Offer And Surveys

mimi1234

Hi all,

The offer I put on a property has been sort of accepted. A sibling is moving with me and we have enough money for a cash purchase so there is no need for a mortgage now. Mother is umming and aahing, she can move if she wants to but she doesn't have to, it's her choice.

The offer I put forward has been accepted but not completely on my terms. I said "I offer you £xxx subject to a survey".

He has said I accept the offer but I have lived here for numerous years and you won't find any damage whatsoever to this property, structurally or otherwise. I tried to reason with him but he said he won't budge on the price and the amount I offered is the final amount.

Do I just get the survey done and hope for the best? You must forgive me as I have never purchased a house before and it's quite daunting. I have been reading online and I have been looking through a few books but I was just wondering if anyone has any first hand experience.

If the survey reveals no problems, it's all good. But say I get the survey done and they say there are problems and they might cost £3K for example, do I have to foot them if the seller has said no?

Also, to throw a spanner in the works. A house I viewed towards the end of last year has been significantly dropped because the person living there has moved. The EA called me this week and told because they want a quick sale, they have dropped it by over £20K. That house is a lot bigger but needs a lot more work done. However, with the price I am paying for this one the other one could be completely revamped and done up and made quite nice.

I am going to go sit on a park bench and think this through properly. I think I am quite happy with the current one I have put an offer on. I would quite like your thoughts about the offer and survey though.

Thanks guys. I appreciate it.

dc197

If the survey suggests work is needed then that is your basis for negotation. If the seller refuses to budge then accept his price and buy or quit the sale. If you buy at his price you can then choose to have the works done or not. Not many other options.

G_M

All offers are conditional. Nothing is binding until you exchange contracts.

So any discussion about the 'conditionality' of the offer is irrelevant, time-wasting, and creating bad feeling for no reason.

Do your survey. If a problem arises, you can then either
1) reduce your offer
2) buy at original price anyway
3) walk away

If the seller won't negotiate at that point, then you only have options 2) & 3).

mimi1234

I see. That makes sense. I didn't understand it worked like that. Seen as he is absolutely desperate to sell, I see he will probably cave in and reduce the price a bit if there is work that needs doing.

I've got a list of surveyors so I am going to see who is around next week and get this done whilst I'm all excited. Wish me luck.

Thanks for your help.

Hoploz

But do bear in mind the purpose of a survey is information so the potential future owner has knowledge about the condition up front, in order to highlight anything really major, and alert you to the many maintenance jobs which every homeowner should address as a matter of course. (And obviously the lender when there is one)

The purpose of a survey is not to enable you to screw the vendor for everything he's got - if he's done a reasonable job of maintaining the building why should he pay for things he has never had cause to notice, and won't get any benefit from?

While I understand your mentioning it being 'subject to survey' at offer stage, as you now know, this isn't really necessary. If you push this point you may seem to the seller as if you are intending on getting a discount one way or another further down the line, which would make me rather nervous, especially as you are a cash buyer who could change their mind at any time. This is not what you are meaning, but this is the way it could be interpreted.

G_M

and out of interest, why did you not also specify 'subject to searches'? And 'subject to Title'?

Your solicitor, if you use one, may find all sorts of issues with the ownership of the land/property which might put you off, or reduce the value of the property.........

kinger101

All others have said, all offers are subject to the due diligence that's done before exchange (surveys, title, environmental search). You're unlikely to be in a negotiating position on anything which is obvious to the lay person from a visual inspection. So if you seen an old fuse board, don't be expecting to knock the price if a rewire off.

Personally, given the vendor's attitude thus far, I'd be going for a full structural survey and not commence legal work until the results are satisfactory.

AdrianC

There are two possible reasons for his attitude.

1 - he's trying to be genuinely helpful and save you several hundred quid in fees on something he genuinely doesn't think necessary.
2 - he's hoping like hell you won't notice something deeply, expensively unpleasant...

mimi1234

Thanks for all your responses.

I am going to have to look up searches and titles as well. I've never come across titles before.

I've decided to have the survey done. If things need doing up and he does not budge on the price, I will deal with it then. Most likely walk away from it but we shall see.

Had another chat with the seller today. He told me he wanted an answer straight away because he needs to let the person who is intending to buy from know within 3 weeks. I told him I would not go anywhere near a solicitor without the survey done. I understand he needs to speed things up but I am not going further without a survey. Don't get me wrong, I am not having it done because I want a discount, hell no, I just want it to go well as it is will be my first house and I don't want to make some stupid mistake.

Can I just ask do I have to be present when the survey is done or is it something they just go and do themselves and then forward the report on?

kinger101

You don't need to be present. They get the keys from the EA or vendor. Is the seller not using an EA? It's better to chat with them. They might put the vendor straight if they start being unreasonable. Almost anyone buying is going to want a survey, so he's being very silly.

I wouldn't have mentioned directly to the vendor about not appointing a solicitor yet. The point was to stall expenses which may not be necessary if you walk away. Not annoy the vendor. You can appoint one and ask them to do nothing if needed.

The searches etc are done by the solicitor.

G_M

AdrianC wrote: »

There are two possible reasons for his attitude.

1 - he's trying to be genuinely helpful and save you several hundred quid in fees on something he genuinely doesn't think necessary.
2 - he's hoping like hell you won't notice something deeply, expensively unpleasant...

3 - he simply wants the agreed price (perhaps needs it for his onward move?) and is warning you that there'll be no negotiation later
4 - he knows that most surveys are full of caveats, and often highlight insignificant issues that cause FTBs to panic, but is confidant there are no significant issues