House survey reported repairs - should one ask seller to repair or negotiate a reduced sale price

JonMitchell

Hi all
Thought I run through the following for some advice for a friend of mine who is trying to buy his first property. 
The home survey came back with:
a.) Roof leak (which is repairable rather than a new roof)
b.) Mould in one of the bedrooms.
c.) Leaky taps
The repairs comes to around £3K, not too big a repair costs on the face of it.
But being a first time buyer, he and his partner would be cash strapped and asked what would I do. I told them to negotiate for a reduced sale price with the seller and get the repair done themselves rather than getting the seller to repair it before exchange of contracts - as seller is never in the mood to repair at the moment.
Was wondering how the rest in this forum thinks and advise?


  

greatcrested

generally better to get repairs done yourself - the seller has no incentive but to do the cheapest bodge possible.

But an ongoing roof leak needs attention as it is causing damage. There again - what's the issue? One missing tile? or what?

Mould? Could be one of so many things it's meaningless to discuss. What 'repair' do you expect the seller to do?! Identify the cause and then consider.

Leaky taps? Ignore. Fix in due course.

davidmcn

JonMitchell said:

a.) Roof leak (which is repairable rather than a new roof)
b.) Mould in one of the bedrooms.
c.) Leaky taps
The repairs comes to around £3K

How does all that come to a figure as large as £3k?

hazyjo

What was it valued at? Less or the same?

They'll be lucky if the seller agrees to a reduction if the latter.

PS no, I'd not want the vendor to get it sorted.

I  certainly wouldn't be knocking money off for a leaking tap.

JonMitchell

greatcrested said:

generally better to get repairs done yourself - the seller has no incentive but to do the cheapest bodge possible.

But an ongoing roof leak needs attention as it is causing damage. There again - what's the issue? One missing tile? or what?

Mould? Could be one of so many things it's meaningless to discuss. What 'repair' do you expect the seller to do?! Identify the cause and then consider.

Leaky taps? Ignore. Fix in due course.

They have given me a glance of their survey.
30% of the roof is flat roof and the mould are directly under the flat roof - I can only ascertain that it might be due to the flat roof membrane that cracked or something that caused the mould. But again, mould tends to come from condensation within the property over long period of time. Anyway, I am no expert in this.....
Saying this, seller might revert and say not interested, no negotiation take it or leave it and I'll put in back to market. If the seller rejects and put it back to market, he might fail to attract offers in time for the stamp duty holiday that ends in March next year as the new buyers will pick up the same old problem again.
My FTB friends are still considering whether to negotiate a reduced sale price...

JonMitchell

hazyjo said:

What was it valued at? Less or the same?

They'll be lucky if the seller agrees to a reduction if the latter.

PS no, I'd not want the vendor to get it sorted.

I  certainly wouldn't be knocking money off for a leaking tap.

My apology, it was a building survey (structural) not a home survey as their mortgage offer had already been approved - desktop assessment and valuation. So no mention about new home value.

Tonyw193

Personally I'd want the job done myself by someone id trust. So, if those issued were concerning me id be looking forva reduced price. 

greatcrested

JonMitchell said:

greatcrested said:

generally better to get repairs done yourself - the seller has no incentive but to do the cheapest bodge possible.

But an ongoing roof leak needs attention as it is causing damage. There again - what's the issue? One missing tile? or what?

Mould? Could be one of so many things it's meaningless to discuss. What 'repair' do you expect the seller to do?! Identify the cause and then consider.

Leaky taps? Ignore. Fix in due course.

They have given me a glance of their survey.
30% of the roof is flat roof and the mould are directly under the flat roof - I can only ascertain that it might be due to the flat roof membrane that cracked or something that caused the mould. But again, mould tends to come from condensation within the property over long period of time. Anyway, I am no expert in this.....
Saying this, seller might revert and say not interested, no negotiation take it or leave it and I'll put in back to market. If the seller rejects and put it back to market, he might fail to attract offers in time for the stamp duty holiday that ends in March next year as the new buyers will pick up the same old problem again.
My FTB friends are still considering whether to negotiate a reduced sale price...

So the mould could be a leak in the flat roof felt, condensation (what room is beneath?), a blocked gutter (water often travels sideways....!) or something else.

So what is your friend going to ask the seller to 'fix'? Seller says "OK, I'll climb a ladder and clear the gutter." Sorted.

Except it might not be.

Speak to the surveyor!

JonMitchell

greatcrested said:

JonMitchell said:

greatcrested said:

generally better to get repairs done yourself - the seller has no incentive but to do the cheapest bodge possible.

But an ongoing roof leak needs attention as it is causing damage. There again - what's the issue? One missing tile? or what?

Mould? Could be one of so many things it's meaningless to discuss. What 'repair' do you expect the seller to do?! Identify the cause and then consider.

Leaky taps? Ignore. Fix in due course.

They have given me a glance of their survey.
30% of the roof is flat roof and the mould are directly under the flat roof - I can only ascertain that it might be due to the flat roof membrane that cracked or something that caused the mould. But again, mould tends to come from condensation within the property over long period of time. Anyway, I am no expert in this.....
Saying this, seller might revert and say not interested, no negotiation take it or leave it and I'll put in back to market. If the seller rejects and put it back to market, he might fail to attract offers in time for the stamp duty holiday that ends in March next year as the new buyers will pick up the same old problem again.
My FTB friends are still considering whether to negotiate a reduced sale price...

So the mould could be a leak in the flat roof felt, condensation (what room is beneath?), a blocked gutter (water often travels sideways....!) or something else.

So what is your friend going to ask the seller to 'fix'? Seller says "OK, I'll climb a ladder and clear the gutter." Sorted.

Except it might not be.

Speak to the surveyor!

Thanks. FYI - To answer your question.
Conversation with surveyor had already taken place. The surveyor and roofer (2nd survey) found few split membrane on the flat roof, thus the repair costs as detailed in report, mentioned in my OP (I should have mentioned in my OP that the repair costs was in the report least people misread it) - not an imagined cost that my FTB friend plucked from the air.
Downstairs is living room, no fire place. 

greatcrested

It is somewhat frustrating when information is drip-fed. Your OP simple said "roof leak". Then it bacame a flat roof. Then it appeared to be diagnosed via mould on the ceiling. Now it's 'few split membrane"!

Anything else relevant?

JonMitchell

greatcrested said:

It is somewhat frustrating when information is drip-fed. Your OP simple said "roof leak". Then it bacame a flat roof. Then it appeared to be diagnosed via mould on the ceiling. Now it's 'few split membrane"!

Anything else relevant?

Sorry if I have offended you in anyway to become so frustrated.
I was just asking for opinions from individuals of whether they would ask seller to repair or negotiate a reduced sales price (NOT A TON). Not going down the route of going to a drawing board to how and what to repair. 
Again, if I myself do find something annoying and lack information, I tend to chose not to comment rather than stirring up any irrelevant issues for others.
Have a good weekend.