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Having doubts after offer accepted

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Comments

  • orangecrush
    orangecrush Posts: 267 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 100 Posts Name Dropper
    £4k for two bay windows?  Hmmm.  I'll leave more experienced posters to comment on that but it seems high.  And the surveyor's report didn't seem certain to me, unless you've spoken to her/him and have had more detail?  I thought it was just "further investigation". 
    Thing is, any house can turn into a money pit.  Our house seemed like a sure bet, but then we had a run in with a dodgy builder and lo and behold, money pit. 
    The regulars on this board and the renovating and DIY board always ask whether people have done their due diligence.  I think that beyond any doubt you have done more of that than any other person I've ever come across.  That's both a compliment and a (kindly meant) criticism, and means there are two ways to think of this.  1) You'll unlikely have any surprises, so you know the worst case scenario already and can plan for it.  2)  If having done all that due diligence, you're still not certain, maybe you need to walk away as NOTHING will reassure you, and I worry you'd pull out at the last minute (see my last post about stringing the vendor along... I know house buying is a big deal, but so is house selling.  I think you need to try and empathise with the vendors position also, they're selling in good faith.)
  • Lokolo
    Lokolo Posts: 20,861 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts
    Unless the survey has valued it less than your offer, the state and repairs required will already be factored in. The vendor, unless desperate, will not entertain any reduction in sale price if this is the case. 
  • danlightbulb
    danlightbulb Posts: 946 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 9 March 2020 at 5:42PM
    @orangecrush i emailed two local companies with rough dimensions and photos, they both came back with an estimate of around £4k, not including doing anything with the bay roofs. The surveyor did discuss in more detail verbally which is a little disappointing as it would have been better written up into the report.

    @Lokolo i had a free mortgage valuation which i never got to see but the mortgage was offered. Apparantly they did do a walkaround of the house but I wasnt told this despite asking to be told. I then did this extra survey on top using a company I found myself so they are acting for me not the lender.
  • Slithery
    Slithery Posts: 6,046 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    i had a free mortgage valuation which i never got to see but the mortgage was offered.
    Which means that they valued it at the price you are offering in its current state. The vendor is unlikely to agree to a price reduction.
  • danlightbulb
    danlightbulb Posts: 946 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper
    Slithery said:
    i had a free mortgage valuation which i never got to see but the mortgage was offered.
    Which means that they valued it at the price you are offering in its current state. The vendor is unlikely to agree to a price reduction.
    Yes but only a basic valuation survey was done so the finding of these issues is unknown to the lender. It would have been a quick visual.



  • danlightbulb
    danlightbulb Posts: 946 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 9 March 2020 at 6:29PM
    I think perhaps whats happened is that these potential expensive issues are compounding with the uncertainties about the property itself.

    I was originally looking for a normal house with two reception rooms, three bedrooms, garage, driveway and a reasonable garden not overlooked. I wasnt bothered about bedroom size but was bothered about downstairs space. I didnt think i could get a detached for the money I had.

    Modernisation was always an option if it was necessary to get me the things on my list, but was always sensitive to price. Part of me is keen on being able to improve a house but i could equally spend that money on holidays, tech or my fledgling scuba hobby, or keep a safety net.

    It was suggested i look at bungalows to get more space and on the face of it this house appeared quite large but on reflection all thats really happened is Id be trading off a bedroom. I did want more living space but im not sure I meant at the expense of bedrooms, even though i dont need three right now. This house only has a total of four rooms (albeit large) plus bathroom and kitchen. I tend to prefer houses with a greater number of smaller rooms, utilities, understairs cupboards, etc.

    Then im trading off a driveway for a detached house. I can see the benefit of a detached which is probably whats keeping me attracted to this house really.

    I know people might say i shouldnt have offered on it but there is huge pressure to put offers in before it sells to someone else. I dont get time to think properly. It has taken over a month to rationalise all these thoughts together.





  • danlightbulb
    danlightbulb Posts: 946 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper
    The reason the surveyor is saying to get a sub floor inspection is:
    * the damp saturated bay window brickwork may have caused the joist ends to become rotten.
    * he does not know if the interior walls which also support the roof purlins are built off the sub floor or whether they extend to the ground with their own foundation.
    * if the former, then floor joist failure due to rot could collapse the interior walls and the roof.

  • Doozergirl
    Doozergirl Posts: 34,082 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 9 March 2020 at 6:47PM
    A month.   I'm not going to be that helpful, again because I don't really feel like this is something I'm prepared to invest in when it goes around and around.  You don't want to buy the wrong house but it's not fair on people to take a month to ratify your thoughts on a property.  It's easy for us to tell you haven't been sure about one thing.  

    The reason for the bungalow brings us all back to the price.  You want a big house with a garage and a drive and no unusual topography, plus essentially no surprise work needed (virtually all houses need surprise work so that reality needs to be realised quite quickly).  

    You have to compromise somewhere.  It's going to be the bedroom or the location or the condition or....  the price!!   Something has to give.  You are not going to get the perfect house in the perfect place for the perfect price.  You can complain about house prices elsewhere, but you have to face the fact that those house prices are cheap enough that you couldn't physically build the houses you've been looking at for the price that they're being offered.  

    In that situation, I would always choose a house that needs ZERO work, because no building work you do will pay itself back on the price of the house. 

    I've literally just helped someone.  They're paying slightly more than the going rate but there's about £20k of brand new building work that no other house has received, which makes the house more than worth the price being paid.  




    Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.
  • danlightbulb
    danlightbulb Posts: 946 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 9 March 2020 at 6:59PM
    @Doozergirl the month includes the 3 weeks it took for the vendor to be free to let the surveyor in (she wanted to accompany him) so its not all my delay. Its given me lots of thinking time though. And the vendor / EA  still hasnt answered a couple of outstanding questions that I asked for on multiple occasions now.

    I know not to derail thread with market discussion but fundamentally the issue is choice, or lack of. When only one house worth considering comes up every 6 months then it makes it difficult because i cant make direct trade offs against whats available.

    Believe me if there was a slightly smaller house that was already modernised for £10k-£15k more I would be considering it. It would only cost me £1-1.5k more up front, the rest being additional mortgage debt. 






  • NewShadow
    NewShadow Posts: 6,858 Forumite
    Seventh Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    I know not to derail thread with market discussion but fundamentally the issue is choice, or lack of. When only one house worth considering comes up every 6 months then it makes it difficult because i cant make direct trade offs against whats available.

    I completely agree with Doozer - which isn't unusual... 

    I think I and many others have just switched off from your thread because we know you're never going to be satisfied unless/until you stop trying to game the system. 

    We know, in the long run, it doesn't matter if this house is a bargain/the best possible compared to something else that might or might not come along - what matters is if this house meets your needs now and for the foreseeable for a fair price. 


    That sounds like a classic case of premature extrapolation.

    House Bought July 2020 - 19 years 0 months remaining on term
    Next Step: Bathroom renovation booked for January 2021
    Goal: Keep the bigger picture in mind...
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