Survey says 20k repair, estate agent says it's only 2k

stator

You're over thinking everything.


Estate agents job is to get as much money for his client as possible, so naturally he's going to downplay any faults in the house.


Forget about him and just offer what it's worth to you, don't feel obligated to up your offer. But just because it needs £20k of work doesn't mean it's worth £20k less than the asking price. With £20k worth of new roof, it might be worth more than asking price.

It really all just comes down to how much you are willing to pay and how much the bank are willing to lend.

Davesnave

We were so impressed with the country agent our vendors used when we last purchased, we arranged to collect the keys from under a brick in the front garden.

Ten years on, and over £100k spent, the property is nearly finished, but we knew most of what we were taking on. Puts the EA's comment during negotiations into context though:
"Yes, I'll admit, they have let it go, a bit..."

ladyellyria

Davesnave wrote: »

We were so impressed with the country agent our vendors used when we last purchased, we arranged to collect the keys from under a brick in the front garden.

Ten years on, and over £100k spent, the property is nearly finished, but we knew most of what we were taking on. Puts the EA's comment during negotiations into context though:
"Yes, I'll admit, they have let it go, a bit..."

Bloody hell. Do you think it's worth it, in the end, though? And how much did you argue down for, if your renovation work is 100k!?? (How much did the survey say it was?)

csgohan4

Is the EA willing to do the repairs for 2k and provide at least a 10 year warranty? no? Thought not

Don't be bullied by the EA and put a reduced offer on the table and give copy of the survey and say other buyers will find the same problem. then start looking for other properties with the same EA

ladyellyria

stator wrote: »

You're over thinking everything.


Estate agents job is to get as much money for his client as possible, so naturally he's going to downplay any faults in the house.


Forget about him and just offer what it's worth to you, don't feel obligated to up your offer. But just because it needs £20k of work doesn't mean it's worth £20k less than the asking price. With £20k worth of new roof, it might be worth more than asking price.

It really all just comes down to how much you are willing to pay and how much the bank are willing to lend.

You are so right, I keep trying to guess what the seller is thinking. I personally think the house was overvalued for a 2 bed, and then some FTB came in straight with a good offer which put the seller's hope up, and now I feel we might be stuck at impasse because psychologically they will not be willing to go low. Not to mention the roof will come as a shock to them, no doubt. But our head also tells us if we keep the current offer, it's overpriced. We even think with the 10k reduction it would be slightly overpriced as it's still only a 2 bed but we are willing to take that on because we like the kitchen & garden. I don't think the seller will see it that way though, because it would've been a 15k drop from the initial market price...

ladyellyria

csgohan4 wrote: »

Is the EA willing to do the repairs for 2k and provide at least a 10 year warranty? no? Thought not

Don't be bullied by the EA and put a reduced offer on the table and give copy of the survey and say other buyers will find the same problem. then start looking for other properties with the same EA

Yeah, we said that, then the EA changed tactics and was like, "the vendor could fix the roof themselves and we'd market it for 210k", which I think is laughable, but then what can we say to that?

The market is so slow right now, there are no new properties in the area coming up, sigh. But yeah, we are looking again, just in case.

lookstraightahead

I had a massive argument with our local friendly estate agent about 7 years ago. He drinks in our pub, kids went to same school etc. Now he needs our cooperation and business it's like it never happened.

You say you love the kitchen and garden. Go again and scrutinise. Check it's exactly the picture you have in your head (I bet it's not). Go and have a look at the roof.

Think with your head (I know you buy a house with your heart but this is a big decision). Be 100% sure what you will actually need to do with the roof if you buy. It might be worth it, or that lovely kitchen might not be worth it in the end.

This is probably the last time you will not be in a chain, if you move in and you're faced with a huge problem, you may struggle to sell.

Just do what you want to do - take personalities and emotion out of it. Understand the motives of others (eg EA wants a sale).

AdrianC

ladyellyria wrote: »

We were told that the house was initially a 3 bed so we thought this was a reasonable valuation. However after further research we realised the house is actually built as 2 bed, which was converted into a 3 bed by moving the toilet downstairs, and the current owner converted it back to 2 bed. So it actually is a 2 bed property

It's the exact same property you looked around before offering, with the exact same rooms of the exact same size in the exact same layout.


You can put as many beds in as many rooms as you like.

Then came the big surprise: we got our survey back and it revealed urgent & major works for the roof (overhaul is needed), as well as an assortment of smaller things, totalling to about 20k.

What did the surveyor's valuation say?

We went to the estate agent and he actually told us that he thinks only the roof needs work, the rest is all "betterment" (???) and even the roof he thinks it's minor work, 2k tops.

That's nice... Completely irrelevant, but nice of him to offer his unqualified and irrelevant opinions.

He sounded reluctant to go back to the vendor for a reduced offer, even though we felt a 10k reduction is fair, as this would be splitting the cost.

What did the surveyor's valuation say?

ladyellyria

lookstraightahead wrote: »

I had a massive argument with our local friendly estate agent about 7 years ago. He drinks in our pub, kids went to same school etc. Now he needs our cooperation and business it's like it never happened.

You say you love the kitchen and garden. Go again and scrutinise. Check it's exactly the picture you have in your head (I bet it's not). Go and have a look at the roof.

Think with your head (I know you buy a house with your heart but this is a big decision). Be 100% sure what you will actually need to do with the roof if you buy. It might be worth it, or that lovely kitchen might not be worth it in the end.

This is probably the last time you will not be in a chain, if you move in and you're faced with a huge problem, you may struggle to sell.

Just do what you want to do - take personalities and emotion out of it. Understand the motives of others (eg EA wants a sale).

Thank you. Selling on is a worry for me as well, although less about the roof (right now, if they are willing to move on the price, we will look into quotes) than about the valuation. Do you think we will have trouble selling it on because it's a 2bed marketed above other 2bed's price in the area?

ladyellyria

AdrianC wrote: »

It's the exact same property you looked around before offering, with the exact same rooms of the exact same size in the exact same layout.


You can put as many beds in as many rooms as you like.



What did the surveyor's valuation say?




That's nice... Completely irrelevant, but nice of him to offer his unqualified and irrelevant opinions.




What did the surveyor's valuation say?

The surveyor's valuation was a bit strange. I think it was done by someone else at the firm, because it was a separate report. They said they value it at 173-184k, because most of the 2 bedroom properties in the area go for 170-180k. They said because this house has good qualities ie kitchen extension & garden, they have put it at the upper end at 184k. But that was a separate report, so does not say if that valuation takes into account the condition with the repairs, etc.

I was always under the impression in the UK house prices are affected by the number of bedrooms. So a 3 bed would cost more than a 2 bed, no matter what. We initially thought it was a 3 bedroom build, converted to a 2 bedroom, so we thought the valuation was ok, but then we realised it's actually a 2 bedroom property extended with a kitchen, so that changes our perspective. When we visited there were no floorplans, so it was hard to visualise, and because of the large kitchen extension, downstairs it felt like a 3 bed property with a through lounge.