Surveyors Report - Many errors

Thrugelmir

NeilC1965 said:

davidmcn said:

Have you checked the veracity of all of those rebuttals from the vendor?

Also, bear in mind that it's perfectly normal for surveys to recommend you get specialists in to check services, on the basis they're not gas etc experts - they will recommend you consider installations to be suspect until you've done that.

But even if everything there is true, I wouldn't say there's anything which looks all that significant a problem or would make me pull out. The whole point of a survey is to point out all the defects, not to tell you it's a lovely house.

I visited the property again. The vendor took me through all of the errors. They were all incorrect , and very easy to see for a non expert.

An important piece of information. So why did you pull out of the purchase?  

seradane

AdrianC said:

When you originally viewed the property, did you not notice things like the presence or absence of smoke alarms or wardrobes?
Did you not notice the doors or windows or conservatory at all?
Did you not notice that the consumer unit was an ancient rewireable-fuse one, not a breaker one like every one that's been fitted in the last forty years or so?
Did you not notice whether the ground slopes towards the house, away from it, or is flat?

If not, what DID you look at before placing your offer?

Am I the only person who takes literally dozens of photos on a second viewing of a place I'm very interested in offering on...?

When we viewed our place for the second time, we asked to take photos. The agent said no. And this was an empty probate property, so not like any privacy issues. So it is not always possible.

davidmcn

seradane said:

AdrianC said:

When you originally viewed the property, did you not notice things like the presence or absence of smoke alarms or wardrobes?
Did you not notice the doors or windows or conservatory at all?
Did you not notice that the consumer unit was an ancient rewireable-fuse one, not a breaker one like every one that's been fitted in the last forty years or so?
Did you not notice whether the ground slopes towards the house, away from it, or is flat?

If not, what DID you look at before placing your offer?

Am I the only person who takes literally dozens of photos on a second viewing of a place I'm very interested in offering on...?

When we viewed our place for the second time, we asked to take photos. The agent said no. And this was an empty probate property, so not like any privacy issues. So it is not always possible.

I wouldn't have bothered asking in those circumstances. What are they going to do - frogmarch you out?

Hannimal

You offered on a property that is at least 32 years old. Budget for maintenance. 

TBagpuss

OP, like others I am confused as to why you pulled out - it does sound as though the surveyor made some factual errors but some of the points made are valid, and the items like the heating and water the surveyor wouldn't' be qualified to test so the norm is always to get a separate report if you need one .

So I think you needed to decide whether you still want the house, in which case you can revive your offer and proceed, or if not, move on.

Either way,  by all means flag up the factual errors with the surveyor. I would however point out that the vendor does have a vested interest here - and some fo the the points are not necessarily mutually exclusive - it's possible that there are some issues with the pointing on the chimney even if it was re-done two years ago, for instance, and if the garden does slope downwards it is reasonable for the surveyor to flag up the possibility of flooding and any limitations with the current drainage, even if the sellers say they haven't had a problem (bear in mind that one person's interpretation may be different to another's - at what point does something turn from being a large puddle during / after rain and become temporary flooding, for instance? )

Missing the smoke alarms and built in cupboards is odd, and might worry me in the sense that it would raise the question of whether the surveyor might also have overlooked other, more relevant or concerning things,  but they wouldn't concern me beyond that as they are things you can see for yourself. 

lookstraightahead

I have to say that I rarely notice anything in other people's houses. Ok I try hard when looking at something to purchase, but i never notice people's colour scheme, windows, carpet colour etc, so when I'm looking for something to buy I'm off to a bad start already. 

babyblade41

I'd be pretty happy with that survey, but as I said before they pretty much all say the same thing, a second viewing would have confirmed any inaccuracy.

I'd probably not particularly want you as a buyer if you are this jumpy ...what else will make you pull out at the drop of a hat.


Like someone already stated , a new build might be the way to go but for me I'd have this one over a new build any day of the week.

Even if every one of those problems were correct I'd say they were maintenance more than anything else 

loveka

Even if the surveyor was right I wouldn't have pulled out! I mean, you would have been able to see what the windows were made of when you viewed it?

I had a buyer pull out of buying my house once.
The surveyor said that the brand new handmade bespoke kitchen was only just fit for purpose and should be ripped out!!!

He said the conservatory should be demolished because it was constructed 20 years ago.

He said he could find no evidence that there was a water supply in the bathroom. A brand new bathroom that had just cost us £10k. He just hadn't been able to work out how to turn the taps on!

newsgroupmonkey_

I think it's the wrong report. Probably a mix-up. I'd query it.

MaryNB

newsgroupmonkey_ said:

I think it's the wrong report. Probably a mix-up. I'd query it.

I was thinking something like this. Or the surveyor made the mistake of editing existing report rather than a blank template, or a bad copy and paste job. The searches report I got from my solicitor said I had a septic tank and this info matched what was in the PIF. The house does not have a septic tank, nor was this fact in the PIF.