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

hazyjo

JonMitchell said:

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.

It's a very different job to repair a standard pitched roof to a flat roof which actually has a very limited lifespan away. Think that's prob all they were getting at. It's very relevant.

Do you know how old the roof is?

need_an_answer

a renegotiation is an option,but expect the seller to reject the suggestion especially if the valuation of the property matches or is near to the purchase price.

I would never ask a seller to complete the work,as a buyer you have no control over the quality and it may well be that they repair to a standard that just gets the sale through and then perishes.

If possible I  would advise your buyer friends to get an estimate for repairs and rectification if possible and go from there...I am making the assumption that the survey suggests £3k to fix...the reality may be less.its not unusual for a survey fix figure to be higher than it actually costs to fix.

Ultimately I suspect your friends will need to fix these things at their expense once they own the property...but it might be worth asking for a contribution off the price of the property but you do run the risk of the seller walking away and your friends losing any money thay would need to pay a solicitor for example for a failed purchase....

JonMitchell

hazyjo said:

JonMitchell said:

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.

It's a very different job to repair a standard pitched roof to a flat roof which actually has a very limited lifespan away. Think that's prob all they were getting at. It's very relevant.

Do you know how old the roof is?

Thanks.
From the building surveyed report by the surveyor and second survey by the roofer, they both said the flat roof is around 15yrs old. 

JonMitchell

need_an_answer said:

a renegotiation is an option,but expect the seller to reject the suggestion especially if the valuation of the property matches or is near to the purchase price.

I would never ask a seller to complete the work,as a buyer you have no control over the quality and it may well be that they repair to a standard that just gets the sale through and then perishes.

If possible I  would advise your buyer friends to get an estimate for repairs and rectification if possible and go from there...I am making the assumption that the survey suggests £3k to fix...the reality may be less.its not unusual for a survey fix figure to be higher than it actually costs to fix.

Ultimately I suspect your friends will need to fix these things at their expense once they own the property...but it might be worth asking for a contribution off the price of the property but you do run the risk of the seller walking away and your friends losing any money thay would need to pay a solicitor for example for a failed purchase....

Thanks - there is always the risk of the seller walks away and my friend losing money, though I believe my friend had a home buyer protection insurance in place. If the seller walks away, hopefully and fingers cross, my friend should be compensated a portion from the insurance - one hopes!
If the seller does walk away, wouldn't he be facing the same problem few months down the line again and possibly in a worsened position to bargain as the repair had not been carried out (as far as my friend knows from his solicitor).

need_an_answer

There is always a chance that future buyers will get the same problems highlighted on a survey but each buyer is likely to have a different perspective on the issue and it may not be problematic for them in the same way it is for your friend.
If for example a builder buys the property they may not be so worried about the state of the roof whereas clearly at present it appears a "potentially defining factor" during this purchase.

I have never heard of a home buying policy that pays out against failed purchases where the buyer of the property pulls out....although I  dont doubt that some sort of policy exists...you live and learn.
I would perhaps take a guess that a failed purchase where the buyer rescinds on the offer without very good backup documentation would have been expensive to purchase?

FreeBear

JonMitchell said: From the building surveyed report by the surveyor and second survey by the roofer, they both said the flat roof is around 15yrs old.

A 15y.o. flat roof is near the end of its useful life. Whilst it could be repaired cheaply (pouring some roofing sealant on, or torching a bit of felt over the cracks), it would be much better to rip and replace. Build regs would kick in and require additional insulation (alsways a good thing) - It is a job to budget for once the house has been bought. That way, the new owner has better control over the quality of the job and is less likely to go for the cheapest (bodge job) option.

JonMitchell

need_an_answer said:

There is always a chance that future buyers will get the same problems highlighted on a survey but each buyer is likely to have a different perspective on the issue and it may not be problematic for them in the same way it is for your friend.
If for example a builder buys the property they may not be so worried about the state of the roof whereas clearly at present it appears a "potentially defining factor" during this purchase.

I have never heard of a home buying policy that pays out against failed purchases where the buyer of the property pulls out....although I  dont doubt that some sort of policy exists...you live and learn.
I would perhaps take a guess that a failed purchase where the buyer rescinds on the offer without very good backup documentation would have been expensive to purchase?

Err.... I believe the previous discussion was the seller walks away from the negotiation table. Not my friend wanting to pull out, never their intention, at least for now

JonMitchell

FreeBear said:

JonMitchell said: From the building surveyed report by the surveyor and second survey by the roofer, they both said the flat roof is around 15yrs old.

A 15y.o. flat roof is near the end of its useful life. Whilst it could be repaired cheaply (pouring some roofing sealant on, or torching a bit of felt over the cracks), it would be much better to rip and replace. Build regs would kick in and require additional insulation (alsways a good thing) - It is a job to budget for once the house has been bought. That way, the new owner has better control over the quality of the job and is less likely to go for the cheapest (bodge job) option.

Agree on this. 
I had a reread of the reports and there was some small prints saying that the flat roof is of rubber membrane, not the lower grade asphalt coverings type. If indeed it is rubber membrane, perhaps it has a longer life span??? 
But in any case, it needs repairing.....
Thanks for your thoughts   

happysellerbuyer

I had the same on my survey but not a flat roof. There was a leak. I asked the seller to repair before I can exchange. You don't want to move into a house with leaking roof. My surveyor was very helpful.

hazyjo

happysellerbuyer said:

You don't want to move into a house with leaking roof. My surveyor was very helpful.

You also don't really want the seller fixing. Could be filled with blu-tac for all you know...