Help with interpreting a homebuyer report

teawithmilk

Its many years since I bought a house and I have just got a homebuyer report back....I havent a clue how I would interpret the report and who would help me if I wanted to get money off what I have offered to pay for any repairs. Would the conveyancing solicitor be able to advise? ita a 1930's ex council house (brick built)

Its come back that there is a fracture above the front window which probably resulted from when window was replaced - apparently it should be raked out and repointed. I havent a clue how much this would cost.

then it mentions wall ties- i know this is contentious- its a brick built property and I know that back in the early 90s it was the fashion in surveys to insist that wall ties were re-done.

It says a couple of the windows have wet rot.


Then it goes on about damp proof course - it says that in places it is close to adjacent ground/path levels and that ground/path levels should be lowered to finish no less than 150mm below damp course- how crucial is this?

It goes on about gas and electricity being checked/tested- is this just a formalilty?

And they dont appear to have inspected the roof except fom the outside.....as they said they couldnt get access to the loft safely.

Am I being paranoid or does this all sound like some serious negotiation about purchase price needs to happen???

Thanks!

R_P_W

You can try but think vendor will tell you where to go!

teawithmilk

Does it all sound like fairly minor stuff then?

The report came back saying that the house was worth the asking price.

The thing that worries me the most is the bit about windows needing replaced due to wet rot and the crack above the living room window.

R_P_W

I'd be more concerned about the roof. Have they not commented on that at all?

retepetsir

In 30's builds the original windows were often used to support the brickwork above. If the replacement was not of a suitable strength/specification then this can lead to cracking of the above brickwork, so it's definitely worth looking into more.

teawithmilk

The roof is allegedly newish as they said in the EA description that it still had a large part of a 25 yr guarantee left on it....it does visually look quite new.

The crack business did worry me- they say on the report that it just needs scraped out and repointed.

As Im not very experience in these matters should I pay for further investigation or just raise it with the venor myself via the estate agent, or is it better to be done officially through my conveyancing solicitor?

I can certainly ask him to ask for any guarantees.

Whats the best way forward please? I think I got a reasonable deal with my offer...it wasnt mega low but I did get about 5k off the asking price. I've done a lot of research on the area and I know the house was fairly priced to start with...one a few doors up has just sold within a week of going on the market and it was on the market for over 20k more than the one I've offered on and the only thing better it had going for it was a much bigger garden- internally it was pretty much the same.

whats the process now, do I go back to EA and say that the survey has flagged some things up?