Disagree with survey

robatwork

Guest101 wrote: »

Can someone tell me why Vendors think they have a right to see the survey? I've obviously missed something here? But thats 3 or 4 times its been suggested.

Because buyers lie/misquote.

This is a very good case in point.

The buyers have said "The house needs a rewire and we need £x000 discount to allow for this".

The survey probably says "The electrics haven't been checked and we advise you get a specialist report as there may be hidden problems that require a rewire"

Very different.

There's no "right" to see a survey and nobody said there was. The buyer is claiming something so producing evidence is eminently reasonable.

Bargie

Guest101 wrote: »

P.S you sid they should accept a 150 yr old house will have ome faults. Have you done that? Does the price reflect the existing problems?

Hi yes we feel the price reflects those issues. It is a 3 bed house under £130k. The price was also meant to reflect the fact the roof needed doing but if this sale falls through we'll just get that done ourselves anyway.

yes first time selling.

Bargie

No not seen the survey, this has come from the buyer/EA. We were on holiday at the time so have been doing most of this by email. Hopefully now we are back we can find things out a bit more.

We believe it is likely surveyor has said electrics not up to current standards and may need a rewire which buyers have interpreted as must have a rewire.

They are cash buyers so no need for a mortgage.

We already priced £5k below what we paid 5 years ago (despite having done a lot of work on it ourselves) and then accepted a further £5k off asking price as an offer so think we've priced pretty fairly (property was on for £129k). We have now offered a further £5k off towards roof and damp which we feel is fair (bit gutted we have lost £15k in 5 years though .

our parents have offered to make up the difference for us to allow us to still buy our next property but I feel it's more a principle thing and that they are trying it on a bit.

EA has said they will send their surveyor round to look at contested issues but feel we will get same response to cover their backs.

Is it worth getting an electrician in to look at electrics or will they say rewire to get some work?

Thanks for all the replies

Guest101

robatwork wrote: »

Because buyers lie/misquote.

This is a very good case in point.

The buyers have said "The house needs a rewire and we need £x000 discount to allow for this".

The survey probably says "The electrics haven't been checked and we advise you get a specialist report as there may be hidden problems that require a rewire"

Very different.

There's no "right" to see a survey and nobody said there was. The buyer is claiming something so producing evidence is eminently reasonable.

My point is the buyer can just say im knocking 15k off my offer. That's it, no reason. What then?

Guest101

Bargie wrote: »

Hi yes we feel the price reflects those issues. It is a 3 bed house under £130k. The price was also meant to reflect the fact the roof needed doing but if this sale falls through we'll just get that done ourselves anyway.

yes first time selling.

Ok no worries, some useful tips on negotiations.

Ask the EA to carry on marketing the property, if the buyers insist on lowering the price. (accept the lower offer). Let them get all their work done, then before exchange up the price again, chances are they will accept. If not, and you're not happy, dont exchange and leave them in the lurch.

Chances are if they see the property being marketed they will stop haggling.

It's a two player game, so make sure you're playing

Guest101

Bargie wrote: »

No not seen the survey, this has come from the buyer/EA. We were on holiday at the time so have been doing most of this by email. Hopefully now we are back we can find things out a bit more.

We believe it is likely surveyor has said electrics not up to current standards and may need a rewire which buyers have interpreted as must have a rewire.

They are cash buyers so no need for a mortgage.

We already priced £5k below what we paid 5 years ago (despite having done a lot of work on it ourselves) and then accepted a further £5k off asking price as an offer so think we've priced pretty fairly (property was on for £129k). We have now offered a further £5k off towards roof and damp which we feel is fair (bit gutted we have lost £15k in 5 years though .

our parents have offered to make up the difference for us to allow us to still buy our next property but I feel it's more a principle thing and that they are trying it on a bit.

EA has said they will send their surveyor round to look at contested issues but feel we will get same response to cover their backs.

Is it worth getting an electrician in to look at electrics or will they say rewire to get some work?

Thanks for all the replies

Are they true cash buyers, IE no chain? just remember no matter what their surveyor says (and is he RICS covered?), you cannot, and the buyer cannot, use his information when it comes to legal proceedings. They 'own' the information. HE could say everything is absolutely fine, but unless you've paid him to conduct a survey, he isnt liable.

And finally yes 15k in 5 years is a lot. But the market took a tumble 5/6 years ago, its only just recovering. If you waited 2 more years you'd probably make a profit.

I'm selling now, 1k down from what i bought for 2 years ago. But i own outright, so to me the loss is not that serious. A month's rent really.

zappahey

Guest101 wrote: »

My point is the buyer can just say im knocking 15k off my offer. That's it, no reason. What then?

I'm not really sure of your point or how it helps the OP.

The discussion here is quite simple; the buyer has lowered the price on the basis of x,y and z and the seller would like to see some evidence for x,y and z.

To answer your question above, if my buyer reduced the offer by £15k for no reason then I would invite them to carry on looking elsewhere as I would have no faith that they were seriously offering.

Guest101

Well its a public forum and I want people to be aware that as vendors they dont hav the right to demand to see legal documents belonging to other people. That is information which may be useful to sellers.

Bargie

Thanks - they are cash buyers in the sense they need no mortgage (though we were originally told they were in no chain we have just found out they do still need to complete on their house (they have a true cash buyer - apparently!).

I emailed agents yesterday saying it seems unlikely we can agree on a reduction (they were adamant about a £15k reduction - basically the whole cost for every single thing brought up on survey) and that we would like them to remarket the property and that we are prepared to lose the sale.

We shall see what happens this week.

Guest101

Perfect, you have not alienated the buyers and you have shown a strong hand.

If they really want the house, they'll come back with a better offer. If not there will be other buyers. Dont feel disheartened, I know what the market is like.

First time selling we had almost no viewers in months. Switched agents and sold in 3 days, it really can be like that.