Homebuyers Report

shie6523

Hi everybody - quick query regarding the Homebuyers Report.

We had one carried out last Monday. Our solicitor has asked that we send a copy to the Estate Agent - is this right? This is the first time I've bought property so I'm no expert but I would have assumed our solicitor would have passed the report to the seller's solicitor since they have a copy and that its a legal document.

Also, and I've got my negative head on here, what's to stop the seller using our Homebuyers Report in the near future should the sale fall through? Let's say for example the sale falls through, someone else comes in in a couple of months time and states to the seller that they will be getting a Homebuyers Report done on the property. Couldn't the seller simply say "no need to, one was done in November and here are the findings"? In effect, we'd have paid for somebody else's Homebuyers Report.

Any response would be most appreciated.

Cheers,
shie6523.

Senior_Paper_Monitor

The homebuyers report is produced for use by you and your appointed representatives (broker, solicitor etc) only. The terms and conditions of the surveyor will be very specific.


The estate agent is not your representative (indeed they are your enemy) - is your solicitor the estate agent's recommendation ?

shie6523

Hi,

The solicitor is one which we've selected, not one which was recommended to us by the Estate Agent.

amnblog

The estate agent has no need to see YOUR homebuyers report.

The only reason I could see for showing it to an agent would be to prove a problem with the property when renegotiating the price.

Senior_Paper_Monitor

I still see no reason to release the homebuyer's report to an estate agent other than specific item information (i.e this item is knackered and requires money spending on it) as part of any resulting negotiation.


Indeed the terms and conditions of the provider will prevent you doing so.

shie6523

amnblog -

The report has flagged up some issues, but coming from a structural engineering background I was aware of them already as I've viewed the property several times - the report didn't bring up anything I didn't know already.

With these issues in mind, I'm happy to take these on and address them myself. I'm conscious that I don't want to aggrevate the seller into calling the whole thing off should I start renegotiating on price etc.

stator

If you asked and paid for the HBR directly then you don't have to send it to anyone at all. Sometimes it can be useful for the solicitor/conveyencer to see it because it often contains tips for items that need looking into legally, eg boundary walls, however you don't have to do this and I definitely wouldn't share it with the estate agents without a good reason.
If you paid the mortgage company for the HBR and it was carried out for both of you then the mortgage company and their solicitor would also have the right to see it.

Thrugelmir

What were the findings / recommendations of the HBR ?

Sometimes transparency does little harm in negotiating a price adjustment.

shie6523

Insufficient number of airbricks for ground floor ventilation. The surveyor has stated a risk of rot to the suspended timber ground floor and has advised we get a damp survey carried out. I suspect he's implying we lift the floor boards to determine current condition of timber joists and ultimately install additional air bricks along base of external walls. The house is 57 years old, I would suspect insufficient sub-floor ventilation would have affected the timber joist by now.

dimbo61

Having just spent £££££ on dry rot because we blocked some of the air circulation due to an extension are you sure everything is OK under the carpets/floorboards?

Butti

shie6523 wrote: »

Insufficient number of airbricks for ground floor ventilation. The surveyor has stated a risk of rot to the suspended timber ground floor and has advised we get a damp survey carried out. I suspect he's implying we lift the floor boards to determine current condition of timber joists and ultimately install additional air bricks along base of external walls. The house is 57 years old, I would suspect insufficient sub-floor ventilation would have affected the timber joist by now.

Why don't you tell the seller about the airbricks and ask them for testing of the ground floor woodwork. You can also cost putting more airbricks in.

Leave the estate agent out of the picture.