Lost sale through survey results

evie1806

my estate agent rang this morning to say that due to the survey results the buyer has reduced her offer by £20k. Obviously not privy to the survey the things mentioned were: outside pointing needs attention, felt in roof needs replacing, something about the chimney, an internal crack, guttering needing replacing, decking needing replacing, external cladding needs replacing due to age and damp in kitchen due to outside cladding. The main problem was an internal wall removed in the kitchen not having an RSJ. I agree the cladding needs replacing due to age however there is no obvious damp in the kitchen and we have checked all the cupboards. The house is totally empty so everything can  be seen and inspected. The guttering is fine but an end part of the Sofia is wooden and started to rot. We only have one brick wall and on visual inspection the cement is solid. We have a boarded attic with no leaks but can’t comment on the felt. The chimney breast is completely boarded in so don’t know how he saw anything of concern. There is a very small crack under the windowsill of the box bedroom and where there used to be an arch it’s been boarded up so you can see a slight outline on the plaster. The kitchen wall was removed over 23yrs ago as it wasn’t there when I bought the house. I’ve had a builder friend round today who confirmed it wasn’t a load bearing wall so doesn’t need an RSJ and the load bearing wall is intact. The survey mentioned the roof being unstable due to this. Also should the decking, which I admit is about 15 yrs old but still in good state of repair have any bearing on a survey. We accepted £5k less than asking due to the kitchen needing modernising but she wants a further £20k reduction.  I think the gas and electrics also scored low but I think this is fairly common due to age of house built in 1950s. I realise without having specific details it’s difficult to comment accurately but I’m in a major panic now thinking the house is unsaleable unless I rectify the above. 

greatcrested

Those issues appear trivial on the face of it.

I suspect this is the buyer using the survey as an excuse to reduce the price due to COVID-19 nerves.

Your response will depend a lot on how badly you need this buyer. Do you have to move? Could you wait for another buyer? Either an outright refusal to drop the price (I suspect you'll lose the buyer though) or negotiate eg by offering £4K? £6K? off.

Oh, and ask to see the survey too!

Thrugelmir

£20k drop sounds like your prospective buyer wants you to pay for all the cosmetic refurbishment that they wish to undertake. 

Marshaltown

Having no idea as to what you consider to be a "fair" price then maybe meet the purchaser half way? If you consider that unreasonable then just state the asking price reflects the condition of the property and ask them to increase their offer? At the end of the day its a process of negotiation. When buying a property I always try to find out what the vendor won't accept and go from there.

evie1806

Thank you for your replies. It’s been on my mind all day and I think it must have been used as an excuse. I offered to drop another £7k as a knee jerk reaction (shock and worry) but the estate agent didn’t get back to me. This is the third sale to fall through. First chain collapsed and second failed the affordability so this has been going on since June last year. I’m at my wits end with worry. I’m mortgage free on this house from next month but wanted to sell to pay off credit card and make future planned purchases. Also the current climate is a real worry. I’m thinking of getting my own structural survey done and going from there. The house is a 3 bed semi in wales valued at £140 as needs modernisation. Accepted £135k. 

davidmcn

If it was "unsaleable" then your buyer would be walking away, not just trying to chip at the price.

greatcrested

I'd not waste money on your own survey. Ask to see the buyer's.

Even if he refuses, consider objectively each of the elements you've posted about (pointing, cladding, felt etc) and get a (decent) builder round to quote for the work. Be insistant about the builder giving an opinion about whether the work is genuinely a concern - some builders will simply see ££ and provide a quote for what you ask, needed or not. Other more repectable ones will give a genuine opinion "Well the felt's not that bad and doing no harm, but if you want it replaced...."

AdrianC

If the valuation takes into account the work, then your buyer's taking the michael. Another vote here for them being an opportunist around Covid.

diggingdude

Deffo ask to see survey. 

AlexMac

You can ask to see the survey; they can refuse...  All you can do is to negotiate; try a courteous reply, point by point to their concerns; eg

- your view that the missing wall was removed X years ago, your advisor says it wasn't structural and that as there has been no movement or carcking over that time, the building is stable and safe... etc
Then maybe offer a lesser reduction  of what you thiink is reasonable.

We speak from experience; your saga matches ours some years ago.  The buyer (of  what was actually my wife's house) sent round a surveyor who was obviously a mate.  They then tried to chisel 20k off (admittedly a much higher £300k price- so a smaller % than yours)  based on a long list of faults.  Some were kosher; for example,

- the need for roof repairs had already been priced in, as it was leaking a bit and the buyer wanted to replace it with a panoramic loft conversion.  

-  they discovered a little bit of  previously un-noticed, but genuine wood rot in the lower ground floor door lintle under the hall-floor porch...

But some were picky in the extreme; for example

-the fact that there were probably  toxic lead pipes from the street main to the main stopcock (like every other Victorian house; I replied, after a chat with the water board that this was usual in early 1900's properties and that  by now, calcium deposits in our hard water area mean that there was zero danger of lead leaching into the drinking supply)
- that there was no safety rail to a slightly elevated sloping side driveway (10 years later, they've not put any such rail in place, so it can't have been that dangerous)
- that as some of the lower floor was partially a basement (like half the Vicorian Housies in the are, build on sloping gound) it required external excavation of several cubic metres of soil, external tanking and backfilling with shingle...(10 years later, they've not put any such remedy in place; now has any other house in the street,,,)

My wife wanted to reply with words involving procreation and travel- or suggest that buy a new build.  I wound her down and we settled around £7k off.   So wheter your prospective buyers are either very inexperienced, naive and nervous, or trying it on, what really matters is wheter you can give them some reassurance and/or a few quid off- it will all depend on how much they like the House and the area!  Good luck

bombata

Hi, 
i am in a similar position to you, where our house sale looks like falling through for a third time. Our offer was reduced by 25 k but its not as much percentage wise at yours. We might just agree to the reduction as the house is empty and we are worried about the current climate. You can always reduce the price later and see what they say to the 7k discount. 
would ask for the survey too. Our buyer gave us his.