house maintenance during selling process

Full_of_angst

Hello all, this is my first post but have been reading lots of threads on here for a few weeks.

I am in the process of selling my house. I had an offer almost 6 weeks ago, which was about 10% below the asking price. I was happy to accept that because there is some work required on the property (it's a 210 year old house). It's in very good decorative order, and nothing to do to live in it but there is stuff to do that I acknowledge.

The past couple of weeks though things have started to go wrong. I've lived in the property for 10 years with hardly any problems at all (beyond minor things). However, the roof started leaking into a loft conversation. Not a gushing leak, but enough to cause me concern. I had a roofer inspect it and it is going to be repaired. I am also having a builder come to do a bit of repointing because I noticed a little bit of penetrating damp (first time ever noticed damp in this house) on a part of the wall (a tiny patch but again enough to make me want to get it sorted).

These are repairs that I would have done whether I was selling or not, they are things that nobody would ignore when living in a house. However, I'm concerned because a building survey is being done next week (commissioned by buyers) and I'm worried he will think I'm trying to cover things up. Or am I being overly anxious? Will he be pragmatic enough to see that I'm just a genuinely responsible home owner and trying to do the right thing (I would not appreciate it if I bought a house and obvious repairs had not been carried out prior to completion).

Other's views would be appreciated.

The user name says it all!

Gra76

I very much doubt the surveyor will notice you've done anything if it's only minor repairs, and if they do, and they ask about it, tell them the truth. At least then they'll know the problems are being dealt with.

Windsorcastle

You're not alone, being full of angst! I got a few minor things repaired and maintained just before going on the market (bit of repointing, roof checked etc). Then accepted an offer a few weeks ago, and as luck would have it, there then appeared a leak due to wear and tear on an external wall. So I got that fixed and also had to pay for redecoration of the affected area.

It's a balancing act - I think it's best to fix things that will give a surveyor reason to talk things up in his report, but you don't want to be spending money hand over fist for little bits and pieces that have no real effect on the value of the property.

As many posters on this forum point out, unless you're buying a new build, you need to accept that there will be ongoing maintenance required and you're not going to walk into a perfect 'boxfresh' house.

So do what REALLY needs doing and what might make a buyer pull out, but don't worry about minor things is my advice.

Full_of_angst

Thank you all for your replies.

As I said it's been 10 years since I went through this process and I'd forgotten it was so excruciatingly stressful!

The house is fine, it's stood here for 210 years and there are no cracks or anything so it'll likely stand here for another 210 years. It looks fine, decoratively in good order (I had the whole house redecorated in 2011). All bathrooms and electrics and other things working fine. BUT I just have this awfully niggling feeling that the survey will scare my buyers off. I don't know why I feel like that. I know they are keen to buy and they are in fact pushing to complete by 1 August (which puzzles me a bit as to why they left it so long to have the survey done when they want to complete in 4 weeks time!).

I suppose everyone feels like this. Think I will need to move into a hospital bed rather than a new house when this I all over!