Help and advice. Vendor has blocked house valuation/survey and mortgage.

jibbyboo

I would say the same as some other posters here - if the survey has not been carried out, then all you should really have to pay is the admin fee for booking the survey (if anything!).

Yes, may houses fall through post-survey at which point the survey has been conducted and therefore the buyer is liable to pay for what has been completed. To to pay the full amount for a survey which hasn't taken place would be ridiculous.

If you don't have success short term, you could write to financial ombudsman...

dotdash79

Ask them if you can transfer the survey to another property.

poppysarah

Had they accepted your offer?

Ivana_Tinkle

I was going to ask the same as Poppysarah. Has your solicitor received the contract info from their solicitor yet? Either the vendor is completely barking or there's some kind of major misunderstanding going on.

I wouldn't have thought you've got any chance of a refund. If the surveyor is booked in to do your survey, travels there and isn't allowed in, why should they lose out?

hazyjo

I once booked a surveyor, but he turned up at the property and they told him they had lost the house they were going for so didn't want the survey done yet.

I'd not paid anything though... but didn't get charged.

Not really a direct comparison, but just to let you know he did go to the house, but never got in the door.

These were the people who then took forever looking for somewhere else, then we had to hear through the grapevine they had given up. Nice people!

Jx

xlollx

In answer to your questions, yes the offer on the house was accepted.

I sent a shirty email and left an answer message with the EA. I spoke to mortgage broker this morning who said in their 17 years of working in mortgages this was the second time they had seen this happen! (very reassuring).

I spoke to the EA but the initial person I spoke to said they had only just heard this news and was as shell shocked about it as I was. He said he would speak to colleagues. I then get an answer phone message from another worker at EA to say the vendor was still committed to selling, was looking at lots of properties this weekend and that THE estate agents had put a block on the valuation and survey taking place to SAVE us money.

Something very strange and dodgy going on. I said I would wait for vendor to look at alleged properties and call them on Tuesday. In the meantime I have booked to view a property in same village which is chain free and £5000 cheaper. I made it very clear to EA that I was still keen to continue with purchase of property and to some extent was willing to work with vendors time frame however within reason. I made it clear that the vendor or estate agent pulling the plug on the valuation/survey was not acceptable.

sockpuppet

but surely you dont want them to carry out the surveys yet if there is a chance that it all may fall through?? Then you definately wont get your money back as the survey has been completed.

We do this all the time, put a hold on a valuation until the buyer is sure that the sale is going to proceed then reinstate it.

If you go another 3 or 4 weeks down the line and nothing is going anywhere you may want to pull out, in which case you tell the lender you are doing so (i presume it is the lender you have paid the survey fees too?) and they will refund the payment

OR leave the survey on hold - look for another property - then as/when ready to proceed on that one tell the lender, reinstate the valuation, but on the new property. Already paid a fee - nothing else to pay.

Good job they did put a hold on it (whoever actually did) as otherwise he would have done the survey, taken the money and then you may well have lost the house/lost the fee

tim123456789

wannahouse wrote: »

but if they have paid for the survey, but it HAS NOT yet been performed, surely they can cancel the request and get a refund, seeing as no service has been carried out?

You would think so, wouldn't you?

and when a similar thing happend to me I did, in fact, get my fee refunded.

But that was back in the days before fees became the profit souce that enabled them to loss lead the substantive product.

ValHaller

xlollx wrote: »

I then get an answer phone message from another worker at EA to say the vendor was still committed to selling, was looking at lots of properties this weekend and that THE estate agents had put a block on the valuation and survey taking place to SAVE us money.

I would say 'bluff'. This is damage limitation by the EA, who have probably given the vendor something of a roasting for turning away a surveyor. Mostly I would put this down to experience, but if the deal goes ahead, I would be reducing the offer by any extra fees incurred as a result and suggesting that the agent reimburse the vendor.

reformedEffortmaker

Is it a repossession? I cant understand why someone would put there house on the market but then not let a surveyor round?