Terrible homebuyers report - what to do?

ri17

I know they can be full of crap as we had one done on the house we sold so ive been open minded for the one on the house we are buying but it is FULL of level 3 issues inc roof issues, damp etc.. I know the previous buyer pulled out after their survey and I can now see why.


We don't know what to do. I am due a baby is 8 weeks, we have sold our property and will loose our 0.75% above the base rate if we do not go ahead. I am so stressed about it all

pinkteapot

Pretty much all issues are fixable if you're prepared to have the work done. However, with a new baby on the way, do you really want workmen in doing major jobs right now? And can you afford to have the work done?

Whether you want to take on a house that needs work is an entirely personal decision I'm afraid.

If your reaction isn't a straight "now way", view again with a builder and the report, and talk about what needs doing urgently and how much it would cost. At least then you can make an informed decision.

phoenix_w

Only you can answer that question.
You can...

1. Pull out and find somewhere else

2. Go ahead and do all necessary work yourself (as long as the lender is OK with that)

3. Negotiate with the vendor over the work. Can they do some of it, or contribute towards any work you will have done yourselves?

Your answer will differ depending on whether you love the house, and also whether the price of the property takes into account that a lot of work needs doing.

Do you have a trusted builder or know competent workmen who could carry out some of the jobs listed on the survey? May be worth getting their assessment before dropping out - that "level three" roofing issue could be a simple job of replacing a few tiles, the damp issue might just need some guttering fixing up and a dehumidifier running for a few weeks. Impossible to say until you go and look for yourself.

jbainbridge

Ring the surveyor and talk it over - ask how bad it really is. I've always found them very helpful.

killerkev

Get estimates on how much the work will cost to put everything right then it's up to you to decide if its worth it

ri17

Thanks all. We've cherry picked the worse from a HUGE list the ones we just can't accept and would need sorting and listed them all to the ea who's forwarded the list to the vendor. They'll get back to us Monday afternoon as they're on holiday at the mo.

Hoping they'll just sort it all out but will wait for their response. Really don't want to start again at 32 weeks pregnant and loose our low mortgage rate but equally can't have my children sleeping in rooms with damp

AlexMac

Even assuming you can agree that the vendor will cough up for all or part of the repair costs, commission quotes, instruct builders and do the work before exchange, I'd prefer to buy with a discount or retention and commission work myself. This is obviously difficult given your pressures and timescales. If the seller does agree to do the work, just ensure that any guarantees are transferable.

But I wonder if you are being realistic about timescales? Dunno how far you've got with the rest of the purchase, searches, etc, but every time I've bought its taken 6-12 weeks so if you also want to take quotes, do the negotiation, instruct and complete damp-proofing, roof or gutter repairs, etc done in that time...?

Maybe you realistically need a fall-back posistion, even if it's just staying somewhere else for a month or two; got any generous friends or family?

woodworm001

Before you panic too much you should list the level 3's on here as there are many people saying the same thing as you. It may well not be as bad as you think?

SG27

Is never ask the vendor to fix anything major prior to exchange. Chances are they would do it cheaply or bodge it. I'd prefer to knock to money off and get it done myself.

ri17

Thanks all

I will list them all on here once my son is in bed. Late night trick or treating!

We are in rented as we didn't live in the house we sold luckily, although we did hand our months notice in yesterday which expires on 4th Dec...its back up fir rent so nervous in case we need to stay.

Everything else sale wise is good to go, we're over 8 weeks into this sale and had agreed to complete in 3 weeks given ill be 35 weeks pregnant then!

I_have_spoken

You could go for a structural survey and use that to renegotiate the price down.