House sale fallen through on survey - advice

The_Lornz

Hi,
We are in the process of trying to sell our house, had accepted an offer and survey was done following which the buyers have withdrawn. Not a total surprise as the buyers had done this with another house they had tried to buy, so presumably they enjoy spending a lot of money on surveyors!!! They refused to give our estate agent any reasons for pulling out but our estate agent managed to get some info from the surveyor. Apparently they found:
problems with damp (not surprising as is a 100 year old end terraced house)
electrics need a new fuse board/rewiriring
roof needs an extra layer of tiling or something to be up to current regulations
Are we best to try and sort some of these things out ourselves as they are probably likely to be found on future surveys or just leave it and negotiate further on price then??

Any advice much appreciated, I am hating the whole sale process already and it only went on the market about 2 weeks ago!!

breaking_free

The_Lornz wrote: »

Hi,
We are in the process of trying to sell our house, had accepted an offer and survey was done following which the buyers have withdrawn. Not a total surprise as the buyers had done this with another house they had tried to buy, so presumably they enjoy spending a lot of money on surveyors!!!

Seriously you believe that? In my opinion they're astute buyers.

If you want your sale to fall through multiple times when each successive person gets surveys done and baulks, then go right ahead and ignore the problems.

OR

You could thank your lucky stars that somebody else has paid to uncover the problems in your home that are a turn-off to buyers.

Knowledge is power: you now know exactly what things are going to put buyers off so in your shoes I'd spend some money to get those things fixed.

pinkteapot

The damp would put me off. It's not normal, even if a house is 100 years old! Damp problems make buyers very nervous - they can be minor or complex and in some cases very difficult and expensive to repair.

Our house could probably do with a new fuse-board and rewire but everything works and is safe. They recommend rewiring so frequently these days that lots of surveys probably say this.

The roof thing I'd check out - is it saying that insulation is poor, or are there leaks? If it's just that the tiles don't meet current regs, but they work (and keep rain out), this may not be a worry.

G_M

I disagree with breaking-free.

You need to assess whether these issues are genuine. If they are, then either accep you may need to agree a reduced price to reflect, or fix.

But the reason for buyer withdrawing may be completely different. And/or they may have been scared by poor wording on the survey.

problems with damp (not surprising as is a 100 year old end terraced house)

IS the property damp? Does it smell? Is wallpaper peeling off? Yes? Identify the cause of the damp and get it fixed.

Or is there actually no sign of damp other than a reading on an unreliable surveyor's "damp meter" that is designed for wood and measures electric current, not damp!

electrics need a new fuse board/rewiriring

DOES the property need rewiring? Is it dangerous? Very few properties in the UK "meet current Building Regulations requirements" (the requirements change regularly) and most surveys say this, to cover the surveyor - and panic the buyer.

If the fuse box is genuinely from the 1950/60s and the wiring is rubber-coated, then yes, it's a danger and will need a re-wire. If it is 10 years old, not the most up-to-date consumer unit, then this is a nonsense.

roof needs an extra layer of tiling or something to be up to current regulations

Yes. I've often seen houses with two layers of tiles, one on top of the other! What is this rubbish? Or do you mean the roof felt is missing (under the tiles in the loft)? Quite common in older properties. As long as water is not penetrating into the attic, what's the problem?

mustang121

If you want to sell your house without fixing your current problems then you will need to reduce your asking price to follow suit.


Would you pay the full asking price of a car / house that had problems?

Rollinghills

We pulled out of a purchase after survey showed damp and seller didn't want to renegotiate. It was also about a 100 year old property and we were very nervous - what is the source of the water? how badly is the wall damaged? Does the house need re-roofing? The cost of additional investigations are too high for a buyer who may not be buying in the end.

However the house sold for the same price we were paying a few months later. Maybe the buyer didn't do a survey or they thought it was worth it anyway. A year on they've had to take all of the render off one side of the house, have had a scaffold up for at least 6 months, not sure if they had to do anything inside or to the roof as we don't know them but we pass by the house.

The_Lornz

Thanks for your comments.

We do have a bit of a problem with condensation as there is not a lot of ventilation in the house & cooking and drying clothes etc doesn't help particularly in the winter. So we have a dehumidifier which helps a lot. No other major signs of other types of damp to my knowledge.
The electrics are safe as far as I know and we haven't had any problems with them but they probably could do with updating (we have been there 10 years and haven't done anything with them and not sure whether the previous owners did).
Again we have had no problems with the roof but obviously building regulations have changed quite a lot since it was orginally built!!

Obviously if we did nothing we would have to be prepared to take a hit on the asking price & I guess that is my question really as to whether people tend to leave it in the knowlege future surveys will bring up the same issues and reduce the price then or fix them ourselves. I have never sold a house before hence my asking others opinions.

G_M

Your options are

* reduce your asking price to reflect the condition of the house - then don't negotiate further (unless you have to!)

* keep asking price at level of a similar property in good condition, and be prepared to negotiate when the buyer finds problems

* fix the issues, then sell at a price reflectig the improved condition

If the damp is purley a condensation issue, then stop creating condensation and allow the property to dry out!

* Stop drying clothes indoors (use garden; take them to laundrette or friend with a dryer; wash them at your mum's) till property is sold
* minimise cooking steam. Always cover saucepans with lids. Install a cheap extractor fan in kitchen. Bake, grill or stir-fry instad of boiling.
* minimise steam when showering/washing. Use water at slightly lower temperature, extractor fan in bathroom, wash faster to reduce steam

Make some changes to lifestyle and your house will sell!

breaking_free

GMs advice is excellent. Take your choice of the options provided.

In my humble opinion I'd hold off spending major money when you're selling and instead drop the price to reflect the problems a potential buyer will find with a survey.

A lower price will bring more viewers round: one of them is likely to go "Well yeah it needs money spent on it, but that's why it's priced low."

Good luck.

TrixA

A lot of damp issues picked up on regular surveys are fictitious - they will say they found signs of potential damp but recommend a specialist damp survey to verify. Many buyers are reluctant to fork out for this additional survey. If you think it's nothing more serious than condensation you could consider commissioning an independent damp survey yourself - it will cost a few hundred pounds (don't fall for a free survey from someone who's trying to sell you a remedial solution). If the survey shows up nothing too serious you can offer to show it to future buyers. If the survey does show up an actual damp problem you'd have to either fix it or disclose it to potential buyers.

Hoploz

I totally agree with GM, but I would think if you reduce the initial asking price to reflect the work (which may or may not be) required, people will still want to get the money off the new AP anyway, so personally I would be reluctant to do that.

Definitely stop causing the condensation. The word damp is what scares people. If that's the cause of some damp the surveyor spotted then it is very easy to resolve.

Anyone buying a house of this age needs to realise there will inevitably be a few things not up to scratch. That is part of the deal. I just wish people would realise this. If you want something all new then this does not usually come with the character traits of older properties.

'Character' and 'some problems you either need to live with or fix up' go hand in hand.

It's no good asking someone who has lived perfectly happily in a house for years to carry out repairs which have caused them no problems all the while they've lived there. I hate all this survey/negotiation malarkey.