Estate Agent contacting Surveyor?

greatcrested

Has the surveyor discussed with the EA? I doubt if he would as you are his client, not the EA.

hairymaclary

greatcrested said:

Has the surveyor discussed with the EA? I doubt if he would as you are his client, not the EA.

No, he just informed us that he'd been contacted by the EA. Said it's up to us as we are the client.

Smodlet

Yes, it would be reasonable but why should the buyer part with this information, for which they have paid, for nothing?  Why should the vendor not pay for this information or commission their own survey?  Yes, all it does is line surveyors' pockets but that is the crazy system we have in England, atm.

When we had just this issue with a house we were thinking of buying, we sent the relevant pages (not the whole report) to the vendors as we were communicating directly.  It was all news to them and, basically, they denied 90% of the surveyors findings.  Needless to say, we did not buy the house.

eddddy

Maybe don't jump to conclusions too quickly.

I was buying a property - the survey showed up a major problem - I reduced my offer massively - and the EA phoned up my surveyor without my consent. (It was a local EA and a local surveyor, so I think they 'kind-of' knew of each other.)

The EA then told the seller that he had spoken to the surveyor, and that the surveyor had confirmed everything I had said. And eventually the EA persuaded the seller to accept my reduced offer.

(TBH, the EA also tried to persuade me to increase my offer, but I made it clear that I wouldn't.)

The bottom line is that the EA just wants to close the sale - whether the price is a bit higher or lower is less important to the EA.

So you might want to think about how you can help the EA persuade the seller to accept your reduced offer. 



Edit to add...
And you are the surveyor's client - and as professional advisors, most surveyors would tend to 'act their client's best interests' when discussing a property with an EA. (i.e. they'd put your side of the case more strongly.)

greatcrested

hairymaclary said:

greatcrested said:

Has the surveyor discussed with the EA? I doubt if he would as you are his client, not the EA.

No, he just informed us that he'd been contacted by the EA. Said it's up to us as we are the client.

Then I'd be inclinded otell your surveyor not o discus wih the EA.

Then I'd contact the EA and show him the relevant part of the survey (again?) and repeat the point about the impact on the value of the property.

hairymaclary

eddddy said:

Maybe don't jump to conclusions too quickly.

I was buying a property - the survey showed up a major problem - I reduced my offer massively - and the EA phoned up my surveyor without my consent. (It was a local EA and a local surveyor, so I think they 'kind-of' knew of each other.)

The EA then told the seller that he had spoken to the surveyor, and that the surveyor had confirmed everything I had said. And eventually the EA persuaded the seller to accept my reduced offer.

(TBH, the EA also tried to persuade me to increase my offer, but I made it clear that I wouldn't.)

The bottom line is that the EA just wants to close the sale - whether the price is a bit higher or lower is less important to the EA.

So you might want to think about how you can help the EA persuade the seller to accept your reduced offer. 

Good advice, thank you. We're in a similar situation with both the EA and surveyor being local, so they do know each other. But I don't think they necessarily like each other!

davidmcn

hairymaclary said:

greatcrested said:

Has the surveyor discussed with the EA? I doubt if he would as you are his client, not the EA.

No, he just informed us that he'd been contacted by the EA. Said it's up to us as we are the client.

And did your surveyor suggest this was unusual?

hairymaclary

davidmcn said:

hairymaclary said:

greatcrested said:

Has the surveyor discussed with the EA? I doubt if he would as you are his client, not the EA.

No, he just informed us that he'd been contacted by the EA. Said it's up to us as we are the client.

And did your surveyor suggest this was unusual?

We haven't spoken to him yet, just received a message earlier to say EA wanted to speak to him. Just wanted to get others' views on what this might mean as we've never experienced it before.

AdrianC

The surveyor's done the right thing in not disclosing anything without your approval.

But, equally, unless you give your approval, the buyer is not going to take your request to renegotiate seriously.

Put the boot on the other foot. Would you?
"This survey says there's a load of problems! I want £20k off!"
Really? Can I have a look?
"No! But trust me..."

That's currently what you're saying to the vendor.

snollygoster7

What was the major problem and how much are you wanting off ?