Vendor refusing to allow investigations recommended by surveyor

Pennywise

We had a survey done on a house we were thinking of buying - the surveyor suggested a long list of things to be checked. One was to get someone to check the woodworm in the loft. We got a woodworm specialist out to check and he said there was nothing up there - and that surveyors often just "copied and pasted" the same standard wording to cover themselves in case it turned out that woodworm was present. We telephoned the surveyor but he just fobbed us off saying that all he could do was look through the loft hatch and that he "thought" he saw what looked like woodworm holes in some of the rafters.

Carrot007

Ben1989 wrote: »

I think it's reasonable for the vendor to accept at least services being checked (i.e. electrics, gas and drains).

However those are the cheap and easy ones to fix. And nothing other that expected for a property of that age. The other ones are more important. (drains, you will get a diagram in your searches, no need to check anything else, may just be on the end and have a rodding eye covered over).


Also the damp one is just !!! covering unless you could tell. I once bought a property where they said thay anmd I could tell it was musty. However it had been vacant for near two years. No heat for that (it also only had traditional open fires down and up in one room) long tend to do that. Once lived in (and adding central heating) it was fine (don't believe the paranoia around damp, yes it happens, no not much and damp-proofing is a hack not a cure in 95% of cases (the other 5% are impossible to cure so a hack is needed)).


Dry rot? well yes, but it should have been obvious to them and you, poke some wood with a finger.


Roof you can see. I hope you have been in the loft tyo look under.


Anything left?

Skiddaw1

Pennywise wrote: »

We had a survey done on a house we were thinking of buying - the surveyor suggested a long list of things to be checked. One was to get someone to check the woodworm in the loft. We got a woodworm specialist out to check and he said there was nothing up there - and that surveyors often just "copied and pasted" the same standard wording to cover themselves in case it turned out that woodworm was present. We telephoned the surveyor but he just fobbed us off saying that all he could do was look through the loft hatch and that he "thought" he saw what looked like woodworm holes in some of the rafters.

We had similar when we bought previous (Victorian) house. The specialist found woodworm holes, but obviously from years previously. I think it popped up on the survey our buyers requested too.



There will always be flagged up issues with an old house I suppose, but I still think it's alarming that the sellers aren't prepared to allow any additional surveys to be carried out. It would just make me smell a rat (though hopefully not literally ).

flashg67

A vendors view:- - I had a sale fall through on a Victorian terrace as a so called 'expert' went round and suggested there was rising damp right through the house (was a small area on one wall where a gutter had leaked, and house had been empty for several months), roof needed replacing (It was old but had just had repairs and wasn't leaking, the floors had hardboard on so must be hiding infestation (it wasn't, it was there because there had previously been lino fitted (in a front room, go figure)),
Needless to say, they're not allowed to come round again.
I have nothing to hide, but it's a 100+ year old house and will always need some maintenance

babyblade41

lookstraightahead wrote: »

I would never buy a house just relying on my own eyes. Unless they were part of a super power. They didn't drop the price they changed it to what it was worth, probably having no choice.

As a retired property pro.. I can usually see what needs doing as a matter of urgency and other things that will take no more than good DIY or man with a ladder

The OP's vendors allow all these extra investigations... these people now work for the OP..who's to say they might find lots of picky faults to get the price dropped .

A few on the list is possibly Ok but anything else then no I wouldn't

Thrugelmir

As a prospective buyer always be aware. If somebody wishes to sell something I'd expect openness and transparency. The cost of rectification far outweighs any momentary inconvenience to the seller. Too many sharks in this world to take things at face value.

Charlene84

Thank you for your replies.

The vendor only bought the house two years ago which has led to the concerns in addition to the HB survey recommendations to seek additional opinions.

I emailed the EA this afternoon to seek an explanation as to why the vendor solely wished to rely upon our lenders valuation and the reasoning against us arranging the investigations. Consequently, I received a call back from the EA to advise the vendor will permit the investigations at our own cost; that was a given - we wouldn't expect the vendor to pay.

I acknowledge a lot of people do not weigh heavily on the opinion contained within a HB survey. There has been some suggestions that a visual inspection would be enough however as we attended the property on a 'open viewing' it was difficult to get a proper look around at everything. In any event we are not experienced enough to know what to look out for.

I am satisfied with the surveyor report including his position to sit on the fence in relation to certain aspects. The views on alternative experts is perfectly reasonable to me. Why would a surveyor provide an opinion on electrics when he is not qualified to do so?

One of the issues the surveyor raised was he could not observe the roof from the back of the property due to an extension and the loft was locked so he could not gain access to the loft to observe the roof internally. I suspect the roof contractor might be one of the most important experts to instruct on the list bearing in mind some of the advice kindly provided.

My husband and I have no experience in property and our parents bought their properties in the late 70s / early 80s; their opinions may not be overly helpful in todays market. I thought this might be the best place to gauge others views on their experience but did not expect some of the negative / condescending replies; sorry to those that feel the OP is a bit unnecessary.

We would be looking to instruct independent, well reviewed experts, not simply to 'knock the price down' as suggested by some posters. We are not trying to be difficult with the vendor. It is a property we plan to live in for a few years, it is not a forever home, therefore if we were caught with a waft of unexpected maintenance and/or repair costs it would interfere with our long term plans.

Thanks to all the helpful advice - it really is appreciated.

Charlene

GDB2222

lookstraightahead wrote: »

The vendors are not being generous by lowering the price - it's exactly what they should do. They are now aksovadking you to buy a property blindfolded - would you do that with anything else?

I marketed a flat at a keen price, to get it sold, and I got an asking price offer. Then the buyers asked for a reduction as their lender valued slightly lower. Plus the estate agent told me that it was my duty to take the lower figure.

What I actually did was I got a new estate agent.

davidmcn

Charlene84 wrote: »

the loft was locked

Interesting thing to do when you're expecting a surveyor round.

supa34

I have never been fan of surveyors. After dealing with cheating estate agents you come across them.

The survey contain alot of "could be" "might be". Couldn't check under carpets, loft was too dark to check, couldn't test this couldn't test that. I find most reports just list all the worse case scenario that could happen.

How lond has the seller loved on there? To them the house is perfect and their home. They don't want someone coming down looking down on theor home picking out everything that is wrong or could be wrong.