Price negotiations following surveys

Lemoncurd

I expect it's quite common for a survey to throw up some issues but how many people have used it to try and further negotiate on their purchase price? how successful have you been?

The survey on the house we offered on a month ago highlighted lots of areas where things needed repair or further investigation. There was only one piece of unexpected work which it regarded as essential and urgent for mortgage valuation purposes, most of the other points we had noticed and allowed for in our offer. We got some quotes and they came back at around £600 so we didn't think it was worth trying to negotiate over this amount.
It also strongly recommended that we had an electrical inspection which we did and they found a lot of dangerous faults and things which needed urgent attention. Their initial recommendation has been to get the entire electrical installation replaced which could cost as much as £5000+vat. We'd already noticed a number of possible electrical issues ourselves but had only allowed just over £1000 to sort these out in our budget.

What do people tend to do if you try and negotiate at this stage? go in and try and convince the vendor to cover the costs of any unexpected essential works? offer to meet them halfway?

I realise that they can just turn around and refuse to move on the price or sell to us but to be honest it would really bother us to walk away, we don't have to move or anything. I've tried to avoid mentioning personal circumstances in previous negotiations as I felt it was irrelevant but we're expecting a baby in a few months time and will be on a single income for a year so don't really want to spend an extra £6500 we hadn't budgeted for. However we wouldn't want to ignore the recommendations even if some of the work isn't essential.

ahll

Hi,
When I had a survey done the report contain the amount they valued the property at. This value took into account any money that would need spending on faults etc. In my case the value was 5000 below the price I had offered and had been accepted. I showed the report to the estate agents so they could pass it onto the vendors saying this was now my offer and why. The vendor accepted my offer so taking 5000 less than we had initailly agreed. So I bought the house and live there.

When I buy a house I make it clear that the amount I have offered is subject to the survey results. I think if the house obviously needs some attantion then the vendors will expect you to come back with a revised offer when you get the survey results.

If you have figures to back up your reasons for asking a reduction in price then they should consider them. If you ask for the whole amount off they can always say no and negotiate. However if you dont ask for the full amount then the vendor is unlikely to come back to you and offer to take off the whole amount. Nothing venture nothing gained. Good luck

dwarfer01

When our survey came through it highlighted some areas of concern and we could not get a market value as a result. Having known the area and for other reasons we decided to go ahead with the purchase but negotiate on the sale price. We got 1k off but that was all, it was worth it but i think it depends on the seller, the market, how much they want to move etc.

Debt_Free_Chick

You also have to consider whether the vendor has already factored the state of property into the asking price.

There is no "price" for a property - only what you, or another buyer, is prepared to pay. The Estate Agents valuations and the asking price are just guides, to invite offers.

DiveLeader_2

We're just buying a house, completing on Friday. It's an old terraced house, so it wasn't a surprise when the survey found damp, and electrical problems. Having had a damp survey and electrical survey we asked for the full amount off the purchase price. The vendors agreed straight away. It was "only" £1500 though. As others have said - try. If you don't ask you won't get. If you ask for less than the full cost you certainly won't get the full cost.

Lemoncurd

Thanks everyone! It sounds like you have been quite sucessful when you've had this happen.
For some reason I thought that at this stage in the process negotiations were normally done through the solicitors but ours says that we should go through the estate agent. Does that sound standard?

Still haven't decided how to approach it but will send copies of the reports and explain why we feel justified in asking for a reduction.
We were told by the estate agent that they "couldn't afford" to sell for any less so this probably won't go down very well and we actually had three offers refused on this house before agreeing a price so I'm hoping we haven't set a precedent for ourselves.

DiveLeader_2

We contacted the estate agents after the survey, to discuss the matter. The vendors indicated they were willing to negotiate. The estate agent recommended we got the quotes for work to be done, so they were independent. We then asked for the total off. I faxed a copy of the survey through to the estate agents, and I think the damp report and electrical survey.


Never assume you're in a worse negotiating position than the person you're negotiating with. They've come this far too, they will have appointed solicitors. It will be easier for them to negotiate than put it back on the market, and of course if you're asknig for a price reduction because of survey results, then the next purchasor will come to the same point and get the same results.

The absolute worst case is the vendors refuse to budge on price, in which case you'll have to consider you're position - you can always proceed anyway if you choose.