Renegotiating house price/survey

Beavis_cat

Just a quick question... Our buyers want us to pay for some work on the roof of our house prior to exchange of contracts. I'm pretty sure that the surveyor valued the house at the price we originally agreed, though - can I request to see a copy of their survey/valuation before we consider beginning negotiations...?

Thank you!

stator

You can, there's no reason they can't show you the survey. But they can say no. And you can say no to their requests. Pre-exchange anything goes.

Beavis_cat

Thank you stator. They've sent extracts already, but I'm particularly interested in the valuation that was given and the surveyor's comments on the reason for that valuation - if they refuse to show us, is it fair for us to assume that it was valued at the price we accepted, do you think...? We are keen to get ourselves in as strong a position as possible before entering negotiations!

Cuilean

This is a really weird coincidence (I'm not your buyer BTW ) because I've just had a survey back on the house I'm trying to buy which has picked up some potentially serious problems with the roof area which will need rectifying ASAP.


The advice we've been given (as buyers) is to get independent tradesman round to quote for the work. Once the quotes come in, we're then in a position to decide whether to renegotiate our offer, if it's something we'll be finding money for, or if we walk away. The agent and my solicitor also suggested showing the vendor the quote and ask if they'd like to get it fixed before completion, which would be easier for us than haggling over the price and getting the mortgage offer adjusted.


Would I show the vendor the survey? I don't know. If I've paid £500 for a document, I'm not sure I'd want to given them the evidence to use against me, IYSWIM - but that's just my opinion.

TrixA

I wouldn't assume that a reluctance to show you the survey implies anything about the valuation. Your buyer has paid a lot of money for the survey and some people worry what would happen in the event the sale falls through - it's not unknown for unscrupulous sellers or agents to offer the survey to other prospective buyers. I also seem to remember that most surveys come with a legal disclaimer saying you're not allowed to share it with anyone except your professional advisers (although I'm sure people do). If it's the valuation that's concerning you I would ask directly about that rather than insisting on a copy of the full survey.

Also, I know there's a school of thought that a valuation at the offer price means that no further reductions should be made for survey findings, but as a buyer it's not always possible to find additional money for unexpected remedial works. Depending on the survey finding and the nature of the works it may be appropriate to split the cost.

Hoploz

The surveyor's valuation has nothing to do with it. The price they are willing to pay you is the relevant point. It sounds as if they are concerned about the problem and want you to pay, because they either can't or don't want to. It is up to you whether you decide to do so or not. Would they walk away if you said no? Would you walk away if they reduced their offer? It is a game of who gives in first. A lot of people seem to play it, although I myself do not.

martinsurrey

Hoploz wrote: »

The surveyor's valuation has nothing to do with it. The price they are willing to pay you is the relevant point. It sounds as if they are concerned about the problem and want you to pay, because they either can't or don't want to. It is up to you whether you decide to do so or not. Would they walk away if you said no? Would you walk away if they reduced their offer? It is a game of who gives in first. A lot of people seem to play it, although I myself do not.

The surveyors valuation has EVERYTHING to do with it.

In a cash only world you might be right, but most of us buy with at least some of the banks money.

If the valuation is below offer due to the work required, its likely the seller will face the same issue with every buyer as their mortgage may have a retention, meaning negotiations will in a lot of cases be unavoidable. if the vlaue is just lower the buyer would have to find the shortfall.

If the valuation is at offer, it means the sellers priced to condition and its the buyers who cant afford what they want (or want to knock you down).

I wouldn’t negotiate on survey until I had full disclosure of the whole report, with their surveyors consent of course. If they refuse to disclose, assume they are hiding something or trying to strong arm you.

somethingcorporate

martinsurrey wrote: »

The surveyors valuation has EVERYTHING to do with it.

In a cash only world you might be right, but most of us buy with at least some of the banks money.

If the valuation is below offer due to the work required, its likely the seller will face the same issue with every buyer as their mortgage may have a retention, meaning negotiations will in a lot of cases be unavoidable. if the vlaue is just lower the buyer would have to find the shortfall.

If the valuation is at offer, it means the sellers priced to condition and its the buyers who cant afford what they want (or want to knock you down).

I wouldn’t negotiate on survey until I had full disclosure of the whole report, with their surveyors consent of course. If they refuse to disclose, assume they are hiding something or trying to strong arm you.

Spoken like a true seller - every buyer either cannot afford your house or is trying to deceive you!

Honestly, just because the house may have been "priced" correctly doesn't mean the buyers have (or want to spend) a couple of grand on a roof problem they didn't know about.

We had this problem on a property we were buying years ago. We didn't share the survey (as the T&Cs say no-one else can rely on it) and we agreed to split the remedial cost.

Ultimately, regardless of the surveyors valuation if the buyers want the sellers to pay and withdraw if they don't then they will withdraw if a compromise cannot be reached.

martinsurrey

somethingcorporate wrote: »

Spoken like a true seller - every buyer either cannot afford your house or is trying to deceive you!

Honestly, just because the house may have been "priced" correctly doesn't mean the buyers have (or want to spend) a couple of grand on a roof problem they didn't know about.

We had this problem on a property we were buying years ago. We didn't share the survey (as the T&Cs say no-one else can rely on it) and we agreed to split the remedial cost.

Ultimately, regardless of the surveyors valuation if the buyers want the sellers to pay and withdraw if they don't then they will withdraw if a compromise cannot be reached.

Not every seller, but someone who spoon feeds information that benefits them, yes, they are one of the two IMO.

saying

"the survey says this is wrong and that is wrong and this is wrong so I want £XXX,XXX off"

without adding

"but the surveyor valued the house in its current condition to be the offer price"

is trying to deceive the seller, they are implying that the house is worthless as it requires work.

You can add "although the house may be valued at offer, I cant afford the works to be done, so will have to reduce my offer by£XXX,XXX"

and I have never sold a house, I did buy a 1880's house and stood by my offer when the valuation came back in line with offer with a list of things wrong with the house (its not a new build and issues should be expected).


Its each to their own though, if someone is trying to rely on an outside expert to negotiate, I want access to the findings, good and bad. If not I wont value thier input.

somethingcorporate

The buyer doesn't need to justify changing the offer. Whether the seller accepts the reduced offer is up to them.

It's not black and white and there are serious reasons why a survey shouldn't be shared - unless you as the seller wants to pay for it

bris

I would simply say to the buyers that the house was priced to reflect the works needing done and take it from there. You can either hold out for asking or negotiate somewhere in between. After survey is always a good excuse to try and get money off, it's up to you whether to call their bluff or not.