Disagree with survey

I_have_spoken

House buying 101 - "The survey says xxx needs replacing..." All part of the game.

>We are prepared to walk away from sale<

Good.

robatwork

Bargie wrote: »

No not seen the survey..............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.

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?

And I am sure he hasn't said anything of the sort. There is a world of difference between "it is not up to current standards" and "it may not be up to current standards". You don't need a surveyor so the EA option is pointless. You need a qualified and registered electrician.

In fact you don't. The buyer does.

How much would you reasonably knock off the price for the other points the surveyor has found? If it's say £7k then you can counter with a final price £7k less and say either accept it or not, final offer.

Ivana_Tinkle

Robotatwork is absolutely right. The surveyor will definitely not have said the house needs rewiring - at most it will say that some part of the electrics may not meet current regulations and recommend that your buyer get an electrician to test it. Ditto the doors and windows.

Your buyers are either trying it on or have misunderstood the survey. Of course you have no "right" to see it, in the sense of being able to rip it from their hands and demand to read it, but it's entirely reasonable to insist on seeing it if they want you to drop the price based on what's (allegedly) in it. If they refuse and dig their heels in then you're basically in a gazundering situation - where they're asking for money off without any justification. Of course there's no law against doing so, but it's a different situation to the usual haggling over a survey, and you'd probably want to react differently (ie it's sensible to give a buyer some money off where there are genuine faults, since if they pull out you'll be having the same conversation with the next buyer. That's not the case with gazundering.)

Edited to say: Robatwork, not Robotatwork - sorry! Guess whose kids are obsessed with robots at the moment...

Bargie

Thanks everyone. We have offered £5k might be persuaded to go to £7k but would want to see the survey and have quotes for work before going to that.

We just feel a bit gutted, this is our third accepted offer (the other 2 pulled out within a week of their offers) and feel a bit jaded now. Definitely understand the levels of stress involved now!

robatwork

Re 7k - I just pulled this number out the air - don't lose £2k if you think 5k is the correct figure!

Also, consider that this is your first offer and ignore the other 2. If you weren't jaded you'd probably fight for your position a bit more. Be reasonable but not naïve.... good luck... ooh just noticed MSE put a little double dot umlaut thing on my naïve.. ah that's made my Sunday

Davesnave

robatwork wrote: »

ooh just noticed MSE put a little double dot umlaut thing on my naïve.. ah that's made my Sunday

I think you'll find it's other software that is doing it.

MSE very often doesn't know its !!!! from its !!!!

See....:rotfl:

DRP

robatwork wrote: »

Re 7k - I just pulled this number out the air - don't lose £2k if you think 5k is the correct figure!

Also, consider that this is your first offer and ignore the other 2. If you weren't jaded you'd probably fight for your position a bit more. Be reasonable but not naïve.... good luck... ooh just noticed MSE put a little double dot umlaut thing on my naïve.. ah that's made my Sunday

if your windows and electrics are only ~10 years old and were fitted properly at the time (and are still functioning properly), then I would tell the buyer to sling their hook.

I would consider 10 years as 'new' for a house that isn't new-build :rotfl:

Jenny.W

Bargie wrote: »

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.

I think your buyers are just chancing their arms. There is no way I'd reduce by £15K just because of what the survey says. I would tell them to have independent surveys carried out - at their own expense.

I say this because....

We are currently in the process of buying an older property and the usual damp/woodworm infestation remarks were highlighted. Scared the life out of me, however instead of making unjustified demands, we sent a copy of the report to the EA who in turn sent out a tradesmen local to the village. He went round and made a report for us and the work will cost us approximately £300 to repair. Of course our sellers were very worried but I informed them that there was nothing to concern us and to proceed as normal.

As the others have suggested, I would perhaps continue marketing your property - this is what I would do. I wouldn't trust them nearer exchange date in case they want you to drop again.

DRP

Jenny.W wrote: »

I think your buyers are just chancing their arms. There is no way I'd reduce by £15K just because of what the survey says. I would tell them to have independent surveys carried out - at their own expense.

I say this because....

We are currently in the process of buying an older property and the usual damp/woodworm infestation remarks were highlighted. Scared the life out of me, however instead of making unjustified demands, we sent a copy of the report to the EA who in turn sent out a tradesmen local to the village. He went round and made a report for us and the work will cost us approximately £300 to repair. Of course our sellers were very worried but I informed them that there was nothing to concern us and to proceed as normal.

As the others have suggested, I would perhaps continue marketing your property - this is what I would do. I wouldn't trust them nearer exchange date in case they want you to drop again.

alarm bells!!

rpc

Jenny.W wrote: »

Scared the life out of me, however instead of making unjustified demands, we sent a copy of the report to the EA who in turn sent out a tradesmen local to the village. He went round and made a report for us and the work will cost us approximately £300 to repair.

The EA works for the seller and will do their best to minimise the appearance of any problems. One of their tradesmen is not working in your best interests.

The best approach in these is to get an investigation done by an independent specialist. You want a survey/report at first - not a quote from a company that sees problems (and nice big invoices) everywhere they look.