Seller refusing to allow builder round for quotes before exchange

wild33

Hello all, first time buyer here.
We are pre-exchange on an older house, the survey showed some fairly urgent building work that needs doing on the roof - the flashing with the neighbour's roof is just a temporary flash tape, not properly sealed, so water is getting into the loft. We've been speaking to a builder who had agreed to go round to give us a quote. After mentioning this to the EA several times, we've just called them again to confirm a time for him to go round and now the seller says they won't let a builder go in until we've bought it. I'm inclined to just ask them to do the roof work themselves in that case - especially as we would probably need agreement from the neighbours to do it. I'm just wondering if there are any other options here - the sellers are keen for a quick sale as it's now vacant.
Thanks.

Mani_London

Hi wild33: I believe seller is scared that you will drop your offer. I would say be persistent that you want to get a quote from builder before doing a exchange as once you have exchanged there is no way back for you, unless you are happy to lose your exchange deposit of 10% or so

davidmcn

wild33 said:

the sellers are keen for a quick sale 

Are you keen for a quick purchase? If so, maybe then just get on with it and sort out the problem after you have keys.

AdrianC

Whatever you do, don't get them to do the work. You'll get the cheapest bodge possible.

The vendor is, of course, perfectly within their rights not to allow a builder to come and quote.
You are, of course, perfectly within yours to shrug and walk away as a direct result.

If the property is empty, then there's not even the "butbutbutcovid" excuse. So - feel free to read into their reluctance as much as you wish about the possibilities of damage having arisen from the leak.

Mani_London

Hi davidmcn: Don't you think if they are keen for a sale than they should let the builder to visit and produce a quote. It will take few hours and most probably keys will be with EA

eddddy

Why specifically doesn't the seller want the builder to go round?  That sounds a bit unreasonable.

For example is is...

• because the seller has something to hide?
• because the seller thinks you're looking for excuses to reduce your offer?

I definitely wouldn't ask the seller to fix the problem. I guess the seller did the current 'quick and cheap' fix with the flash tape - so they'll probably just do another 'quick and cheap' fix.

Mani_London

exactly. No reason of not allowing builder to go when property is vacant anyways. 

wild33

Thanks everyone. I think the roof flashing issue is because the house next door has a new roof, and our builder and surveyor suspect that it was their builders who did the botch job across our joint roof. It was our solicitor who recommended getting the current sellers to sort it for that reason, in case we end up in a dispute with the neighbours about sorting it (not that we'd ask the neighbours to pay for it). So the way I see it we have two options: to ask the sellers to sort it and add proper flashing, or to get written agreement from the neighbours that they won't pose a barrier to the work, and ask the sellers to knock a few grand off or allow us to get a proper quote. For obvious reasons I would prefer the former. 
@davidmcn - we are renting at the moment so a small delay doesn't make a difference to us, I'd rather not purchase and then discover it's a much bigger problem than we thought or get caught up in unpleasantness with our brand new neighbours.

lookstraightahead

We had a structural survey and we are going to check everything out before exchange. I would walk away otherwise.

What's the point of a survey otherwise? That's what it's for.

if your vendors think this is helping to sell you the property then they are mistaken. Of course, they will think you are going to use it as a negotiation tool, which is a different matter really (lots of people use a survey to get big reductions).

Don't be conned into buying before you've seen what you're buying.

Mani_London

Hi wild33: I would say defo get a proper look from your builder.

greatcrested

If seller won't allow builer in, that rings alarm bells. Don't buy without getting this checked and quoted.

And no, do not ask/demand the seller to fix anything. He has no incentive to do a 'proper' job.

Be prepared to walk away if you don't get cooperation. Or significantly drop your offer to take account of the unknown risk.