How bad would a survey have to be for you to withdraw an offer?

MangoStan

Hi,

I've tried searching on the forums and on the net about this but not sure I've found enough information to make up my mind so would appreciate the community's thoughts on this one!

Put in an offer for a flat that seemed very good value and we were aware during the viewing that this was because the place needed some renovation. We thought a lot of this would be superficial - the place needs 'modernising' and there were no obvious major defects that we could spot, such as damp, etc.

However we have now had a Homebuyers Survey which was less than flattering (although not to the extent of being warned off purchase), so we are now rather hesitant. I don't want to mention too much as I was wondering, without suggestion on my part, is there anything you would read in a surveyor's report that would:

a) Be a 'deal breaker', ie. something that would make you withdraw from the purchase altogether,
b) Prompt you only to re-negotiate the price with the vendor?

Sorry that I'm being vague, but I would be very interested to hear people's views out of context first if that's not too impractical.

Thanks!

Stan

laptop80

Deal breakers for me would be any serious structural faults that the survey uncovered, e.g. if the property required underpinning.

For most other problems that would be raised, e.g. needs rewiring, I would probably look to lower my offer to cover the cost of the work done.

Our survey threw up a few fairly obvious things that I just ignored - things like that although it has UPVC windows, these won't last forever (duh!).

I'd work out (a) if the problems highlighted will need remedy or not and (b) how much it will cost to get them sorted. If it's going to cost a lot of money that wasn't anticipated when viewing the property then it's perfectly reasonable to reduce your offer to cover that expenditure.

We reduced the offer on ours (via our solicitor) by a couple of grand as it needed rewiring. They grumbled about it for 5 minutes then accepted.

Ultimately, you need to go with what you feel happy with having read the survey. It's for your benefit after all.

lessonlearned

Exactly as above.

If it is structurally sound then I am happy.

We recently walked away from a property because it had Japanese Knotweed in the garden. For me that was the deal breaker because it meant that all of the surrounding neighbours would have to undertake to treat their gardens too. There can be no guarantee that an agreement of this nature would be enforceable so we decided not to take the risk.

I would put "problem trees" in the same category, also flood risk. I would check with the environment agency website for things like flood risk, mining subsidence risk, radon gas etc before actually putting in an offer and instructing a survey anyway.

I notice you are considering a flat. I'm assuming the survey was for your flat but did it draw attention to the building in general and any potential negatives. If so that might prove difficult because it would be a shared responsibilty and you wouldn't have overall control over budgets and timescales for repairs.

If a survey did uncover anything untoward that I had not already factored in I would probably try and renegotiate the price.

My view is - if the house is sound and there are no outside influences which could have a negative effect then whatever is uncovered is generally fixable - at a price.......

However as laptop has pointed out surveys are often quite vague. Plus of course there maybe certain things that are not picked up, ie there maybe more wet or dry rot than is immediately apparent. Surveyors will not remove floor coverings and sometimes they cannot get access to lofts to check roof timbers.

Often you don't realise the full extent of any damage until you actually start the repairs.

phoebe1989seb

We've only ever bought *project* houses, so are not put off by much, LOL! We've also bought a few houses without the need to borrow so haven't been hampered by them being un-mortgageable - such as our current house, and we didn't even bother with a survey on that.......not something I'd advise

We tend to make a bee-line for the houses others steer clear of - but only in the sense of interesting, rambling, character properties that exhibit potential to restore

Things that would put us off in a survey though, are the same as already mentioned - Japanese Knotweed and structural issues being the two that spring instantly to mind. Previously we've successfully renegotiated on a purchase that needed re-wiring and a significant roof repairs after a survey highlighted these.

MangoStan

Thanks very much for all the valuable input, much appreciated!

Sorry, I meant to also include that the flat is ex-local authority, so I think the issues flagged by the surveyor were relating to complications that could specifically arise in such a situation. To be fair, I thought his report was pretty detailed; have had another company carry out a survey I could have done in 15 minutes with a notepad and decent eyesight.

The main issues (although none were marked as urgent) were that the fireplace covering appears to be comprised of asbestos-containing materials and there was some corrosion of the ceiling reinforcements inside the meter cupboard, both which would obviously be costly to remedy. These internal problems withstanding, the surveyor was concerned that the whole block might have similar problems and hence we may be whacked with a bill from the council to rectify them in communal areas further down the line (no planned works at the moment though).

I guess we can hope to re-negotiate price after we've had quotes on potential work that needs doing? We too, phoebe1989seb, have only previously bought my current flat that needed complete renovation! Although we didn't do much invasive reparatory work, but as I mentioned before, the survey was a bit pants, so who knows what else we should have done?!