Survey contents

slhqoue

Hi there,

We are paying the standard £200 valuation fee for our mortgage and instructing our own full survey of the property we're buying.

My question is, if the survey finds that work needs to be done, what is the best thing to do with this information? Should you go back to the seller and try to get money knocked off the asking price? This might sound like a silly question but as a first time buyer I really don't have any experience of this.

Thanks

Tom99

It really depends on the age/type of property you are buying and exactly what defects the survey reveals.
If you are buying a 2nd hand property then you cannot expect it to be in perfect condition and many items identified on a survey will be run of the mill repairs.
Obviously if something major and unexpected is identified you can walk away or try and negotiate a price reduction.
It's best not the let the seller say they will fix a problem because they are bound to try and do the fix for the least possible price.

MortgageMamma

It depends on the severity of the problem found, the amount of money it will cost you, how much you want the property and what the demand is in your area for the type of house you wish to buy.

I always say to my clients when they take full structural surveys that they are very detailed and sometimes even mention minor repairs, but you'd be surprised what you find in there that you hadn't noticed yourself.

Better the devil you know when buying houses. If there's a problem that going to cost you a lot of money in the long run you can make and informed choice and consider how you would meet the costs.

Plenty of my clients renegotiate after a full survey is done, its not always successful but if you go about it in a nice way usually there can be middle ground. The key is being open about what you want without causing the sellers too much stress.

Another thing to remember is the onward purchase for the seller might be taking every penny they have, so if they decline to renegotiate it may just be the fact they don't have anything to negotiate with.

Best of luck.

MM

Nebulous2

The two surveys need to be considered together. If you've offered £200k and the valuation says its worth £200k as it is, then you don't have much room to renegotiate. If the valuation says its worth £190k as it stands, but will be worth £200k when specified work has been done, then you're in a much stronger position in my view.

comedyseeker123

Cross that bridge when you get to it