Homebuyers Report

chelle_375

Hiya Everyone

Me and my partner are FTB's and had an offer accepted on a property back in May.

The property has been empty for around two years. It has been on the market with a couple of different agents over the last 2 years, from looking on Zoopla it was on the market for as high as £165k back in February. We ended up offering the current asking price of £115k in May which got accepted.

Had the home-buyers survey done approximately two weeks ago and it said we needed to get a damp and timber expert to go in and have a look as there were signs of damp in the kitchen.

The first company went last week and called us Friday to advise there is wet rot in the kitchen and an underfloor pipe has burst around a year ago which has been left untreated. We would also need all of the door frames replacing downstairs. They said we would receive the full findings with a price for the work today.

We have another company going in today to check.

The company that went last week have advised that the owner should be able to claim off their house insurance for this work to be done. We suspect however as the house has been empty for two years there isn't any home insurance in place on the property.

Once we have the results back obviously we need to speak to the seller and either arrange for the work to be completed before we exchange or we will reduce our offer.

Quite a small question but would we do this through the estate agent or the solicitor regarding this? We have no way of contacting the seller direct, we haven't even met the seller as they arrange for one of their employees to show us round on viewings.

Many thanks for any advice

martinsurrey

chelle_375 wrote: »

Hiya Everyone

The first company went last week and called us Friday to advise there is wet rot in the kitchen and an underfloor pipe has burst around a year ago which has been left untreated. We would also need all of the door frames replacing downstairs. They said we would receive the full findings with a price for the work today.

Many thanks for any advice

And surprise surprise, a company that does treatment of rot, found rot!

If I was the vendor, I would want an INDEPENDANT opinion on the scope of the work required (so by someone who will not benefit from the discovery of work required).



Also, did the survey come back with a valuation inline with your offer?

Dan-Dan

This house sounds like it might have been priced accordingly...but Mr Surreys question is key...

chelle_375

Thanks for the replies.

We've had to pay for the two surveys at around £60-£80 + VAT for each one so I do think the results are correct to be honest. Especially as the surveyor said this is something you can claim off your house insurance for. Surely home insurance companies would employe their own specialists to sort the work out?

There was no value as the surveyor for the HB said we would need a damp and timber report sent into our lender before this can be done.

I don't believe the price was reduced due to this, you can get a 4 bed semi detached in our area (Staffordshire) for around £150-£200k so the original price of £165k was OTT (in my opinion) for a 3 bed semi. There is a house down the road which is larger and has been done up for resale and that is on the market for £140k. Nothing would need to be done to this house whereas the one we are purchasing would need updating.

I appreciate it may be a cheap price if it was situated down south but based on this area and what other houses are going for at the current time the asking price is about the right sort of price to be honest.