Buying dream house, had an awful survey!

somethingcorporate

Remember the surveyor is going to be extra cautious.

The survey we had on our old property said it needed a new roof and when we got a number of roofing experts they confirmed it had another 10 years life in it, at least. When we left the property 3 years later it was still absolutely fine.

None of your problems sound that serious - damp-proofing can be messy but in an empty house it should be quite straight forward and it's not that expensive.

I'd take everything from a surveyor with a pinch of salt at get some experts (roofer/damp expert) in to have a proper look.

Timeflies

We walked away from a house similar to this after having the survey done in August. We knew it would need the stairs fixing, a new boiler, new kitchen and bathroom and redecorating throughout, but thought it was a fair size house for the money.

In addition, the survey said it needed a new roof, the floor and several feet of plaster from all the downstairs walls to be dug out and replaced, new damp-proofing, the whole central heating system (pipes, radators & bolier) to be ripped out and replaced, two damp ceilings to be replaced and all the walls repointed. We figured if the whole interior needed remodelling, and the floor, walls and roof needed re-doing, the house didn't have much going for it!

Have a think about how much work you want to do, whether you're prepared to deal with scheduling and re-scheduling tradespeople, estimates that may go up for work,and the time and stress this involves. If you think it would seriously impact on your family's quality of life to deal with all the damp and work, then I'd suggest to wait for something else to come up. If you're up for the work and think the house is worth it, then go ahead. We didn't love the house we had offered on enough to go through it all, and we're so glad to still be living in our too-small, but hassle-free house.

marywooyeah

Hi all, I really appreciate the responses.

Things are thankfully looking a bit better now. Since recieving the survey we've been in touch with the EA, who in turn contacted the vendor, and it turns out that both the roof insulation and the damp proofing have got warranties. So, the vendor is having the respective companies return to the property to assess the roof/damp proofing and provide details and estimates of any remedial works.

We plan to use this to knock the price down a bit more, we already got 2.5k off the asking price when we put our offer in at the start.

It turns out that it doesn't need a new roof, just some new tiles and the weather flashing replacing, which is a great relief.

My dad is a builder so he is travelling up from London tommorow to come and look at the house with me, if there's anything he can repair then he has said that he will do so to save on time and costs, which again is a massive relief.

AdrianC wrote: »

What has the surveyor said about the value of the property, compared to the price you'd agreed?

The surveyor stated that it was worth the price we are paying: £97.5k

ReadingTim wrote: »

Was it a "dream house" because it appeared to be going for a song? If so, you've just discovered why...

Surveyors are generally good at covering their behinds, so once you've got past all the caveats, they usually claim the place is in danger of immediate collapse, even if it's a new build.... However, if the problems are really that severe, I find it odd that you didn't notice anything, and this survey is a complete surprise... Or is it price blindness again?!?

It's a dream house as we wanted to stay pretty much where we are geographically but the prices get higher the further up the hill you go, I've seen houses at the bottom of the road go for £110k, whilst ones at the top going for £180k and over.

This house is at the bottom of the hill, and we got it for £9.5k, the original price was £100k-£110k.

We wanted a three bed semi with a nice sized garden for the kids to play in, a big spacious kitchen, fireplaces and parking. This house is everything we were looking for and we can't believe we've actually managed to get a mortgage, especially with me being on maternity leave :rotfl:

somethingcorporate wrote: »

Remember the surveyor is going to be extra cautious.

The survey we had on our old property said it needed a new roof and when we got a number of roofing experts they confirmed it had another 10 years life in it, at least. When we left the property 3 years later it was still absolutely fine.

None of your problems sound that serious - damp-proofing can be messy but in an empty house it should be quite straight forward and it's not that expensive.

I'd take everything from a surveyor with a pinch of salt at get some experts (roofer/damp expert) in to have a proper look.

Thanks SC, your post really put me at ease. I'm hoping that the companies who carried out the original work can put it right under the warranties, or that any work can be done by my dad and keep the costs down.

Thanks again everyone, I found the responses really helpful.

AdrianC

marywooyeah wrote: »

We plan to use this to knock the price down a bit more...

...but...

The surveyor stated that it was worth the price we are paying: £97.5k

I've seen houses at the bottom of the road go for £110k, whilst ones at the top going for £180k and over. This house is at the bottom of the hill, and we got it for £95k, the original price was £100k-£110k.

...and now you know why it was so much cheaper - but the surveyor believes that price is fair, given the problems. You'll be doing well to get more off.