125k valuation and damp found! Need advice

backhouse21

Hi all,

I need some help...

My wife and I had an offer accepted on a property of £125k recently and we have just had the survey back.

It was on for £135k and the survey has come back saying that the property value is actually £125k, thus we are paying what the property is worth.

However, the survey has also come back saying that there is damp that needs to be fixed! So we need to fork out for that and the electrics are old and should be looked into being replaced/sorted out.

On this basis, do you think we should remove our offer and go in at a lower price?? Based on what it will cost to fix the damp and electrics.

I want to offer less personally but am scared that the sellers will a) refuse and b) look for another buyer! which will leave us out of pocket if we lose it

thanks in advance!

hazyjo

Get the electrics checked for your own peace of mind, but I doubt you'll have a leg to stand on re knocking the price down for that. No house over (guessing) 5 years old will have electrics that meet current regs.

Try and get the seller to pay for the damp work, or to go 50/50. Get your own damp expert round there to assess the damage/costs. Inspections shouldn't cost a great deal (some will be free).

If the seller refuses to let someone round to inspect, I'd pull out.

Jx

backhouse21

thanks for the reply, it seems a good move to maybe ask for them to pay for fixing the damp or requesting we go 50/50

Mr_Moo_2

A lot of houses have some element of damp... What kind of house is it? How old is it? What exactly does the survey say? As HJ says, if you're concerned get some further work done to investigate, but by an independent surveyor who has no ties to contractors. They should give you an indication of likely cost. You also need to cosnder the mindset of the seller. Right or wrong they may view this as "I've dropped £10k so won't budge any further" - you might want to discuss this before you progress any further investigations.

Good luck.

martinsurrey

If the house, with damp taken into account, is worth(/valued) £125k, if you ask the vendor to pay for things like this, the house after work will be worth more than £125k.

The house is priced for its condition (IMO), if you can’t afford to do the work you want doing, you should be looking at turn key properties or new builds,which will be priced to reflect this.

Sorry to sound harsh, but if I was the vendor, I would be saying the above and not moving.

backhouse21

the property is 53 years old. It is an ex council ground floor maisonette (2 bed).

this is what the survey says exactly:

"dampness is affecting parts of walls in the entrance lobby, hall, living room and bedrooms. I suspect this may be due to condensation or defective plasterwork although breakdown of the damp proof course cannot be ruled out. Concealed timbers may be defective and should be opened up and fully investigated.

You need to instruct a damp proofing contractor to carry out and investigation to identify the full extent of the problem and the necessary repairs required, together with an estimate of the cost.

Wet rot affected sections of the outbuilding and bin cupboard joinery need to be replaced."

StuC75

The 125k current valuation is based upon the properties current condition which includes the damp and any remedial work required..

So if they were to fix the damp, then surely it would be worth more..

If I was the vendor and was told that it came in on agreed price and recognised the work required.. then I wouldn't budge on price - or would expect the sale price to increase after that work was done..

Otherwise they are 'out of pocket' in doing that work -

i.e. you agreed £125k, it costs 3k to remedy (so your surveyor has factored that into the valuation given - e.g. 128k, 3k work required so valued at 125k..

so if they did the work they would receive a net of 122k (125k - 3), but the value including the work done would be 128k (based on your surveyor).. so that's a 6k swing on there part..

backhouse21

that's a very good argument to be fair....

hazyjo

Stamp duty level is £125k. I doubt very much the property would be 'worth' £128k after any works.

Not a case of them being out of pocket, it's a case of every survey will pick up that there's damp. If they lose this buyer, they risk losing another if they're not prepared to sort out the problem, or at least contribute.

Would they have to to disclose there's damp re future sales? Not sure.

Jx

StuC75

Stamp duty liability and the valuation are 2 distinct matters. its only because it is on the threshold that you claim it wouldn't be worth 128k .. So where do you think values over 125k come back in at and where its ok to pay the stamp duty then. Is 130k only worth 125k to avoid the 1%...

The simple fact is it was valued at 125k based upon its current condition and deemed suitable for security on the mortgage - for which the surveyor has noted the dampness, and suggests getting it checked out by a professional to know what is required.

Any damp specialist would most likely be angling towards giving a quote for what work is required (so there impartiality is in question)..

But get a full idea of what the cost is likely to be - but do consider if you want to take on that work, and whether its best to start looking elsewhere..

I previously sold a house where buyers survey suggested work required - but I wasn't going to undertake that work since all was ok, and they could pull out at anytime anyway - so we settled on a part reduction on my part..

Nearly 2.5 years later I went past the house and can tell that work hasn't been done...

Also its the buyers survey that says the damp, not the vendor so they wouldn't be able to rely upon anything in it anyway as it hasn't been prepared for them..

hazyjo wrote: »

Stamp duty level is £125k. I doubt very much the property would be 'worth' £128k after any works.

Not a case of them being out of pocket, it's a case of every survey will pick up that there's damp. If they lose this buyer, they risk losing another if they're not prepared to sort out the problem, or at least contribute.

Would they have to to disclose there's damp re future sales? Not sure.

Jx

dotchas

We are having the same issue with a BTL flat we are looking at, the comments on the survey (Home Report in Scotland) are almost identical to yours. Having done a lot of research it seems that rising damp and failure of damp proof courses is very rare. Its most often misdiagnosed by surveyors using moisture meters which are only intended for use on timber and not plaster walls.
We are going with this company as they only do surveys so have no vested interest in finding expensive solutions
http://ukdamp.co.uk
We haven't offered yet as the HR was available to us at time of viewing so will likely offer subject to survey. Things work differently in Scotland