Help Needed regarding survey and buyer!

tattybye

Hi everyone!

So i have recently accepted and offer on my house.
It was originally up for sale for offers over £95k, i then dropped this to offers above £90k. This was due to myself moving across country to Manchester and wanting a quicker sale.

The buyer in question originally offered me £83k which i said no my lowest i will accept is £90k.
They accepted and have had the survey done etc..

Today they asked to view again with a builder to check some things over the survey came back with.
The builder has said it needs new floors throughout the downstairs, (it is quarry tiled concrete throughout).
The builder has said the middle room of the terraced property is all damp. (damp proofing was done 3 years ago).
The last thing he said was because of the damp he needs a new panel wall between the kitchen and the middle room.
(that i dont understand at all).
In total the builder quoted between £12K-£15k for the work to be done.
Therefore the buyer has asked for me to reduce the price to £80k!!!!

When i asked about the survey, it came back that the house is worth £90k and there was a small patch of damp in the front room (not the room the builder was talking about).

I've left it with the estate agent tonight to go back and say no im staying at £90k.

Has anyone any ideas on what the next step would be?
A little bit of me feels that the buyer is just trying to get the price knocked down..

1st time i've sold a house before.

Any help/advice/offerings appreciated.

G_M

Quite likely the 'builder' was a mate.

Has the builder put his quotes in writing? Have you seen this?
Did you see the original survey?

If the floor needs replacing and the middle room is damp, surely you would be aware? Well?

You have 3 choices:

* simply refuse to accept a reduced offer and see if the buyer pulls out or carries on
* drop your price to what the buyer is now offering
* negotiate some middle figure
* ask the buyer to produce independant written evidence of the claimed problems

I know which option I'd go for!

tattybye

I didnt even think of the "mate" situation. My bad..
My thoughts exactly that i would have been aware having lived there for the past 10 years. This with carrying out work whilst being there.

I havent had a written quote or copy of from the builder, nor have i seen the survey in paperform but this is something i will be sure to ask tomorow. Thank you for these tips.

ACG

I sold my house earlier this year. One of the viewers parents was a builder. He came round doing all sorts of theatrics about works that "needed doing". Of everything he mentioned, only one of the jobs I agreed with but even then, it did not "need" doing, it was just something that should probably get looked over at some point.

If the valuation has come back saying that it is worth what you have accepted with the damp, then it is worth that. Your buyer is effectively trying to get you to pay for the home improvements...

Ask the agent to put it back on the market, they will either put up or shut up.

Rambosmum

Next step is to wait and see what the buyer says.

You don't have to agree to a reduction in price if you don't want to and the buyer can just walk away.

For all you know he might just be chancing his arm and the builder might be a mate.

n217970

Is the buyer an investor by any chance?

tattybye

n217970 wrote: »

Is the buyer an investor by any


He's a 1st time buyer, lives with his parents and is buying the house for himself and his little girl to live in.
Or that's what he's told the estate agents at least.

karcher

ACG wrote: »

I sold my house earlier this year. One of the viewers parents was a builder. He came round doing all sorts of theatrics about works that "needed doing". Of everything he mentioned, only one of the jobs I agreed with but even then, it did not "need" doing, it was just something that should probably get looked over at some point.

If the valuation has come back saying that it is worth what you have accepted with the damp, then it is worth that. Your buyer is effectively trying to get you to pay for the home improvements...

Ask the agent to put it back on the market, they will either put up or shut up.

This ^^^^, with bells on.