Buyer survey report received...urgent actions, can I bargain down price

Letree

I received my survey report, and lots urgent actions are required. what I should do next... can I use it to bargain down price again ?:rolleyes: advise please.

the property is a repossessed, around 10K lower than the similar property in the market, I thought the difference can be used for internal decoration, not for repairing damp, chimney etc...looks like a hole for money.


Urgent Actions[FONT=&#23435]：[/FONT]

A . No damp proof course visible… Excessive dampness is present and at low level thought the ground floor walls internally with evidence of deteriorating and salt affected plaster… you are advised to obtain a report from specialist….

b. Chimneys: the rear chimney stack is in poor condition and section of the cement mortar flaunching and render is loose and friable and a section of the render has fallen away…. overhaul/repair chimney stack to rear projection

c. Rainwater goods: overhaul rainwater

d. Roof: Strip back and replace the roof covering the flat roof at the rear of the property

e. Fireplaces: check if building regulation approval is obtained for the removal of the chimney breasts. If not, you should obtain advise on the adequacy of the support provided.

f. Electricity: electricity test to be undertaken.


Non urgent matter.
There are number of matters, like roof and chimney ventilation, external decoration, ceilings, fencing etc.

morwenna

The mortgage company, if you are using one, may withold part of the loan until these urgent actions are done to their satisfaction. I would be worried about the fireplace removal which sounds as though it may be jeapordising (sp?) the stability of the house. Would you consider finding another house, are you prepared to pay for a full structural survey on this one?

merlinthehappypig

From the actions mentioned in the OP this already sounds like a structural survey. I'm not a builder, but had a similar sounding survey once. Cost us a lot more than £10000 and this was in 1990.....If I had known then what it was going to cost I'd have walked away.

pinkshoes

This sounds like some expensive correction work, and an awful lot of hassle! I would start by asking for another £25k off the price, not only for the cost of all the work, but also for the inconvenience of having to get all this done!

If it's a repossession, then they're not going to be in a position to pay for this themselves, so I presume anyone intersted would have to do the work themselves and negotiate a much lower price.

Doozergirl

It the perfect opportunity to renegotiate on the price. I'd get a copy of the summary to the EA and ask them to forawrd it to the mortgage company for them to look over. I think that I should think that they would be agreeable to some discoutn but £25k off would be a bit excessive - it's nowhere near that bad! £10k would leave you with change, easily.

Most of it is outside so you won't experience too much disruption inside. What kind of survey did you have? It's possible that you will need at least a degree of replastering but if you can negotiate accordingly then so what? It all needs doing eventually!

So you need half a new roof and some guttering possibly - if you have a flexible roofer, they might be able to repoint the chimney for you as well. If there are no fireplaces then you could always remove the chimney stack altogether and just roof over where it was so you would negate the need for a structural engineer's report on the chimney breast altogether.

BobProperty

I'd be interested to see how much of a problem A turns out to be after you have done b,c, and d.
Plus I'd do what Doozer was suggesting. Unless it completely ruins the look of the house, remove the rest of the chimney and roof over where it was.