Vendor did not allow access for survey

Tightaz

Hi all,

So we've had an interesting development in our purchase recently.  I had organised for a Home Buyers Survey to be carried out on the property we are buying and the vendor didn't give access to the surveyor.  We have had a previous issue with a down valuation from the bank so the valuation was pretty important to us. So now we are in the hole for the cost of the survey and the alarm bells are ringing.  Should I be concerned?

walwyn1978

Tightaz said:

Hi all,

So we've had an interesting development in our purchase recently.  I had organised for a Home Buyers Survey to be carried out on the property we are buying and the vendor didn't give access to the surveyor.  We have had a previous issue with a down valuation from the bank so the valuation was pretty important to us. So now we are in the hole for the cost of the survey and the alarm bells are ringing.  Should I be concerned?

Okay - as in there was a miscommunication about time/date of survey and the vendor wasn’t in? Probably not - get it rebooked. 

As in the vendor was there but refused to let the surveyor in? Yes, that’s alarm bell territory, assuming that the appointment had been made in advance. Consider looking elsewhere. 

davidmcn

Whatever happened, I wouldn't expect to pay anywhere near the full price of the survey for a missed appointment.

Retired_Mortgage_Adviser

Usually the surveyor will arrange an appointment with the EA who does the coordination with the vendor. If he/she had an appointment and has then been turned away at the door, that is concerning.

Mind you, it could well be a case of an incompetent EA causing a mix up in the appointment time/date.

iampetesmith

Our vendor turned the surveyor away because he thought it had already been done. One had been done, but that was the previous mortgage company who rejected our first application because some paperwork had the wrong address on it.

The other surveyor was for our new mortgage and the EA had to explain to him that another survey needed to be done and to let them do it, which he did. So it might be that the vendor wasn't quite sure about the process if this is the first time they've sold.

Tightaz

walwyn1978 said:

Tightaz said:

Hi all,

So we've had an interesting development in our purchase recently.  I had organised for a Home Buyers Survey to be carried out on the property we are buying and the vendor didn't give access to the surveyor.  We have had a previous issue with a down valuation from the bank so the valuation was pretty important to us. So now we are in the hole for the cost of the survey and the alarm bells are ringing.  Should I be concerned?

Okay - as in there was a miscommunication about time/date of survey and the vendor wasn’t in? Probably not - get it rebooked. 

As in the vendor was there but refused to let the surveyor in? Yes, that’s alarm bell territory, assuming that the appointment had been made in advance. Consider looking elsewhere. 

The vendor doesnt live there anymore, so the place is empty.  The survey company had spoken to the vendor directly about getting access.  The survey company tried to text and call the day before and the day of the survey but no answer.....

Moneyminded

If the vendor knew that the surveyor was coming and failed to respond to calls and texts the day before and the day of the survey I would get in touch with the EA and raise your concerns. It may be that there was some sort of emergency on the day but short of this alarm bells would be ringing. 

Retired_Mortgage_Adviser

Tightaz said:

walwyn1978 said:

Tightaz said:

Hi all,

So we've had an interesting development in our purchase recently.  I had organised for a Home Buyers Survey to be carried out on the property we are buying and the vendor didn't give access to the surveyor.  We have had a previous issue with a down valuation from the bank so the valuation was pretty important to us. So now we are in the hole for the cost of the survey and the alarm bells are ringing.  Should I be concerned?

Okay - as in there was a miscommunication about time/date of survey and the vendor wasn’t in? Probably not - get it rebooked. 

As in the vendor was there but refused to let the surveyor in? Yes, that’s alarm bell territory, assuming that the appointment had been made in advance. Consider looking elsewhere. 

The vendor doesnt live there anymore, so the place is empty.  The survey company had spoken to the vendor directly about getting access.  The survey company tried to text and call the day before and the day of the survey but no answer.....

Honestly, the EA should be handling all this. Is it an online EA (Purple bricks type)?

walwyn1978

Tightaz said:

walwyn1978 said:

Tightaz said:

Hi all,

So we've had an interesting development in our purchase recently.  I had organised for a Home Buyers Survey to be carried out on the property we are buying and the vendor didn't give access to the surveyor.  We have had a previous issue with a down valuation from the bank so the valuation was pretty important to us. So now we are in the hole for the cost of the survey and the alarm bells are ringing.  Should I be concerned?

Okay - as in there was a miscommunication about time/date of survey and the vendor wasn’t in? Probably not - get it rebooked. 

As in the vendor was there but refused to let the surveyor in? Yes, that’s alarm bell territory, assuming that the appointment had been made in advance. Consider looking elsewhere. 

The vendor doesnt live there anymore, so the place is empty.  The survey company had spoken to the vendor directly about getting access.  The survey company tried to text and call the day before and the day of the survey but no answer.....

Okay, that’s not great and yes I’d be getting concerned. 

Look at it this way - yes you’re down the cost of a survey (but as pointed out elsewhere in this thread I’d be pushing for a reduction in cost) but if this vendor is the kind to mess around and be hard to deal with, you could save yourself a lot of time/worry/possible costs by moving on and looking elsewhere....

robatwork

If the vendor isn't in residence then the EA should have the keys, and this is between the EA and Surveyor.

Experience says it's probably the EA's cockup, but they are masters are !!!!!! covering so don't ever expect to hear the truth on what happened.