I feel that I over offered on the house, what to do now?

abz88

Go to the seller and tell them the survey has come back at £175k and that you therefore are not able to pay £200k (you will only get a mortgage based on £175k btw so you need to find another £25k cash) and see what they say.
If you are still wanting to go ahead with the purchase, going by the survey, you need to get a quote from a structural engineer to repair the house as well. You will want to do this before you make a revised offer as it could be costly to fix!
If you don't go ahead with the purchase, next time round submit a qualified offer subject to satisfactory survey of the property that way you don't annoy the selling solicitor (could be the solicitor for the next house as well!)

On a side note, this is why the Scottish system is so much better for buyers. The seller has to pay for and have the single survey done prior to the putting the property on the market (and re-do it every year until sold). That way you know the actual value of the house and potential problems before you make an offer. It also means you don't run into a situation where you can't get a mortgage because the actual value is way below your offer.

capital0ne

okhajut wrote: »

This is house in Bristol, it had a "guide price" of 190,000£. I offered 200,000£.I should have offered 195,000£ and stayed there.

You've offered 2.5% too much - ignore it - it's not worth the stress and strain, or just buy something else

abz88

capital0ne wrote: »

You've offered 2.5% too much - ignore it - it's not worth the stress and strain, or just buy something else

No he hasn’t, actual value based on the survey is 175k so he’s offered 25k too much. Which is a big chunk of cash to find on top of a deposit! (Banks led you on value, not price paid or guide price)

okhajut

Ok guys so since I started house searching I have learnt a few lessons. The first house I offered on had a lot of problems and I did not buy it. Since then, now this is the other house I am thinking of buying and thus had a survey carried out on it. There are some other houses that I considered but did not offer on them and thus no survey was carried out on them. I have a response from the seller and thus am posting now.

The surveyor's words are:
"On the basis of a review of recent sales in the area, it is considered that the current open
market valuation of this property with vacant possession for the freehold interest is considered
to be in a sum in the region of £185,000 (one hundred and eightyfive thousand pounds)"

And also:
"Qualified electrical contractor to test the electrical installation and any works recommended are
to be undertaken 'Gas Safe' engineer to test the boiler if no service has been undertaken on this appliance in the last twelve months.
A budget figure for the above repairs and further investigation/works should be contemplated in
a sum in the region of £9,000 plus VAT and subject to formal quotations, but excluding the resiting
of the wc in the bathroom."

Based on his estimate of 9,000£ +VAT for repairs, he said that the house should be bought for a price between 175,000£ and 182,000£.

The only things he has specified as being category 3 of repair are:

Rainwater pipes and gutters: "The gutter to the rear eaves has a joint which has become dislodged and this requires to be refitted at the earliest opportunity."

Ceilings: "to the rear lobby, there are seen to be some polystyrene tiles which are a fire hazard and these should be removed and ceiling finish made good"

The seller has said that, since the surveyor has valued the house at 185,000£, the sellers will only sell it for this and not any less. As per the estate agent, any work that I carry out on the house is my own and no cost shall be deducted from the sale price of 185,000£.

Comms69

Right so either pay 185 or walk away. It's clearly only worth 175, so I know which I'd be doing

CarbonImage

I feel like with your budget you are going to struggle to find a house in Bristol that doesn't need some fairly major work.

The items you have highlighted from the survey do not suggest a cost of £9000 - is there more that you haven't mentioned?

Either way, I think you should keep looking, but lower your expectations to fit your budget, or save up a little longer, or look further afield.

okhajut

Here is the list of repairs:

1. Isolated raking out and repointing to the chimney stack flashing and minor flashing to be redressed
2. Refit rear gutter joint
3. Hack off loose render to the rear elevation and rerender as required, seal the render and repaint.
4. Minor repairs to the front elevation render
5. Prepare and repaint tiled window sills
6. Prepare and repaint render to porch where required
7. Increase loft insulation if required
8. Remove polystyrene tiles to the rear lobby and make good to the ceiling finish. Minor repairs to ceilings
9. Replace wood strip laminate flooring to the lounge
10. Woodwork repairs
11. Upgrade kitchen units
12. Seal round the edge of the bath
13. General internal redecoration following repairs/works required
14. Other minor repairs/defects as set out herein

However, most items are really minor.

caprikid1

What level survey did you have ? would not normally have expected interior d!cor to be mentioned ?


Upgrade kitchen units
Seal round the edge of the bath
General internal redecoration

Cakeguts

The survey valued the house at £185,000 plus the £9000 for the work. The money taken off for the work is included in the price.

okhajut

I had a building survey rather than just the home buyer's report