Conveyancing and surveys

firsttimebuyer2017

Hi,

Just a very quick question regarding conveyancing and the solicitor. Our survey was completed some time back now and when it arrived l sent a copy to our solicitor. He did not acknowledge it and when the issue of the heating being graded 3 was raised on the telephone he said l would have to sort that out with the agent. There were also several aspects graded 2.

What level of guidance would a solicitor normally provide following receipt of the homebuyers report?

Thanks in advance.

DumbMuscle

The solicitor is there to sort out the legal aspects. Unless the surveyor has highlighted areas where building control/planning permission would be required, the survey is irrelevant to the solicitor's job. You are free to negotiate with the seller based on the survey results.

What was the actual issue with the heating or the other aspects? A grade of 3 could be "this is visibly damaged and on fire", or it could be "I cannot advise on this aspect as I am not a gas engineer, and so you would need to get someone else in to look if you want advice here". The former is worth worrying about, the latter is just the surveyor covering themselves.

What has the surveyor valued the property as? If the valuation is the same as the asking price, then they consider it to be worth that price after taking into account the issues raised.

Surrey_EA

It varies.

There may well be advisory notes in the survey for the solicitor to confirm that any extensions/alterations/improvements have the relevant permissions and documentation.

However, your solicitor is not a qualified surveyor, and is very unlikely to have seen the property.

Your solicitor is there to advise on the legal aspects, your surveyor is there to advise on the condition of the building itself.

firsttimebuyer2017

Thanks for clarifying. The survey reported the boiler as nearing the end of its life. The grade 2 were for issues such as loose roof slates and minor damp.

The surveyor report did say that the issues may affect the final offer so l had assumed the areas identified would warrant a possible adjustment in our offer. The valuation did match our offer.

G_M

firsttimebuyer2017 wrote: »

Thanks for clarifying. The survey reported the boiler as nearing the end of its life. The grade 2 were for issues such as loose roof slates and minor damp.
All these matters are of interest to you. They are not in any way of interest to your solicitor.

If you wish to take action based on these isues (renegotiate price? send in a gas ngineer for a full boiler inspection? get a roofer to quote for loose slates? etc) then go ahead!

The surveyor report did say that the issues may affect the final offer so l had assumed the areas identified would warrant a possible adjustment in our offer. The valuation did match our offer.

Then renegotiate your offer. The seller might or might not agree.

If/when a new price is agreed then inform your solicitor of the new price so he can approve the amended contract.

shortcrust

firsttimebuyer2017 wrote: »

Thanks for clarifying. The survey reported the boiler as nearing the end of its life. The grade 2 were for issues such as loose roof slates and minor damp.

The surveyor report did say that the issues may affect the final offer so l had assumed the areas identified would warrant a possible adjustment in our offer. The valuation did match our offer.

If I were selling those would probably fall into the 'you knew that when you made your offer category'.

AlexMac

Those are such common (indeed, trivial) faults with any older building, that the vendor may feel you are being picky; or that they priced it to take account of the fact it's not a new build.

It's up to you, rather than your solicitor, to decide whether to negotiate on price, and how big a discount you expect, and if you do, for you to put your suggestion to the owner, via the agent, although you could do it via your solicitor.

It would help to have builders' estimates for the tiles and damp; these could be for a couple of hundred quid to a couple of £k depending on wheter the damp is just condensation or penetration from leaky gutters, etc, or "rising damp" caused by a failed DPC requiring internal plaster to be stripped back to the brick, re-rendered and renewed?

The boiler is trickier; all boilers eventaully fail- I've replace one in every house I've ever owned- about six in the past 10 years, at a cost of £1.3k to £3k for an upmarket job to renew both boiler and a big cylinder. So the vendor may just say- "its working now; if it ain't broke, don't fix it". I assume your solicitor has asked the standard Qs about whether it's been serviced or is subject to a maintenance agreement?

But no harm in trying for a bit off the price; depends how hard-nosed you are as a negotiator! Good luck

Lauralou79

We never involved the solicitor with our private survey. It picked up a few things nothing major but it's an old house, but valued at pretty much what we were paying. Didn't think we needed to renegotiate the price as they had already chose our over as a FTB over slightly higher ones.

firsttimebuyer2017

Hi everyone,

This has helped a lot in focusing with the agent / vendor. I've put the case for s reduced offer to cover the boiler. See what comes back and then l can update the solicitor on any price adjustments.

jiggy2

shortcrust wrote: »

If I were selling those would probably fall into the 'you knew that when you made your offer category'.

What would your view be on:


The roof slopes to the front and left side and ground floor roofs are covered with an older tile. Many are loose, slipping or broken. I am of the opinion that the roof covering to the front and side and ground floor is approaching a time where it will be more cost effective to replace the whole covering than make many small repairs.


(this is from a recent survey done on a property we are interested in). It is sort of similar to the boiler needing replacing in the OP's case. As a buyer would you renegotiate? As a seller would you say this is just wear and tear?


Thanks

Guest101

jiggy2 wrote: »

What would your view be on:


The roof slopes to the front and left side and ground floor roofs are covered with an older tile. Many are loose, slipping or broken. I am of the opinion that the roof covering to the front and side and ground floor is approaching a time where it will be more cost effective to replace the whole covering than make many small repairs.


(this is from a recent survey done on a property we are interested in). It is sort of similar to the boiler needing replacing in the OP's case. As a buyer would you renegotiate? As a seller would you say this is just wear and tear?


Thanks

Neither, I'd ask a roofing company to take a look.