A rant - house sale

Road_Hog

kingstreet wrote: »

A structural engineer's report should not cost anything like £600, unless they drilled trial holes/trenches, but at least you have a copy for any future purchaser.

If you want to PM me an email address, I'll forward you the email stating cost and details/the report. £600 inc VAT was the cost. He was at the property for just over an hour. I'm in the wrong business.

kingstreet

I don't need to see the report. Who found the structural engineer? I normally suggest people look here;-

http://www.findanengineer.com/

and talk to the engineers in their area, before making a commitment.

I know this won't help you, but any future reader in such a situation might benefit from it.

Road_Hog

kingstreet wrote: »

I don't need to see the report. Who found the structural engineer? I normally suggest people look here;-

http://www.findanengineer.com/

and talk to the engineers in their area, before making a commitment.

I know this won't help you, but any future reader in such a situation might benefit from it.

In answer to your first point, the EA did.

In answer to your second point, totally agree. It is what these forums are all about. Maybe my bad experience will help some other seller, and if it does, then I will feel happy that I've helped someone else.

Dan-Dan

I called you a mug weeks ago..seems i was right

ValHaller

Road_Hog wrote: »

.... The buyer has apparently taken the solicitor's advice and offered £15K below price.

That does seem to go sour, particularly as you heard through solicitors. I kicked a sale into touch when I had a sudden demand for an indemnity policy via solicitors a day or 2 before exchange was due. It was over an issue which should have been raised much earlier - as it was our purchase was in trouble. No regrets though.

Road_Hog

Dan-Dan wrote: »

I called you a mug weeks ago..seems i was right

Well, I've been right, many times in my life. I, like most people make the odd mistake/misjudgement in my life. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt.

So, I called this one wrong and you were right, I hope you enjoy your weekend.

ValHaller wrote: »

That does seem to go sour,

Yep, I think that that pushed it over the edge for the EA, normally they seem to want to rescue the sale, to get their commission. But the EA (manager) was like, I'm not bothered, this is a waste of time, I'll get the letters out tomorrow, confiming that the deal is off.

Conrad

All these threads, sellers blaming a buyers / buyers blaming sellers entirely miss the point that it's very much like a husband blaming a wife and vice versa when a marriage fails, neither can really see the others view and in fact in my long experience both sides about equally share blame.

One day road hogg you will be that buyer facing the prospect of a repair bill following a survey, and then you will about turn your argument saying this time the seller is the wrong doer!

It's the worst thing about selling houses for an EA, stuck between 2 parties with a equal sense of justice on their side.

dimbo61

I paid £250 for a survey on a property in 2010 then over £500 for another survey this year ( Discounted)
YBS used there online valuation to value my property at nearly £43000 less but did say they could get a PROPER valuation done for £70 !!!!
Go figure as all done by Building Surveyors
PS My brother is a Chartered Building Surveyor who checked out my house for a Cup of Tea and a biscuit :-)

Tancred

Road_Hog wrote: »

Please note that this thread serves no purpose, other than me letting off steam.

I have/had a property that I've let out for the last 13+ years. The tenants left it in an awful state and the LA gave them their full deposit back, which is an ongoing legal situation.

So, I price up the property (same valuatiom from 3 EAs) at a price 'to sell'.

The whole thing has dragged on for about 5 months, empty property and first time buyer, so should have been straight forward.

Finally, I get a call from the EA yesterday, saying that the lender/surveyor has agreed the mortgage and we're good to go. Then I get a call from my solicitor, about the offer price. So here's the background.

Property in good nick is worth about £225K, sold as needing some work at £210K. Buyer agrees price, then comes back a couple of days later and says he can only get to £208.5K, so I agree (mortgage done through EA).

Then the house needs an engineer's report and buyer doesn't have spare cash, so I pay the £600.

Then, I get a call from my solicitor, WRT a fax/email sent from his solicitor, saying that as there is approx. £7K of work needing done, I should reduce the price to £194K.

I'm so glad that I'm not in a chain, hoping to move into my dream home. I'm able to say, Mr.Buyer, I hope you enjoy paying for your homebuyer survey and your solicitor's fees.

I know the norm on here is to rant against LLs and sellers, but sometimes us decent LLs and sellers get the fuzzy end of the lollipop as well.

You should have told him to f-off. You will always find another buyer, so don't let yourself be blackmailed.

Tancred

kingstreet wrote: »

A structural engineer's report should not cost anything like £600, unless they drilled trial holes/trenches, but at least you have a copy for any future purchaser.

Not true. £600 is a pretty routine price these days.