Damp, woodworm and lower valuation- survey

Cakeguts

This house is not suitable for a first time buyer because it needs too much doing to it. It may have seemed cheap for what it is because it needs more work done to it. If a house seems cheap then that is because it has some sort of problem.

Alter_ego

Many of the require to be tested items are not requirements. eg electrics,gas, central heating.

hobbeskat

Thank you all my instinct is to walk away. Maybe first we will see it they'll negotiate and we can use some of our deposit to sort out the urgent stuff. But if not then away. It's a shame, so little comes up in our budget and this has chipped away at our deposit.

SG27

Woodworm in electric cupboards is fairly common. It builds up with condensation gets damp and the woodworm thrive. Ventilate it, dry it out and gice it a spray with off the shelf treatment will do the trick.

Looks like could be defective guttering running down the kitchen wall causing the damp there and in the hall above.

It might be worth getting an independent damp survey to find out exactly what the causes are. This will cost a couple of hundred quid.

hobbeskat

Am wondering though should we even bother with a survey like this? We don't have money to throw at it currently.

If we want to negotiate should I contact the EA directly saying the survey valued the property at less than the offer and threw up a large number of grade 3 issues including damp, roofing issues and potential structural and safety hazards?

dannim12345

A lot of work doesn’t mean it isn’t suitable for a first time buyer (we bought a house which needed everything doing) but if its been recently refurbished and not priced cheaply then you really need to think about it. Can you buy something else for the same or a little more?
L

hobbeskat

No unfortunately. The only other things we've seen have been at the top of our budget and total !!!! holes, or utterly tiny.

SG27

hobbeskat wrote: »

Am wondering though should we even bother with a survey like this? We don't have money to throw at it currently.

If we want to negotiate should I contact the EA directly saying the survey valued the property at less than the offer and threw up a large number of grade 3 issues including damp, roofing issues and potential structural and safety hazards?

Yes ring the estate agent to renegotiate. The benefit of the survey is it will give you an idea of how much you will want to knock off. Obviously you can use the lower valuation but the work migjt cost more, (or maybe less)

Good luck.

pramsay13

For our first house around 12 years ago we put in an offer, and then the survey came back with a similar list of things to yours.
We got quotations for things that needed doing and used these to negotiate a lower offer than our original one (around £10000 less).

Hoploz

Sometimes it's possible to phone the surveyor and have a chat through things. They are willing to say things they can't put in writing, give an opinion etc. might be worth a try - if he says run a mile you'll know. If he says it all seems not too serious and likely causes are XYZ then you might be reassured.

It boils down to how easily you'll find something more suitable within your budget and it sounds like you want to give this a bit more thought.

It's just when people do things up badly it can mean some things might suddenly rear their heads unexpectedly after a few months if they've been covered or mended poorly. That's why it's preferable to buy something untouched - you can see where the defects are!

Have they lived there and decorated for themselves, or do you get the impression they've bought to do up quickly and flog on?