Won bidding war on a reno, now received a poor structural survey. Who Should pay?

aasclarke

Thread delete.

Salemicus

The estate agent is working for the vendor, so of course he's going to make a suggestion you don't like.

But you also need to be practical. Having won a "bidding war" (your words!), it's going to be difficult to re-open negotiations - the vendor knows there's lots of interest in the property, so he has all the leverage. You. meanwhile, have already paid for the survey and incurred costs. You can ask for what you like, but don't be surprised if the vendor tells you to take a hike.

I imagine you will struggle to do much better than splitting the difference, but you never know. Good luck!

I went through something like this some time ago; a survey indicated 30k of repairs needed for subsidence, the vendor wouldn't budge an inch on price, the deal ended up collapsing.

G_M

Who should pay? Whoever has the poorer negotiating skills and/or weaker position.

How keen are you to buy this property? How disapointed would you be to lose it?
How many other potential buyers does the seller have?

societys_child

In his final report he indicated an approximate total of £10k for repairs

10K may be correct, but I often wonder where some surveyors get their figures from.
Seen it many times where the work required was done for far less then the surveyors estimate.

ST1991

If it's recently had a new roof which now needs repair, shouldn't the vendor go back to the roofer and get it fixed? (i certainly was if it was my house, regardless of if i was selling or not...)

I would ask for further clarification of what his actual concerns are regarding the roof, before moving forward.

ssparks2003

The surveyor will tell you that lots of things need to be done, it is your job to understand what the reality of the facts are. When we brought a house about 10 years ago the report noted that the whole roof need replacing as a matter of priority, never bothered and you know what: the roof still works fine, moral of the story is how realistic are the identified problems and what is your appetite for risk?

aasclarke

Thanks for all the replies. In addition, I forgot to mention the vendor is a builder himself and has built the roof using "inadequate materials" (butyl and sharp stone - according to the surveyor), not sealed the edges or pinned them down. He has also removed the outside portion of the window sills and reattached them, leaving large gaps that will in future let water through. I would understand better if this was an older house with work that needs doing because of its age, but because the owner himself has done such a poor job in the last couple months I feel somewhat deceived.
My thoughts are, I am the highest bidder, 10k of work needs done, legally the vendor has to state the work needed to any future potential buyers, is he likely going to find anyone willing to pay £28k over the asking? That should put me in a more powerful negotiating position, right?

Other interesting facts about this nightmare are:
1. there was a brand new fridge included in the listing worth (£1400) when we made our bid. But since then they have said they arent leaving it. (we havent bothered fighting this as the roof is priority)
2. despite repeated requests for building control certificates, we have received none - somewhat worrying but as a builder he should know you cant sell a house without these

ST1991

Regarding the fridge, i don't think that until you have the fitting&fixture forms that nothing 'agreed' to be left is official. I also wouldn't buy a house just because of the fridge (IMO)

If the builder has bodged the roof, i wouldn't go near the house. Who knows what else has been done sub-par.

ComicGeek

The roof is an easy one to spot for the surveyor, but what about all the other possible problems hidden away? If the 'builder' has done a poor job with the roof, then very likely to have cut corners elsewhere. Electrics, plumbing etc.

If there are limited alternatives I would investigate further over the next couple of weeks and see if the relevant completion certificates are available, and get my own electrician and plumber in to survey as well as getting an actual cost for the roof from a reputable roofing company - all with the knowledge that I would pull out if there's more problems. If there are alternatives to this house, then I don't think I would even bother with this, I would just walk away.

Freecall

aasclarke wrote: »

I have recently won a bidding war

aasclarke wrote: »

Other interesting facts about this nightmare....

So you have 'won' a 'nightmare'.

Why not just walk away.

HouseBuyer77

I forgot to mention the vendor is a builder himself and has built the roof using "inadequate materials" (butyl and sharp stone - according to the surveyor), not sealed the edges or pinned them down. He has also removed the outside portion of the window sills and reattached them, leaving large gaps that will in future let water through. I would understand better if this was an older house with work that needs doing because of its age, but because the owner himself has done such a poor job in the last couple months I feel somewhat deceived.

I'd agree with Freecall here. The developer is in the trade and has apparently done a poor job on a key part of the renovation, why trust the rest of it has been done well? I'd seriously consider walking away.