Vendor won't negotiate following survey problems

mandi

lemon,
when an astate agent sees a property with regards to its marketing they do whats called a Market appraisal.. not a valuation.. the difference bieng that a market appraisal is a guide to the price the property would bring on the open market.. so in effect you could have 2 propertys next door to each other at the same price , one with work needed and the other with none.. esatate agents are not surveyors .. which is one of the reasons a survey is done.. so that they can look at the property closely and spot any work that needs to be done..

If I was in your position ( and im talking as an ex Esatate Agent) I would revise your offer to reflect the amount of work that need to be done, tell tha agent that it MUST remain on file and let the lady sweat!!!

Did she take the property off the market to give you chance to proceed?? its my guess that if shes waited 8 weeks for your survey without marketing .. shes gonna be pretty cheesed off if you dont proceed expecially as your FTB...

Furthermore, if she decides to market the property again, whoever offeres on it, will STILL NEED A SURVEY.. and the problems will still be there..

My final sugestion would be to leave your origional offer as it is BUT ask her to do the work required on the surveyors report.. that way you get the work done at the price you agreed..

PLease let me know how you get on

Mandi

meanmachine_2

Does no one else think it crazy that potential buyers have to keep getting surveys done on the SAME property?

This is madness. Why doesn't the vendor do it? It's their possession, it's their responsibility to maintain the property.

I'm guessing that these seller's packs will include a full survey? If they don't then they#re a total waste of time.

If I own a car I have to get it MOTd by law. Why don't homeowners have to do the same?

Crazy system. In fact, if the govt had any balls they'd totally revamp the current way of selling property. Maybe then we'd be able to dispense with EAs once and for all (current company excepted )

TheDink

My understanding of seller's packs is that they will include a basic survey - I don't know if this equates to a Hombuyer's Report/Level 2 survey or something more basic. It definitely won't be a "full" survey, so in the case of older properties in particular, buyers will still need to pay out for a more detailed survey to be completed.

Seller's packs should still help though - at least there will be a basic level survey to look at, which should provide an indication of the state of the property.

Lemoncurd

We've been so busy recently we haven't really wanted to think about this so have just gone a bit quiet on them.

Think they might be getting a bit worried now as the agent called yesterday wanting to know what was happening. We weren't ready to make a decision or issue any ultimatums so I delayed them.
The agent must have taken my enquiries about the neighbouring property seriously as she came up with lots of reasons why it was a no go - basically saying that they didn't think the owner wanted to sell any more - nonsense!! we chatted to the owner of the other property for ages when we viewed it and he was really enthusiastic about a sale. Shame both properties are on with the same agent otherwise they might see the other property as a threat and work a bit harder arguing our side with the vendor. Thinking about it the agents tried to put us off the other house all along, not sure what that says, the only thing we could think of was that it would probably be a lot easier to sell than the one we chose.

The agent said that they had all been through our survey and as it said that the property was a reasonable proposition for the price (this was before we got the additional reports done) they couldn't see any reason for a price drop. She was arguing that all surveyors recommend an electrical survey so that didn't matter - hmmm couldn't convince her that not ALL electrical surveys show that such drastic action is required.

We don't want to request that the vendor puts right the problems because we simply don't trust them to get it done properly. There are so many bodges it's unbelievable. They have "refitted" the kitchen, ensuite and cloakroom but none are finished properly, we'd need to do quite a bit in the cloakroom and kitchen to sort them out possibly having to replace some of the new fittings as they are unsuitable. We'd have to start almost from scratch with the ensuite, it is unusable at the moment.

I'm not telling the agent this but if we don't buy this house now we won't look at buying for another 18 months as we're expecting a baby in 3 months time and I'm taking a year off work. I think the decision is actually now going to be less to do with the house and more to do with whether or not we really want to buy or move now rather than 2006/7. If we really want to move the amount of money we're arguing over is quite small in the scheme of things.

elona

I think that you should tell the vendor of the other house that the agent is not seriously trying to sell his house as he deserves to know this. Could then either sue agent or go to other agent or sell privately to you if that is what you both want.

I would be very worried about buying the original house as you would always wonder "what else have they done to the place that is stupid or dangerous or both?"

You do not need this worry hanging over you with a small child to think about and to keep safe.

Lemoncurd

elona wrote:

I think that you should tell the vendor of the other house that the agent is not seriously trying to sell his house as he deserves to know this.

