Estate Agent told us we can't negotiate lower price after survey showed problems

MrsMooMoo

We are a family on low income (we have both worked extremely hard our whole lives we just work in careers which unfortunately are not well-paid) and need to move due to having children in a tiny 2 bed house.
We can't afford most 3 -beds on the market but found one 'off market' that we could borrow enough from the mortgage company for if we borrowed a bit from friends and family to pay the fees. When we viewed we knew it needed redecorating and were told the owners had previously had it on the market for a couple of months with no offers at all as it had been in a bit of a state due to the tenants. The owner turfed them out, repainted (admittedly, OVER decades old wallpaper so it's not a good look!) and cleaned up. We found it before it went back on the market and after our initial offer under the asking price was refused we bid the full asking price (our complete maximum) and had it accepted.

We then had a full building survey done which has come back with some serious structural defects. I have spent a considerable amount of time and effort calling in various local trades to get quotes for work required urgently (the non-urgent stuff that needs doing we knew would have to wait anyway). The total of all this work is over £10,000. I know a lot of it is genuine work as a) surveyor spotted it and b) I've been present for most of the trades visits to the property so have seen the damp meter readings etc.

We asked the estate agent how to go about passing on the surveyor's report, the quotes for work that needed doing and how much they thought the vendor could be reasonably expected to contribute towards the cost of the structural repairs and rising damp etc.
The estate agent has told us in no uncertain terms not to bother asking them to contact the vendor for a reduction at all because the vendor will immediately put the house back on the market.
When I pointed out that these were things we had no way of knowing about when we viewed, that any other buyer would find the same issues in a survey and would have to pay to get the work done, the estate agent told me if I even ask them to ask the vendor to drop the price, they will put the house back on the market and will get another buyer who will pay more for it.

Obviously, the house may be worth slightly more now as it's been a few months for the sale going through (we've been ready all the way but the vendor didn't even instruct their solicitor until a few weeks ago, they've not filled out forms correctly etc which has held us up).

I am really annoyed that we're not even being allowed to ask for a reduction in price, but also at the assumption that the estate agent is treating the vendor differently to us. Why aren't they saying 'Oh dear, that's not good, yes let's see what we can arrange' instead of 'don't even think of asking for money off'.

We can't afford to buy anything else so may have to just accept the cost and wait years living in a house with damp and all sorts of other issues until we can save enough (hah!) or find the money for the repair work, but I don't see why any reasonable vendor would not allow negotiation for serious structural problems.

Is it right that we should just back down in order not to risk losing the house? Or is the estate agent just being so rude in order to not lose their fees (which can't be much, less than a couple of grand)

Loonytunes

Is it worth getting your solicitor to ask the vendor's solicitor about a price reduction? After a couple of bad experiences, I'd rather avoid dealings through estate agents where possible. Even if the vendor says no, you should at least be able to ask...Not the EAs decision to make.

Dan-Dan

Dont even have the EA in the equation , ask your solicitor to pass on your new purchase price to the vendors solicitor

Obviously , if the EA is telling the truth , your going to hear news pretty quickly!

princeofpounds

Why aren't they saying 'Oh dear, that's not good, yes let's see what we can arrange'

Because they do NOT work for you! They work for the vendor (or really for themselves in reality)

It's not a question of being allowed to ask. You amend your offer, and then the vendor accepts, rejects, or counterbids.

What the EA is actually doing is rejecting you. It may be a bluff because you are clearly a pushover who is confused about your negotiation position. It may not be a bluff. It's up to you to decide whether to fold, call or raise.

I suspect the reason that the house is so cheap is because they are aware there are problems.

I would be cautious about moving into a structurally unsound property with little money (depending precisely on what is wrong). They can be money pits, problems can deteriorate if not addressed, and it can give you health issues. Owning is not worth giving up safe housing for.

kingstreet

What is the value of the property in its current condition?

What is the value of the property after essential repairs are done?

What is the current agreed price?

thequant

MrsMooMoo wrote: »

We are a family on low income (we have both worked extremely hard our whole lives we just work in careers which unfortunately are not well-paid) and need to move due to having children in a tiny 2 bed house.
We can't afford most 3 -beds on the market but found one 'off market' that we could borrow enough from the mortgage company for if we borrowed a bit from friends and family to pay the fees.

Put the violins away, your personal circumstances are no concern to the vendor.

If you want to lower your offer, then do so. It's not up to the estate to refuse to put it forward.

Hoploz

Absolutely agree with everyone else.

It sounds like an old property, which could be a money-pit to me, so you'd be better off buying something with fewer problems, maybe more modern and yes maybe smaller, or ex-council or something if space is key.

Instruct your solicitor to reduce your offer by £x (it's your decision how much, not the EA!) and be prepared to pull out. I think that would be best in your position anyway tbh

TBagpuss

The new offer should go through your solicitor. Be prepared to provide copies of the relevant sections of the surveyors report =

What did the surveyor say the property is worth?
How does this compare with your offer? That, rather than the cost of the repair work, is what is relevant. It is possible that the property in its current state is nevertheless worth what you have offered - the fact that it will then need further money spending on it is your problems, not the vendor's. (this may be why it was cheaper than other properties)

Equally, the vendor is entitled to be stubborn. They can chose to refuse to reduce the price, and you can chose then not to proceed with the purchase. Personally I would be very reluctant to continue with the purchase of a house needing structural repairs and damp work, if I were on a very limited budget - it's not easy to be exact about the costs and you may find additional work is needed once you start - if your finances are such that you don't have an emergency fund for that kind of thing then think long and hard about whether you want to risk it. I assume you have talked to the surveyor to get a feel for how urgent the works are?

m1kjm

Does the mortgagee know about these serious structural defects yet?

MrsMooMoo

kingstreet wrote: »

What is the value of the property in its current condition?

What is the value of the property after essential repairs are done?

What is the current agreed price?

I don't know what the value is with the work that needs doing, our mortgage lender didn't do a survey, they just valued the amount we were borrowing but said underneath 'in good condition'.

Our own private survey didn't value it, just went through all the things that needed doing.

The agreed price is exactly what they asked for it in full. I'm not sure they do know the problems with the property as they have never lived in it and it's been rented out for over a decade.

MrsMooMoo

TBagpuss wrote: »

What did the surveyor say the property is worth?
How does this compare with your offer? That, rather than the cost of the repair work, is what is relevant. It is possible that the property in its current state is nevertheless worth what you have offered - the fact that it will then need further money spending on it is your problems, not the vendor's. (this may be why it was cheaper than other properties)
... I assume you have talked to the surveyor to get a feel for how urgent the works are?

I think you may be right. I think that is why it was the only 3-bed property in our area for that price in the past 6 months, apart from ones on the worst street in the area. It's an ex-council property (so we thought that would mean well-built, turns out not so!). We knew other people could and would bid slightly more than us to get it as other people have spare money to do a complete refurb, put an extension on etc and sell it on for profit. We can't afford any of that, we thought we could just take time to save and redecorate when we had time to make it nice to live in. We never anticipated having to find over £10,000 for works the surveyor has deemed as 'urgent repairs'. How long can you leave rising damp without treating it? The problems will get worse with time.
I don't know how much other houses on the street are worth. The last one to sell there sold 4 years ago for £100,000 less than we are paying for this one. I thought that was a ridiculous increase but we were willing to stretch ourselves in order to get an extra bedroom for the children to not all share and so we wouldn't have to take them out of local school etc.