to jeopardise buying a house you presumeably love over? Unless the mortgage company has stipulated that it HAS to be done, which it sounds like it hasn't, just suck it up and get on with buying the place! A bit of leaky guttering or whatever on a conservatory is not going to beggar you to repair, if that's how it ends up.

G_M

Dukesy wrote: »

....A bit of leaky guttering or whatever on a conservatory is not going to beggar you to repair, if that's how it ends up.

and if it does begger you, you should not be becoming a home-owner.

sheilaluc

It doesn't beggar me at all.

Surveyor suggested the owner should repair it ( as it may be under guarantee) before exchange.

I am still buying the house and solicitor has contract details, just waiting for exchange date.

G_M

Well, either

* you wait patiently for however long it takes the seller to do what you want, or

* you put aside £20, Exchange asap, and fix it yourself, or

* you tell the seller he's taken too long to do this ridiculous job and you are withdrawing.

arbrighton

I can't quite think of a way to phrase my disbelief. If it's that small a job just exchange and have done with it. THe seller will probably be having a similar reaction if they haven't done it.
Even new builds aren't perfect- that's why they get snagged. And if it's not a new home, one expects there will be perhaps the odd thing to fix and then ongoing maintenance.

kingstreet

sheilaluc wrote: »

It doesn't beggar me at all.

Surveyor suggested the owner should repair it ( as it may be under guarantee) before exchange.

I am still buying the house and solicitor has contract details, just waiting for exchange date.

You don't get an exchange date. You agree a completion date with the other parties in the chain, then once you are agreed and all the paperwork issues have been resolved, you can then exchange contracts with completion then set for the agreed date.

As it stands, you cannot now exchange until the vendor gets this work done.

As I said, it would be more usual to stipulate such work be carried out between exchange and completion, not before exchange.