Experience of selling underpinned house?

dacouch

kiddakidda wrote: »

Legal and general do not consider subsidence and underpinning after 15 years. Check out their criteria and see if it matches your circumstances. I just got buidling and contents on a 4 bed semi for about 200 quid.

You missed the word "Currently" after the words "Legal & General"

Yorkie1

Shortypie wrote: »

It seems to me that the structural integrity of an underpinned house is not necessarily called into question, it's just a self-perpetuating circle of "I can't buy in case I can't sell in case buyers are put off in case THEY can't sell" ad infinitum. Is it just me that finds that insane?

I spoke to the lady next door but not much help: she bought in 1998, no mention of underpinning, all extensions were already done.

I feel that if we could decide it's our forever house, once it's extended, it could be worth it. I wonder if a structural survey could tell whether it would be suitable to extend in the future, as whether it could be our family home really depends on this. In which case it's not too cheeky to ask vendors to arrange one, in the circumstances, is it?

If you're seriously considering the house, I suggest you should arrange it yourself. If the seller gets the survey, you have no comeback on it, nor on choice of surveyor.


It's you who is wanting the specific questions to be answered, so you should instruct the surveyor.

Shortypie

I have done some ringing around:

Loft conversion company: they said there's no reason we couldn't do a vin resign or extension just because of underpinning, though it's obviously down yo individual cases, but as a general rule.

3 local estate agents, none of whom have any interest in whether we buy the place or not: none of them advised us to run away, although find say that yes, it can "give buyers pause" when buying. They have sold underpinned houses though.

The vendor won't budge on the price :mad: there is also a cash buyer that is interested, which we were told when we first put the offer in.

I've had a look on Axa insurance website, and when doing a quote (which resulted in quote of £200-odd) no questions re underpinning, only whether, to the best of our knowledge had there been any subsidence in the last ten years, which is a truthful no. However, I don't understand all of the small print and wonder about a couple of the clauses - I don't know how to attach a screen shot though.

"We will not be liable for a) any loss or damage arising from circumstances known to you prior to the start date of this insurance"

That's a bit vague isn't it? Surely if historic subsidence was included on this, they would ask on the quote whether to the best of our knowledge it had ever suffered from subsidence, not just in the last ten years?

We still feel that given the spiralling house prices, even if we were to try and save for another few years. The gap between our deposit and the asking price would keep increasing, all the time we could potentially be uprooting the kids every few years. We're just trying yo do the best we can for our kids

Shorty

ManuelG

All I can do is say what my surveyor told me.

I was one of those where underpinning 'gave the buyer pause' so there was no way I was going ahead without a proper survey. The surveyor came round, said it was fine, said it had been done by a reputable company, and in fact was going to be more solid than the neighbouring houses without underpinning.

He, in short, has no concerns as to the structural integrity of the house. I'd also rather know the problem had been found and dealt with, than be surprised!

Maybe it will come back to haunt me when selling and nobody wants it in return but, for now, all I can do is trust the expert - that's what I paid him for, after all!

That said, as you asked for selling experience, it was on the market for a while, which suggests I'm the exception!