Renegotiating after survey / mortgage offer with tight deadline

poorcopies

Hi just after some advice please!

We put in a full asking price offer on a property, subject to survey which was accepted.

Our mortgage offer came back ok and the property was valued at asking price. We also instructed a homebuyer survey and this was came back at the property being at the asking price 'or thereabouts'.

However, the survey has highlighted a few things on there which we believe will need addressing immediately (listed in red). The house was built almost 100 years ago so we aren't expecting the vendor to put every last thing right, but we would expect something off the price so we can complete these works asap, (as some of them pose a safety hazzard) considering we offered the full price to begin with.

But, and this is the big but, the vendor needs to complete before the end of the month due to the next stamp duty laws coming into play so has been pushing this forward. We are about ready to exchange and obviously if we try to renegotiate now via estate agents etc it will pretty much kill us being able to complete before the end of the month. We have been in contact with the seller personally, as we have all been pushing to arrange completion.

Where would we stand if we agreed a sum privately to complete the works outside of the sale, as I don't think the vendor will have time to do the work before the end of the month? Is this even legal? Is it advisable? If the vendor won't meet us half way then we would probably withdraw, as our buyers are FTB's in rented and are ok for a few months, so we wouldn't lose them if we needed to withdraw?

Thanks, sorry for the essay!

betmunch

You've offered full asking subject to survey and then two independent surveys have confirmed the price is fair, now you want to knock some money off?


That's a bit harsh isn't it?


If you do want to go for it then I would suggest that you make a list of reasons and what work needs doing, how much it will cost and then have the price reduced. Then have the mortgage amended accordingly


If you try and have it agreed outside the contract then he could just agree it then not do it.

dc197

poorcopies wrote: »

I don't think the vendor will have time to do the work before the end of the month

It's safer for you and faster for all if you don't ask the vendor to do the work for you. One, they'll do it as cheaply as possible, and it may not be up to your satisfaction. Two, waiting to do the work could slow things.
Better to negotiate a price reduction and then you pay for the work yourself later.

If I were the buyer or the vendor I would not want to make any arrangements outside of the agreed sale transaction, compared to asking for a price reduction. One, it sounds like a PITA, but two the seller would pay more estate agent fees and the buyer will pay more stamp duty compared to just reducing the price.

A negotiation for a reduction should not take more than a couple of hours in phone calls via the EA, or even more quickly if you are in direct contact with the seller. Agree a new price and tell the EA and the lawyers.
The slower part will probably be issuing new contracts via lawyers.

poorcopies

I don't think so - some of the things we are asking for the surveyors have mentioned we should do before exchange ie, there are no building regs for a knockthrough, we would have to pay for the inspector to come out and plasterwork would need to come off etc,) like I said, I don't expect every last thing to be paid for.

dc197

You might be able to ignore the lack of building regulations. If the work was done more than X time ago, the house may be immune from action due to lack of certification. Beside, if the work was done more than X time ago and the structural surveyor is happy that the house is sound, does a bit of paper mean more to you than the soundness of the house?

poorcopies

dc197 wrote: »

The slower part will probably be issuing new contracts via lawyers.

This is what I am worried might then hold it up - our mortgage advisor said we would need to go in again and then they would need to re-issue the offer before the contracts could be re-issued. Realistically that might mean we can't complete before the end of the month.

marksoton

poorcopies wrote: »

This is what I am worried might then hold it up - our mortgage advisor said we would need to go in again and then they would need to re-issue the offer before the contracts could be re-issued. Realistically that might mean we can't complete before the end of the month.

Then any informal agreement is pretty much dead in the water anyway.

dc197

Speak to your lawyer and have the vendor speak to theirs, to check turnaround times. Then decide whether the risk of delay is worth the reduction in price.

poorcopies

dc197 wrote: »

You might be able to ignore the lack of building regulations. If the work was done more than X time ago, the house may be immune from action due to lack of certification. Beside, if the work was done more than X time ago and the structural surveyor is happy that the house is sound, does a bit of paper mean more to you than the soundness of the house?

We are happy it is sound as well, but they flagged as we should see it before exchanging, so they are giving us conflicting advice there!

eddddy

Maybe tread a little carefully. The seller/EA will probably ask you what the valuation figure is - and the valuation says the property is worth what you're paying in it's current condition.

So the seller and/or EA may think you're playing dirty... waiting until a few days before exchange (with a tight completion deadline) and then trying to renegotiate the deal.

If you don't handle this well, things could get very heated.

csgohan4

Sounds like gazundering to me. Careful the vendor doesn't pull the plug altogether