Struggling to get quotes for work that was picked up on survey

Nile_E_Coyote

As title says. Survey picked up a few issues, mainly roofing. But nobody will give quotes because we 'don't own the property'. Even offering to pay them for it doesn't interest them.

The house is empty so they have to pick up and return the keys to the EA office. I'm sure this isn't helping.

Any experiences with getting people to actually quote work up for you? House purchase is basically at a standstill for 4 weeks due to this.

Nile_E_Coyote

A couple have said yes then disappeared from the planet.

eddddy

That's a fairly common response from tradespeople.

Often, prospective buyers are trying to get (free) surveys from tradespeople, and/or looking for tradespeople who will give them really expensive quotes. So that they can use the quotes to negotiate down the price.

Then, after buying, they look elsewhere for cheaper quotes or don't bother getting the work done at all.

I guess that all you can do is keep trying - and make it clear from the start of the conversation that you're prepared to pay for their time.



Edit to add...
Maybe say you'll pay for the quote, if they agree to deduct the cost of the quote from their final invoice if/when they eventually do the job. That might reassure them that you actually want to use them to do the job, eventually.

cattie

Sometimes ea's have contacts in the building trade, so have you asked them if they've anybody who can give you a rough estimate of work needed & likely cost?

Perhaps if you can say what points regarding roof surveyor highlighted, some people here might be able to advise on likely cost in your part of the world.(Obviously London & down south costs a lot more than up north).

princeofpounds

It's not an uncommon problem for the reasons edddy outlines, and the current situation doesn't help.

Your surveyor may be able to give you an estimate (not a quote of course) for cost of repair.

To be frank though, there is technically no need for a firm quote on paper. It's just a negotiation between yourself and the seller when it comes down to it. It's good process to get quotes but it shouldn't be a reason for holding up the transaction for months, even if you have to settle for a slightly lowball figure it might make sense just to agree one and get on with life.

Asking the EA for contacts may be a good idea. They may not be incentivised to find you the most expensive tradesman around, but they will be incentivised to get you access to one quickly (if they don't see it as a material conflict of interest).