HOMEBUYERS REPORT - What next????

JenniferJuniper_2

Hi all

I am new to the forum and am hoping you could provide me with some advice.I am a FTB and have just received my Homebuyers report on a property I wish to purchase.There are several 3’s which require urgent attention and quite a number of 2’s – On first reading the report I was alarmed but on re-reading several times I am less alarmed and appreciate that a lot of the wording of the report is ‘surveyor’ speak and if not familiar with this (which I’m not), then this could sound alarming…..

That said the advice I require is what I should do next?I would like to get ONE contractor to give me a quote for all of the 3’s and separately all of the 2’s so I can take this quote to the Vendors estate agentsand if possible re-negotiate the purchase price – however I don’t know how to go about finding this ONE contractor – would a building contractor quote on all??? :undecided

Secondly, should I show the Homebuyers report to the Vendors estate agent or should I just show them my quotes – and at what stage should I be talking to the estate agents about a new price – sooner or later…?? :huh:

Sorry to be wordy but this is all new to me – for ease when you give me your comments I have copied extracts of the report here….

Thanks for taking the time to read and thanks for your advice in advance…

3’s

OUTSIDE THE PROPERTY
The roof is covered with interlocking concrete tiles. The roof has been lined with felt to act as a secondary barrier to rain. The coverings have weathered but are in satisfactory condition for their age with no serious disrepair evident. However, some neighbouring properties appear to have been re-covered which is indicative that this property may well need attention in the near future. There is a covering of moss which limited the inspection. The roof lining where visible, is in satisfactory condition.
The extension roof
The roof is flat and covered with felt. The roof old, in disrepair and sagging with water ponding and will need recovering as soon as possible. No damp was noted internally. It should be noted that, compared with traditional coverings such as tiles and slates, most felt roofs have a typical life of 10-15 years. They are also prone to sudden failure and leakage. Periodic re-covering will therefore be necessary. When this is undertaken, the supporting structure may also need some attention. The remedial works could be costly and estimates should be obtained before exchange of contracts

MAIN WALLS
The walls which are approximately 275mm (11') thick, have a masonry inner leaf and an outer skin of brick and hanging tiles with the two leaves being separated by an air gap. We cannot confirm whether a damp-proof course is present in most parts because of the mortar pointing obscuring the construction. Where visible, the walls contain a bituminous felt damp-proof course.
Some distortion was noted to brickwork above some of the window and door openings, for example above the plastic frame rear doors. Some of the brickwork above other frames have been repointed which may also indicate problems with lintels. It would be prudent to instruct a competent contractor to check the adequacy and condition of lintel support above all window and door openings and undertaken all necessary repairs. Further investigations are required and these should be concluded before exchange of contracts. The cavity walls of this property are formed in two leaves which are usually held together with metal wall ties. The metal ties used in properties built before the early 1980s were prone to corrosion which, if significant, could lead to structural movement. However, no signs of wall tie failure were found and when considering the property's construction and the local environment, we consider the risk of such failure to be small. No further action is necessary at this stage although it is advisable to have the walls periodically checked, every 5 - 10 years by a registered cavity wall tie replacement company, or a chartered building surveyor. The walls are in good structural condition. We found no signs of rising damp in the property and the damp-proof course appears fully effective. We understand from the vendor that cavity wall insulation has been introduced since original construction. Your legal adviser should make further enquiries about
this with the current owner and we refer you to our comments in Section I. External surfaces should be kept in good condition as damp penetration has been known to occur with this method of insulation in exposed areas.

CEILINGS
The property has plasterboard ceilings. A small damp stain was noted to the ceiling at the entrance in the rear bedroom near below the water tank in the roof space. It would be prudent to have this further
investigated by a competent contractor. Further investigations are required and these should be concluded before exchange of contracts. These are in serviceable structural order with no serious defects evident. These are a little uneven in places but this is not unusual for a property of this age and no significant repairs are needed. However, there are a number of shrinkage/differential movement cracks present. These are superficial in nature and only filling and decoration is required. Repairs for this type of defect are considered to be part of normal maintenance.

FLOORS
The ground floor is of timber construction. The first floor is formed in timber. The ground floor is springing a lot a more detailed inspection of the floor structure is needed. Spring was noted to areas of the main living room and to extension dining area. The sub-floor areas should also be examined. Further investigations are required and these should be concluded before exchange of contracts.
Some floorboards are creaking and need refixing. When floor coverings are removed, other areas of disrepair might be found. Repairs for this type of defect are considered to be part of normal maintenance.

2’s

I won’t list all the 2’s in detail as I’m sure everyone has had enough reading anyway – for those who may be interested I’ll post them in a further post if you wish – you only have to ask… !:D

Anyway – the 2’s cover the following areas.

