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

ladyellyria

trex227 wrote: »

Hmmmm... it might be that the seller wants that much and the agent (who after all is working for the seller) is sticking to their guns. Maybe they themselves overpaid? Can you see on Zoopla how much they paid for it? Or if they are buying on maybe they need that much for their next property.


This property, would you be planning to put in a new kitchen and bathroom at some point? The reason I ask is in your original post you mentioned a completely refurbished property for £190k. Our kitchen cost £11k but I'd be very surprised if it increased the value of our house anywhere near this amount (though it would probably make it easier to sell, after all I don't think early 2000s spaceship looking kitchens were ever in fashion!),



Before becoming a homeowner I thought people who paid over the odds for houses that have been completely redone were fools. However having lived through the experience of having a new kitchen we have sworn if we ever move the kitchen has to be perfect. Never again do I wish to be washing pots in the bath and only using a microwave for 2 weeks!

I think you've hit the nail on the head. We had an epiphany last night talking about this. The vendor bought the house for 145k, 5 years ago, but the property was marketed at a 3 bed then, albeit with no upstairs bathroom. They've converted the 3rd bedroom into a bathroom, so they've lost a bedroom. But they are still trying to sell it on a 3 bed property valuation. That's my suspicion. So they may well overpaid for this house (looking at historical data on the street, I'd say they overpaid about maybe 10k).

If this property were 3 bed, I'd agree with the valuation 100%. But as of now in terms of valuation and market comparison it is overpriced comparing to other 2 bed properties.

AdrianC

ladyellyria wrote: »

Well, I'm wondering now why the EA told this vendor you could put in 200k for it, while telling other vendors of similar properties you can only put 170k for it. That's really what I'm wondering.

<shrug>
Maybe the EA said £180k, and the vendor said "No, I want £200k, so put it up for that".

Either way, they found not one, but two willing buyers who agreed that it was worth £195k. You were one of them.

ladyellyria

AdrianC wrote: »

<shrug>
Maybe the EA said £180k, and the vendor said "No, I want £200k, so put it up for that".

Either way, they found not one, but two willing buyers who agreed that it was worth £195k. You were one of them.

And now in light of new info, I'm not willing to go with that price anymore. Normal in the house hunting process, I'd say.

In the end of the day, even though we know EAs and vendors try to get as much as they can, we are not buying in London or anywhere like that, we expect most of the properties to be marketed reasonably in accordance with other properties in the area. And that is our experience in general. If every property like this in the vicinity are all overpriced, fine, that's the valuation, but if only one is overpriced? It might not be immediate to us, and once we realise that, I'd want to know why.

AdrianC

ladyellyria wrote: »

And now in light of new info, I'm not willing to go with that price anymore.

Absolutely, yes.

The survey does make a difference. And that's why renegotiating based on that is not only perfectly permissible, but commonplace.

But we're talking about your second-thoughts about the size and layout of accommodation... There is no new information there.

In the end of the day, even though we know EAs and vendors try to get as much as they can, we are not buying in London or anywhere like that, we expect most of the properties to be marketed reasonably in accordance with other properties in the area. And that is our experience in general. If every property like this in the vicinity are all overpriced, fine, that's the valuation, but if only one is overpriced? It might not be immediate to us, and once we realise that, I'd want to know why.

Are you suggesting that EAs should be forced to market properties only at sensible prices, so that putative buyers don't have to do their own research on what constitutes good value locally...?

trex227

ladyellyria wrote: »

I think you've hit the nail on the head. We had an epiphany last night talking about this. The vendor bought the house for 145k, 5 years ago, but the property was marketed at a 3 bed then, albeit with no upstairs bathroom. They've converted the 3rd bedroom into a bathroom, so they've lost a bedroom. But they are still trying to sell it on a 3 bed property valuation. That's my suspicion. So they may well overpaid for this house (looking at historical data on the street, I'd say they overpaid about maybe 10k).

If this property were 3 bed, I'd agree with the valuation 100%. But as of now in terms of valuation and market comparison it is overpriced comparing to other 2 bed properties.

Bingo! Even if they didn't overpay when they bought it as a 3 bed they've incurred the costs of moving the bathroom upstairs (which if it involved new pipes etc could have been considerable) and have effectively down-valued the property (as they bought it as a 3 bed) by reducing the number of bedrooms. They're trying to cover their costs and make a decent profit from it.


