am i really being that difficult?

cookie_monster_2

I read this thread quite often but have never posted anything. However, I have recently started the process of buying my first home and I am finding it almost impossible.


I have a mortgage in place (despite a job move but it was in the same profession so not a problem)


I have found the house I want to buy - it was at the top of my budget (the bank said I could borrow more but it was at the top of MY budget).


Anyway, I'm finding it all very stressful - I had a survey done which reported numerous fees and I keep arranging to have quotes done on this work and I am getting quoted back thousands due to a wall tie corrosion issue. I spoke to the vendor's estate agent about this and she says I am not to put forward a reduced offer because the home was valued at what I am offering for it.




I'm just considering back out of the whole deal.

cookie_monster_2

Also, I keep being told by the EA I need to hand over a copy of the survey we had done which we paid A LOT of money for.

Pixie5740

The vendor's estate agent works for the vendor and will probably be getting paid commission so the more the property sells for the more money they make.

If after having these surveys and quotes for work done you think the property is worth less to you than your original offer then lower it.

p00hsticks

Pixie5740 wrote: »

The vendor's estate agent works for the vendor and will probably be getting paid commission so the more the property sells for the more money they make.

It's only a small percentage though, so it's not in the estate agents interest to see a sale fall through completely for the sake of a few grand in the house price, which only makes tens of pounds difference to what they'd get

Unitoons

You are well within your rights to reduce your offer.
Ignore the estate agent and submit your new offer through your solicitor. This will then be passed to the vendors via their solicitor and they can make the decision.

Unitoons

Also - you are under no obligation to give the EA a copy of the survey!!!

Gordon_Hose

There's nothing wrong with photocopying the bits of the survey that highlight the issues and handing them over. But you'd only really need to do that if you were going to negotiate down on the price.

We showed our vendor our survey when they asked us around for a coffee and a chat about the results. They agreed to put a new roof on the bathroom and fit additional airbricks.

How much will the work cost, and what does the survey say about the corrosion?

At the end of the day, if the seller won't budge, you need to decide whether you'll be able to afford to pay for the work to be done, or walk away. Depends how much you love the house, if you're going to be there for a long time then will there be an opportunity to save up and have the work done at a later date?

If you have no spare money to save then you might already be over stretching yourself... houses require on-going maintenance, especially old ones. If you can't afford to put money aside as contingency, then maybe this place isn't the right one.

cookie_monster_2

thank you for the replies. The EA is still being very pushy regarding the survey - she states that the solicitor wants to see a copy of it too.


She says it is not common to have so many problems checked out from the survey and that I am causing problems, particularly when I fail to provide evidence (ie the survey) that there are any issues.


I did quote from the survey and she sent it to the vendor who wrote back saying the problems highlighted sounded excessively exaggerated. I agree some of them have been but not all of them - particularly not the cavity wall situation.

AdrianC

Never mind the EA - this is between you and the vendor. The EA is merely the middle-man they employ for you to communicate through. And, if you were asking me for a reduction of thousands, on the basis of the survey, damn right I'd want to see the survey before even contemplating your reduced offer. What've you got to hide? The only person that survey has any real value to is you. You are the only person with any comeback against the surveyor - to anybody else, it's merely an informed opinion.

If the surveyor had valued it - with wall-tie issue - at the agreed sale price - then I'd be telling you "Thanks, but no thanks. You buy at the original offer price, or you walk."

As far as the EA goes...
1.5% commission on a £200,000 sale is £3,000.
1.5% commission on a £5,000 reduction is £75.
Would YOU jeopardise a deal that'll earn you £3,000, for the sake of £75? No, nor me.

cookie_monster_2

We are definitely not stretching ourselves - we earn together just over £52,000 and our mortgage payment will be £580 a month but we have hectic lifestyles and love travelling and this is one thing we are not willing to give up. We don't want to struggle with house payments.


The estimated cost of the cavity walls has come in at just over £2,000 but I am having another company look at this in two weeks time.

p00hsticks

cookie_monster_2 wrote: »

I spoke to the vendor's estate agent about this and she says I am not to put forward a reduced offer because the home was valued at what I am offering for it.

That's not up to the estate agent - they're obligated to pass offers on to the seller unless the seller has specifically asked them not to in these circumstances.

Having said that, in the sellers position I think I'd be adopting the same stance - if you've had a survey done and, despite the recommendations on things to follow up, the final valuation it gives still matches what you've agreed to pay (which I asssume it does), you're on very weak ground when it comes to negotiating any reduction.

cookie_monster_2 wrote: »

Also, I keep being told by the EA I need to hand over a copy of the survey we had done which we paid A LOT of money for.

No, don't do that - if you are going to ask for a reduced price because of one or more of the items mentioned, it might be worth quoting what the document says about that particular relevant bit, but don't give them the whole thing. If you decide to walk away, you could perhaps offer to sell it on to the owner if the terms allow you to - although they won't have any come back on the surveyor, as the contract is with you not them, it would be worth something to them to see what is being thown up as items that might make the property less saleable.