Buying a house which needs work

b21playa

Hi all

Bit of a saga here, which has been going on for some time now.

Had an offer accepted of a property on 15th feb and following a valuation from lender, I was told I needed to obtain sulphate test to the ground floor. This was done, and the results came which indicated high levels on sulphate, and the entire ground floor needed to be replaced.

This was bought to the attention of the estate agents, and the costs were negotiated with the the vendors who agreed to pay via an allowance. My lender were not happy with this, and have stated that the floors need to be replaced and re-inspected before any advance.

Now, the sellers can not afford to do this outright, and the agents have offered the following solution. We exchange contracts (solicitor suggested adding a clause that if lender are not happy, my deposit is returned to me), the floors are replaced and following re-inspection, completion is done.

What are people's views to this solution?

I appreciate any comments and/or advice

Thanks
B21

martinsurrey

So you exchange, pay for the floors to be done (£,£££), lender is not happy with something, you can’t complete, invoke clause in contract, you get your deposit back.

But what about the cost of doing the floor?

I wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole, I would either want the price reduced (and cover the renovation myself) or, it done on the vendors own bank account and then pay the full agreed price.

b21playa

martinsurrey wrote: »

So you exchange, pay for the floors to be done (£,£££), lender is not happy with something, you can’t complete, invoke clause in contract, you get your deposit back.

But what about the cost of doing the floor?

I wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole, I would either want the price reduced (and cover the renovation myself) or, it done on the vendors own bank account and then pay the full agreed price.

Hi

The cost of replacing floors would be taken from my deposit from what I gather, so I would only be paying the initial agreed offer. I have asked the agents to get back to me on how the vendors anticipate paying that back to me, should my lender not be happy, and the clause is invoked.

I can not get the cost reduced from offer, as bank have value property at £0, due to floors, and stipulated it must be done first.

They agents first tried to cover the costs via "an allowance" which the solicitor thought was ok. I feared which sounded a bit dodgy (poss mortgage fraud) and spoke to my bank about it, who agreed with me. Now I nearly exchanged at that point. Luckily I didnt, otherwise I would have been truly shafted.

b21playa

Solicitors seem to think this is the only way to proceed, so most likely the sale will not go through.