Buying Advice/Vendor Issues

AdrianC

jezzer_72 wrote: »

Is that notwithstanding the paragraph that recommended re-negotiating on the basis of the cost of the repair?

I suspect you're missing a nuance - probably an implicit "If it's a lot more expensive than assumed in this survey"


What's the exact, full wording?

jezzer_72

AdrianC wrote: »

I suspect you're missing a nuance - probably an implicit "If it's a lot more expensive than assumed in this survey"


What's the exact, full wording?

You should investigate the cost of these works prior to a commitment to purchase. Once known, you should re-negotiate the purchase price to reflect them.

ciderboy2009

OP - I'm assuming that you're a first time buyer (if not then you're coming across as one).

I'm also assuming that it's quite an old house that you're buying (1930's possibly?)

The simple question is do you want to buy this house or not?

|You've got a professional confirming that the price you're paying is correct (but suggesting that it might be worth trying to renegotiate based on the report's findings). There is nothing that you've listed which would particularly bother me unless the house was less than 20 years old.


If I was the vendor I would be looking at putting the property back on the market as you're coming across as a time waster. Why on earth are you concerned about a 40-50 year old extension?

You're reading far too much into all of this. At the end of the day then if you want a (near) perfect house then buy a new one.


I'm really sorry if this comes across as harsh but these are just the sort of things that you get when you buy an older property. Wait until you start decorating/ modernising it - that's when you'll find the real problems!

jezzer_72

ciderboy2009 wrote: »

OP - I'm assuming that you're a first time buyer (if not then you're coming across as one).

I'm also assuming that it's quite an old house that you're buying (1930's possibly?)

The simple question is do you want to buy this house or not?

|You've got a professional confirming that the price you're paying is correct (but suggesting that it might be worth trying to renegotiate based on the report's findings). There is nothing that you've listed which would particularly bother me unless the house was less than 20 years old.


If I was the vendor I would be looking at putting the property back on the market as you're coming across as a time waster. Why on earth are you concerned about a 40-50 year old extension?

You're reading far too much into all of this. At the end of the day then if you want a (near) perfect house then buy a new one.


I'm really sorry if this comes across as harsh but these are just the sort of things that you get when you buy an older property. Wait until you start decorating/ modernising it - that's when you'll find the real problems!

Yes I’m a first time buyer. I did mention it in my first post but you may have missed it.

The house is 1947.

My anxiety about the house is mainly caused by the behaviour of the vendor tbh. But it’s good to know that the issues do not surprise you for a house this old. I’ll take that on board.

-taff

I would go over the surveyors report carefully, if you have any questions about it, post on the DIY board, although things like damp etc are fairly normal unless it's really bad. I'd be more concerned the roof is going to need replacing and would make sure that that was the case, and if it was, I'd definitely renogotiate for the price of that. As long as the survey confrirmed the chimney breast has not been rendered unstable or likely to fall down and has been properly supported, no worries there.

As for everything else, the older the home, the more problems there are after a succession of people have lived and potentially done bodge jobs to it.
I've got a 1930s semi, mostly owned by the same people for years, mostly bodge jobs performed.
If you buy this house, be prepared to find all sorts of things wrong with it that weren't in the survey and you won't be disappointed. But this is the case of most older houses.

Sibz

Clearly the vendor is p***ed off... He is trying to sell his house and has had to grudgingly accept an offer below what he'd hoped for (or possibly even needed depending on his own circumstances) - while this is neither here nor there to you, being asked to jump through hoops for every little thing at the same time is going to grind on him/her.

Perhaps you can put some things down to that.

Adrian makes some good points re valuation. Its the surveyors job to tell you what the property is worth in his professional opinion (that's what they're trained to do) not to tell you how to negotiate a house purchase - I've never seen anything like that on a survey.

As another poster has said - it's an old house, there are going to be things needing done. The costs you mentioned are not large in the scheme of things - especially when they improve the quality of the place you will be living in further. Your solicitor can request indemnities for some things where there is no guarantee or certificate etc.

