Like this house, but its been underpinned...

Chanes

I understand your worry but 35 years and no problems? Seems to indicate the fix worked. It wouldn't put me off if a detailed survey was fine and the insurance wasn't troubled by it.

What if you bought a house and started to subside how ironic would that be? Just saying.

DigForVictory

My father wouldn't back my mortgage application without a full structural survey. He was right - one glorious house had grievous damp issues (let alone access - blimey, never let just your heart pick a house!) whereas the current abode is Listed but we knew it would have expensive quirks from day one.

The family home was underpinned in the Great Drought 1976, and despite provocation, hasn't budged a millimetre since. In it's own sweet way, the underpinning is reassuring, not a cause for concern.

JimmyTheWig

I think there's two questions to answer here.

1. Should the previous underpinning be causing the OP concern?
2. When the OP comes to sell, might the previous underpinning cause potential buyers concern?

I think we're agreed on point 1 that it isn't an issue as long as a full survey says all is well.
I think the OP has answered opint 2 themselves. It _has_ caused them concern. Then it will, no doubt, cause some future potential buyers concern. Which might affect its resale value.

On this basis, OP, I suggest knocking 1% off your offer and if they agree go for the full survey.

gibson1

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

I think there's two questions to answer here.

1. Should the previous underpinning be causing the OP concern?
2. When the OP comes to sell, might the previous underpinning cause potential buyers concern?

I think we're agreed on point 1 that it isn't an issue as long as a full survey says all is well.
I think the OP has answered opint 2 themselves. It _has_ caused them concern. Then it will, no doubt, cause some future potential buyers concern. Which might affect its resale value.

On this basis, OP, I suggest knocking 1% off your offer and if they agree go for the full survey.

That's good advice. The survey might say my potential home is more secure than the rest on the street due to the underpinning, or he could warn that there will be trouble ahead.

And I do have to consider the fact that some buyers in future will be put off by the underpinning. That might be unfounded but it is something in the mix, and that can't be overlooked. So yes, a reduction of 1% would be a good suggestion before the full survey.

The agent has since got back to me and said there's been no more issues in the last 35 years, he'll try and get a copy of the report from the vendor. Now I understand that the report might be irrelevant to the present, but it also might give me an idea.

Anyway the vendor now wants more money, the agent said something about his offer getting turned down on the house he's interested in. He'll show me his survey if I raise my offer.

Bit of back and forth here, I'm going to walk away for the second time and look at a couple of other properties that have caught my eye.

Thanks for the advice all.

Davesnave

So, now the seller wants more money and you want another 1% off, so with both of you testing each other, I think what I predicted earlier will come to pass.

gibson1

Davesnave wrote: »

So, now the seller wants more money and you want another 1% off, so with both of you testing each other, I think what I predicted earlier will come to pass.

No, I stood firm with my initial offer. And there are often readjustments in price after the initial offer has been accepted, depending on the condition of the house. Perhaps you'd prefer it if I just turned up at his doorstep, and gave him the money cash in hand.

Davesnave

Yes, there are often adjustments, based on whatever a survey might find, but you want more money off before the survey, having already negotiated a 12% reduction, which is tricky.

The situation is the vendor's fault, as they entered into negotiations without informing you about the underpinning, which was a material fact you should have known.

It's all about trust.

But that may be irrelevant, because this vendor now claims they're in a position where they need more money to sell and move on. It might be true, or they may have had second thoughts about the negotiated price. Who knows? A few weeks ago sentiment after Brexit was somewhat different from the way it is now.

From where I am, it looks as if you and the vendor are moving further apart, not closer together, but I honestly don't think getting an extra small amount off to cover a more expensive survey is an answer.

You have to ask yourself "Is this property still what I want at a price I'm willing to pay?" That's all, because further negotiation before a survey looks unlikely.

For what it's worth, my daughter negotiated on an underpinned house 3 years ago. It took six months of offers and counter-offers. In the end, she and the vendor met half way over money, at about a 10% reduction on the typical price for the area, also 'special.' She's not regretted what she did.

gibson1

In case anyone is interested, the property in question was going to sold to another buyer, who'd made a higher offer than me. The buyer then pulled out once he'd found out the house had been underpinned.

If I buy and then decide to sell this property, that is the difficulty I will face when selling.

Doozergirl

gibson1 wrote: »

In case anyone is interested, the property in question was going to sold to another buyer, who'd made a higher offer than me. The buyer then pulled out once he'd found out the house had been underpinned.

If I buy and then decide to sell this property, that is the difficulty I will face when selling.

One in three 'sales' collapse.

There are plenty of examples on this board of people not understanding what they are buying. People are even frightened off by really quite good surveys or hist a mention of checking some details because they don't understand that surveys are where investigations are recommended, not that they end.

Most people don't offer on most houses because of one thing or another.

There's always a compromise of some description and everything sells at the right price. The right price is different for different people.

eddddy

gibson1 wrote: »

In case anyone is interested, the property in question was going to sold to another buyer, who'd made a higher offer than me. The buyer then pulled out once he'd found out the house had been underpinned.

If I buy and then decide to sell this property, that is the difficulty I will face when selling.

This house has a small 'blot' on its history - so perhaps you should expect to pay slightly less for it, and sell it for slightly less.

(Perhaps it's the same with houses that have 'planning irregularities' or 'building regs irregularities' in their history.)

Some buyers will run a mile, others will think "Wow, this property is good value - because of something that's not really relevant that happened 35 years ago".

I guess different buyers have different priorities.