Home Buyer Report Questions please

missmilly

Our purchasers have just received their Home Buyers Report on our property and are concerned about a few things. Obviously I am now worried they will pull out of the purchase.

The have given us a full copy of the report and the valuation is the same as the agreed selling price.

These items have been given a Red 3 condition:

Fireplaces, Chimney Breasts and Flues - the stove should be checked by a HEATUS engineer before use.
(It was installed in Jan 2011 and we have a Certificate of Compliance?)

Electricity - A qualified Electrician should check the whole of the installation (including the shed) and where necessary upgrade it

Oil - Oil appliances should be tested by an OFTEC approved Engineer, for safety reasons. Metal Oil Tank to be inspected as this type of tank has a limited life.

Please ask the owner to demonstrate how the heating system works before exchanging contracts.

Drainage - There is a large willow tree in the adjoining property, in view of this we strongly recommend that all of the underground pipes are checked with a CCTV camera before exchange, and where necessary remedial costs are costed

Any advice on where we should go from here, please. The property is detached and was built in 1950. We obviously don't want to risk losing our Buyer who was a long time coming.

Daerve

Seems like not much to worry about at all to be honest. The surveyor hasn't actually found anything wrong, they are simply covering themselves.

I'd stop worrying and wait until you hear from your buyers before doing anything.

They may want inspections done, the cost of which is paid and by whom is of course negotiable. They may want a reduction in price to cover the cost of inspections when moved in. They may not want anything doing at all and be happy to proceed as is.

Don't blink and wait for them to make the first move.

missmilly

Thanks Daerve for you quick reply, I totally agree about the surveyor covering themselves and I am trying not to stress about it but....

Our EA has told us the the Buyer wants inspections carried out on all of the points raised, however I am still awaiting an email from her to clarify exactly what they want.

I do question the validity of the report somewhat for example the suveyor says we have a shared drive, we don't! He said he was unable to inspect the loft areas due to stored items, the loft areas are empty apart from the insulation. He also said the property would have had a septic tank originally, not true and there is no evidence to support this.

I'll wait for the email to see what is actually required by our buyers.

And breathe.......

HouseBuyer77

The extra reports suggested are entirely normal and unsurprising (the surveyor is simply saying they don't have expertise in these areas, another specialist is required to give a detailed report). Basic research would have told them they would need to get these seperately and so should have formed part of their budget when offering. I'd say it's up to the buyer to pay for and arrange the reports they want (much as it's up to them to pay for and arrange for the surveyor).

They might have an argument about the drainage report as you could say it requires an expert eye to realise there's a potential problem so it's a new thing they could not have known from viewing and based their offer upon.