I think the same and really want to do this, would definitely bring it up if I saw them. Not really sure how to go about it otherwise though, it would seem a bit like "tell-taleing" and perhaps he really has changed his mind.

We don't want to buy his house though as I do think that would cost significantly more in the end. Also concerned that if the house we are trying to buy isn't put right and there is an electrical fire or something if could affect the other house (ok it probably wouldn't but you never know).

pandas66

Just on a legal aspect, all electrical work undertaken after Jan of this year has to be by an aprpoved electrican. If vendor under takes it then their solicitor has to see evidence of a regestered tradesman, you can insist on seeing certificates and guarrantees will transfer to new property owner. Same for any window installations since last summer have to be FENSA. Barge pole springs to mind now you've mentioned a new baby making their appearance in your life, the thoughts and worries on little/no sleep should be about baby not whether the house if falling down.

Bun

Lemoncurd wrote:

I'm not telling the agent this but if we don't buy this house now we won't look at buying for another 18 months as we're expecting a baby in 3 months time and I'm taking a year off work. I think the decision is actually now going to be less to do with the house and more to do with whether or not we really want to buy or move now rather than 2006/7. If we really want to move the amount of money we're arguing over is quite small in the scheme of things.

I dealt with our move (which fell through once) whilst on maternity leave with my four month old (finally moving when he was seven months old) and arranged everything that went with it. It was a complete nightmare and the stress is not what you need with a new baby if you can possibly help it. The resulting move however has meant that longer term I am much happier/less stressed and the new place is better for us and my son. If you feel that the long term benefits outway the time you will spend with a brand new baby, understandable money worries and organising builders (who you will not have the benefit of keeping an eye on every day) then keep going. If not I would do as others suggest and walk away. I apologise if this is not your first baby and you do know exactly what I mean already.

In terms of getting the mortgage, if you are in permanent employment, while you are on maternity leave you cannot be discriminated against, so they can take your full time salary into account. You would need pay slips to reflect your earnings if borrowing a high percentage so would need the ones straight after you leave (which will be reduced a bit), but for 75% self-cert and if you pass the credit check you don't.

Only do this obviously if you can afford the payments if you decide to reduce hours/not go back etc (before I get lynched as an irresponsible mse'er )

Good luck and I hope everything works out for you and your family.

meanmachine_2

Have to say, the vendor sounds like a nightmare. Walk away.

Worst case scenario is that, in 18 months' time property will still be at 2005 prices. Best case is that they will have corrected to the historical trend and are significantly cheaper.

I can almost guarantee that the day after you pull out the vendor will come back with an improved offer. If they don't then again count yourself lucky. She'll probably still be on the market in 18 months' time anyway. Looking at rightmove, some properties have been listed for AGES.

r.mac_2

Lemoncurd wrote:

We're practically ready to exchange (just waiting on stuff from vendors solicitor). We have paid/will pay £325 for the survey (should actually have been over £500 but think they made a mistake - shhhh) £280 for elec report, £90 for gas checks, £675 solicitor, approx £400 for searches and other costs. The solicitor might reduce her fees if we don't complete and there might be a couple of disbursements that will no longer be payable but that would prob only reduce it by a couple of hundred at the most.

.

First off I should point out that my experience is limited to Scotland and this posting is my opinion - nothing more!

Reading this post I feel I need to throw my tuppence in. I understand that you have spent money on surveyors fees etc, however these should never be seen as 'wasted' costs. Even if you don't get a property, or choose not to offer on a property or pull out of a property transaction, the surveyors report will inform your choice. It's that information you are paying for - so use it as wisely as possible. But please don't see this money as wasted, as it really isn't.

As you have indicated most surveyors are more than happy to discuss their reports in further detail and this is something you should take advantage of. They see property everyday and can often give good advice on various matter as well as suggest contacts etc.

edit: please always rememebr to use a chartered surveyor and get a homebuyers report - not just a valuation, which is often refered to as a survey! for further info see https://www.rics.org

The other thing I am a little confused about is that you say you are near completion stage, but sound like you have only just found out about the true costs involved. Without wanting to sound patronising (and I obviously don't know your circumstances) but I would suggest that this information should have been sought before an offer was submitted to the vendor. I do realise this isn't always possible, but it is the sensible option......

perhaps an expensive learning curve?

Anyway......as others have suggested buying a house isn't all about finances. When you are buying a home, love and emotion comes into it as much as anything else. I do hope it all works out for you Lemoncurd :wave: