Negotiation after survey

Carrot007

Mutton_Geoff said:

I'm not convinced FTBers are better buyers, they will not be familiar with the process, be jumpy with the progress, be stretching themselves to the limit financially read too much into backside covering surveys etc.

You forgot to include, expect the completion date to perfectly align with their rental period to avoid paying twice ;-)

First time buyers have one advantage. No downward chain. Everything else is a massive negative. Some properties are "first time buyer homes" so you have to sell mainly to that market.

Katie_96

Carrot007 said:

Mutton_Geoff said:

I'm not convinced FTBers are better buyers, they will not be familiar with the process, be jumpy with the progress, be stretching themselves to the limit financially read too much into backside covering surveys etc.

You forgot to include, expect the completion date to perfectly align with their rental period to avoid paying twice ;-)

Katie_96

Carrot007 said:

Mutton_Geoff said:

I'm not convinced FTBers are better buyers, they will not be familiar with the process, be jumpy with the progress, be stretching themselves to the limit financially read too much into backside covering surveys etc.

You forgot to include, expect the completion date to perfectly align with their rental period to avoid paying twice ;-)

Our contract end at the end of April and I pay my rent to my housemate when I get paid (22nd of the month). Unless we complete in less than a month, we won't be paying twice.  If we complete after the end of the contract, we can stay with family for a few weeks and hope our stuff fits in garages. 

Carrot007

Katie_96 said:

We literally do not have the cash to do the work after putting the deposit down. It's not a case of playing hardball and it's not a case of making the house how we want, it's a case of making it safe and not having the kitchen ceiling cave in. I really do not have the personality to play hardball - hence why we're only pay £950 under the asking price. 
We really want it and if we had the cash, I don't even think I'd bother with the stress of trying to negotiate the price down - I want an easy life. 

You are not lining yourself up for one. Pull out you have aimed too high.

What happens when the often occuring points of house ownership come up and you need another £2000 right now to fix something? Insurance does not cover general repairs. A new boiler. Bad sewer (if you uae the sewer cover too much they will enventually get rid of you after determining the whol;e thing needs changing and you are abusing the cover).

To put it bluntly, when owning a home you will need fast accecss to emergency funds at all times. Plus the ability to trake aout a loan for up to 20K for bigger things which do and will occur.

I say this with all the best wishes. If a small £2000 is causing troubles now, bail.

Katie_96

I think buying a sofa on sale in TK Maxx has jinxed the survey tbh. 
It was VERY comfy though. 

SameOldRoundabout

TK Maxx sell sofas?! 

In all seriousness I wounding renegotiate over that. He sounds stubborn and if the value reflects what you’re paying I don’t think you have much to fight on. If you love it, prioritise and live with certain things until you can afford it. 

oystercatcher

Sounds to me that you can't afford this house. If I was the vendor I wouldn't drop.  
The only other thing is go back to the spreadsheets and play. Can the french doors wait ? Can you rip out the carpets and live with bare floors for a few months ? Send the sofa back and use something cheaper for a bit? 
It does sound like this house could be a money pit though and it doesn't sound like you have a money tree to plant.
You may well find something better if you pull out, save up for a bit longer and keep looking.

Jeepers_Creepers

"The big ones are related to the chimneys. One is possibly unstable, but I'm less concerned about that - if it falls downs, it's shared with next door and buildings insurance can cover that. The other rear chimney breast is more of a concern. The chimney breast was removed downstairs, in the kitchen, but not further up the house. My dad's gut was it's probably okay. The kitchen is about 15 years old and the chimney breast would have been removed at that point, or before and if there was sagging, we'd see it - but we need a builder to have a look. We've forwarded it to the builder that did the work on my partner's parents' house and he said if it is an issue, it would likely cost around £2,000, but he'd need a look to see if it is a problem and to give a proper quote."

Hi Katie.

Two chimney stacks - one is 'possibly unstable'. If it is in genuinely poor repair and possibly unstable, then you will need to think carefully how you fill out the part in your buildings insurance application form where it asks if your home is in 'a good state of repair'. How will you answer this?

The other chimney stack might be an issue, or it might not. You simply don't know. And you won't know unless you either get a builder to have a look at how the remaining stack was left supported upstairs, or the current owner provides proof of it having been done properly if they were the owners when the work was done - surely they should know?

Based on that, I don't know how anyone on here can suggest what you do with your offer - it is surely a gamble, and only you can make that judgement? You could try a lower offer taking into account possible repairs, but that might mean you lose the house. I don't know what anyone on here can suggest - I've certainly no idea :-(

markin

You've snookered yourself by giving them the survey value, Have you seen photos of next door that would justify if being 14K lower?

Realistically you can just save up a year or so If the is work needing doing, The Only urgent thing for you seems to be the carpets. And to save money you could just slap some varnish down on the floorboards for the first year.

bucksbloke

I think you are being fixated on trying to solve a problem that might not be that important. f the property is standing up now - it will still be stood up tomorrow.