Outside the property – Chimney stacks; rainwater pipes and gutters; Windows, doors and porches;
Inside the property – Roof Structure; Fireplaces and flues; Bathroom fittings.
Services – Safety checks needed
Garage – Has a flat roof which just needs checking due to life span
Other – a tree in the garden which will need regular pruning to prevent root spread.

Jaycee_Dove

You are right that a surveyor puts everything that he thinks might be a problem into the report to cover himself.


In our case he referred to a possible internal wall removal that might be an issue. We investigated and there was no issue and in fact no internal wall that had been removed either. Turned out he was guessing from the fact that there were modern looking doors that did not date from the building of the house.


We had other genuine '3' issues and what we did was ask the selling estate agent for recommendations about a suitable independent survey. They offered to get one done IF we sent a copy of our Homebuyers Report. I e mailed it over and they booked the survey.


Armed with this report we asked the estate agent to talk to the vendors to see what they were willing to do - fix the problem or renegotiate price.


The vendors asked to see a copy of the report, which we e mailed straight to them.


On reading it they said they did not want to have the hassle of doing the work. We agreed a price reduction equal to the estimated cost plus 50% to cover possible eventualities.


All was amicably agreed in a couple of days by being open and transparent with one another.


Hopefully this works for you.

Kynthia

I'm certainly no expert but if I had received that report this is what I'd be thinking:

Outside- so the flat roof possibly needs redoing soon. Considering they need redoing every 15 years it's hardly a big surprise and I'd get someone in to quote. Whether I did that before or after I owned the property depends on how much I want the place and whether I think the price I'm paying already is top-end.

Walls- all seems fine apart from the surveyor specifically recommending that the lintels be investigated before exchange. Therefore I would get this done as it could be an expensive problem.

Ceilings- all seems good. There is a chance there is a small leak in the water tank so if I bought it I'd get a plumber to take a look while I get other small jobs done or when servicing the boiler.

Floors- there is possibly an issue with them regarding the springing and again the surveyor specifically recommends getting them investigated before exchange, so I'd do this. Any floor boards that are creaking and need refixing is something to do when I own the place and if it bothers me, so no rush.

The rest- seems like the surveyor is saying that houses need ongoing maintenance, which I know, and that I might want to get a gas safety check and electrical check as he isn't an expert in these.

So if I were you I'd get a quote for a repair to the extension roof, and get some kind of expert to check the lintels and springy floors. Then only if expensive works are needed, or the surveyor said the property wasn't worth the asking price, would I'd consider renegotiating. I'd also get an electrical check and a gas safety check, but if I really wanted the house and there were no alarm bells on the state of the electrics and boiler, then I might wait until I own the place and consider it part of being a responsible homeowner.

AdrianC

None of those "3s" seem to amount to anything very much.

* The concrete roof tiles are fine, but various neighbours have had theirs changed.
* The felt roof's knackered, as they usually are - they need replacing regularly. It might be hiding some nasties - get a quote, but you won't know for sure until replacement starts.
* They can't see if there's a DPC everywhere, but where they can see, there is.
* Some of the brickwork above windows looks like the lintels could do with checking to see if they're sufficient.
* The cavity wall ties might be rusty, but probably aren't.
* There's no sign of damp, but there's no promises.
* The ceilings are fine, but there's a small damp mark in one place.
* Some of the timber floors are a bit springy - you might want to investigate.

And that's really about it. If you came to me with that list, I'd not be inclined to be giving any kind of discount. A few bits of normal maintenance, and a few minor things that would be blindingly obvious to anybody looking the place over properly. The flat roof, floors and lintels might be hiding issues, but there's no way of knowing without removing the felt, carpet/floorboards and plaster to investigate properly.

Likewise all the 2s - they just seem to be warning of "Things that will always need periodic maintenance on any house" rather than specific problems.

cattie

I agree with Adrian, none of the highlighted 3's amount to very much. I'd be pretty pleased to have a survey like that, especially on an older property.

The fact that a neighbour has had a new roof has no bearing on this property at all. Perhaps the roof of this property has been better maintained over the years than the neighbouring roof/s or just worn far better. When a surveyor says ''satisfactory condition" you'll find that what they tend to mean is pretty good condition.

Depending on the size of the extension, I wouldn't call it a pretty costly exercise to replace, even if some of the timbers need replacing. If it's quite a large extension, perhaps it will cost in the region of £2.5k & it is quite common nowadays to get a 25yr guarantee on flat roofs.

It's your choice whether to show the whole report to the ea or only copy the relevant parts. For myself I've never had anything to hide when trying to renegotiate on price, so am always happy to supply a copy of the whole report.

You need to get estimates before trying to renegotiate the price & a 50/50 split between vendor & buyer of any urgent works needed can be considered fair.

There are plenty of one/two man businesses as well as proper building companies who will be able to give you an idea of what & what isn't necessary & estimates for getting the work done.

Ask around with family & friends & see if anybody can give you a recommendation.