You're right to be diligent but when it comes to buying houses it's never perfect in the real world. I assume you offered on this place numerous times for a reason

jezzer_72

Sibz wrote: »

Clearly the vendor is p***ed off... He is trying to sell his house and has had to grudgingly accept an offer below what he'd hoped for (or possibly even needed depending on his own circumstances) - while this is neither here nor there to you, being asked to jump through hoops for every little thing at the same time is going to grind on him/her.

Perhaps you can put some things down to that.

Adrian makes some good points re valuation. Its the surveyors job to tell you what the property is worth in his professional opinion (that's what they're trained to do) not to tell you how to negotiate a house purchase - I've never seen anything like that on a survey.

As another poster has said - it's an old house, there are going to be things needing done. The costs you mentioned are not large in the scheme of things - especially when they improve the quality of the place you will be living in further. Your solicitor can request indemnities for some things where there is no guarantee or certificate etc.

You're right to be diligent but when it comes to buying houses it's never perfect in the real world. I assume you offered on this place numerous times for a reason

Mainly because it was a good buy in terms of cost/sqm, didn’t appear to need significant work other than modernising and we were aware that it was rented out previously and rented houses “should” be to a good standard and “should” have been registered with the Council (my GF’s parents let properties so we have had advice from them on this).

On the face of it the house seems a good buy for a first time home. Also at the time there wasn’t much else in a better condition within budget so on balance it seemed a reasonable buy.

The first concern for me was when I found out that they had recently done work to support the chimney and didn’t get building regs. There reluctance to secure it (legal requirement) and their insistence on pushing us to complete in a short timescale rang alarm bells to me.

Regarding the valuation, those are the words written on the survey. I perhaps think that if those words weren’t written in that way I wouldn’t be thinking about negotiating but equally finding out that the house will need 2-4K or work would have probably led me to the idea of renegotiation anyway.

The words are taken directly from the survey. As a FTB I took that as a pretty firm instruction lol.

jezzer_72

-taff wrote: »

I would go over the surveyors report carefully, if you have any questions about it, post on the DIY board, although things like damp etc are fairly normal unless it's really bad. I'd be more concerned the roof is going to need replacing and would make sure that that was the case, and if it was, I'd definitely renogotiate for the price of that. As long as the survey confrirmed the chimney breast has not been rendered unstable or likely to fall down and has been properly supported, no worries there.

As for everything else, the older the home, the more problems there are after a succession of people have lived and potentially done bodge jobs to it.
I've got a 1930s semi, mostly owned by the same people for years, mostly bodge jobs performed.
If you buy this house, be prepared to find all sorts of things wrong with it that weren't in the survey and you won't be disappointed. But this is the case of most older houses.

Thanks. They have had building regs approval now so the chimney isn’t an issue for me.

We’ve had some quotes over the phone and most things subject to actual condition once inspected can be corrected for a few thousand pounds. The urgent repairs will cost us 4K but could increase upon inspection.

Thrugelmir

jezzer_72 wrote: »

Mainly because it was a good buy in terms of cost/sqm, didn’t appear to need significant work other than modernising and we were aware that it was rented out previously and rented houses “should” be to a good standard and “should” have been registered with the Council (my GF’s parents let properties so we have had advice from them on this).

Location , location, location determines value rather than floor area.

What you cannot see is where the real problems lie.

Why should properties that have been rented out be in "good condition"? LL's are out to maximise profit. Not provide tenants a quality home.

MysteryMe

OP you definitely need to filter out irrelevancies and focus on the main issues.

As several have said there will always be "issues" with an older house, the key is knowing how much of an "issue" they actually are and if they are the type you want to run away from. If the valuation is coming in at the level of your offer then it does not suggest the place is about to fall down.

Have you spoken to the surveyor, they may be able to give you give you a more rounded opinion than that they put in the survey which is often mainly concerned with back covering.

Reading all your responses on this thread, I'm not certain this property is for you.