If I was you I would be moving on from this property. As cash buyers you are in a strong position, really use this to your advantage on the next property

missprice

ladyellyria wrote: »

No I mean if they want to get as much as they can, surely they'd overprice all properties, rather than just this one? All the other 2 beds (little extended) they have sold are marketed around 170, 175, and the 3 bed last year was also sold by them, 190. If they consistently overvalue then I wouldn't even be surprised, but they can't even explain why this one is higher priced than the others.

What they are marketed for and what they sell for can be wildly different. Unless you have looked each time on the land registry site or rightmove has been uncharacteristically quick at updating sold prices, you are possibly wrong.

FBaby

You are way over thinking this. For one I don't understand your fixation over the 2 vs 3 bedroom. The important fact is the total liveable space. It's then up to the owners to have a tiny bathroom and tiny office or just one large bathroom. Why should the former be worth £20k more if ultimately you rather have the latter?

Also, there are two many factors to decide on what motivates the vendor to put it down on that price. Maybe they are have another property in sight which will wait for them to be in a position to buy but to do so, they'll need the finances that requires a higher selling price of their property. They might not be in a rush so happy to wait for someone to pay over the odds.

Alternatively, they might have got three valuations themselves and the price they've gone with is the average of the three, whereas you are only going by the basic one of your lending provider, so they might feel confident the price they are asking for is reasonable.

Them asking to see the valuation might be because they are surprised as much lower then the ones they had and want to see it in black and white but will still stick to their price convinced that it is correct and they can get another buyer. Or they might realise that their price was inflated and can't risk to lose another buyer as they are in a chain and.e prepared to take a hit as it would still be enough to secure their new property.

So many possibilities, you just have to wait to see what they come back with and decide what your final stance is.

Albala

I wouldn't show them the valuation, especially as you're unsure if it is correct. Nor would I show them the survey. The T&Cs w.r.t. our survey on the house we're after makes it clear we aren't allowed to show the survey to every Tom, Richard, or Harry, and yours may be the same, so you'd need to check that first with your surveyor. Personally, I wouldn't show anyone my survey, if they want one they can pay for one. But it's only fair if you want a reduction due to work needing doing that you have a proper idea of the costs of that to put forward, and share that information, otherwise you are arguing about an unquantified cost. I would commission a report from a roofer/timber expert on the work required to sort out the roof, with costings, and share that. That would identify the (minimum of) the extent of the costs you could be in for, and it could then be discussed sensibly. (An EA's opinion on how much it would cost to repair a roof problem isn't worth jack whatsit.)

markin

trex227 wrote: »

Exactly this- we also bought a 1930s semi 6 years ago and the number of "bodge jobs" we've come across when getting things done is unbelievable. My personal favourite is the condensate pipe for the boiler (that was 2 years old when we moved in) hadn't been installed at enough of an angle so during one spell of freezing weather froze the condensate, backing it up into the boiler resulting in a completely destroyed 3 year old boiler.


The beautiful slate floor in the kitchen hadn't been sealed so the grease, water and paint the previous owner has splashed on it wouldn't come out no matter how much cleaning (including with professional chemical cleaning!).


I could go on and on but the way we look at it is if we've had the work done ourselves we know the standard its been done to. Over the years we've had a new kitchen and bathrooms so we know everything is done right in those areas. I think with any house theres always potential for things to need sorting out (having known a number of people who have worked on new build estates I wouldn't say new properties are excluded but at least you get a guarantee!) and so its just part of home ownership.



From what you have said it does seem you are overpaying though and sunlight coming through the roof? :eek: That would be enough to put me off. And I'm not sure £2k would cover sorting out the roof, surely scaffolding (assuming it would be needed) is going to be at least half of that cost.


Oh and depending on when the property was built it could have been built as a 3 bed. Ours was one of the last built in this area without an internal toilet so the 3 rooms upstairs were all originally bedrooms and there was an outside outhouse. In our house the third bedroom became the bathroom and the outhouse became a utility room. However in our neighbours house the walls were moved around so they still have 3 bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs. I know I prefer having a large master with en suite, decent sized second bedroom and good sized bathroom (that we've had a freestanding bath installed in) than 3 small bedrooms and a tiny bathroom.

That's a first, i don't believe its possible to destroy a boiler from a frozen condensate, the safety switch should just cut it off until its melted with a kettle, it happened to thousand in 2013 and the beast from the east. Are you sure you weren't conned?

I think 175 is the most i would offer, maybe its time to cut out the EA and go knock on the door. And get them to 3 quotes for a new roof.

thorsoak

If you were buying a car, would you necessarily trust the salesman if you had doubts about his claims about the car? A house costs far more than a car and yet you are still listening to the estate agent?

Walk away at the moment - if you really like the house then offer something in the region of £170k - and see what happen?