Seller refusing to allow builder round for quotes before exchange

FreeBear

If it is just flashing on a roof, it shouldn't need anyone to go inside the property. Your builder should be able to give you an estimate from an external inspection (on Streetview perhaps ?).

Refusing access does raise red flags though.... What did your surveyor have to say about the state of the roof ?

wild33

greatcrested said:

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.

Thanks - that's the thing, with no quote we have no way of knowing what the job would cost, and therefore how much would be sensible to drop the offer by. Anyone have any experience with roof flashing and could offer a guide cost?

lookstraightahead

wild33 said:

greatcrested said:

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.

Thanks - that's the thing, with no quote we have no way of knowing what the job would cost, and therefore how much would be sensible to drop the offer by. Anyone have any experience with roof flashing and could offer a guide cost?

So you are wanting to renegotiate? If you do that, remember you will have to get your mortgage offer updated.

is it a house that you would expect to do work on?

wild33

lookstraightahead said:

wild33 said:

greatcrested said:

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.

Thanks - that's the thing, with no quote we have no way of knowing what the job would cost, and therefore how much would be sensible to drop the offer by. Anyone have any experience with roof flashing and could offer a guide cost?

So you are wanting to renegotiate? If you do that, remember you will have to get your mortgage offer updated.

is it a house that you would expect to do work on?

If the builder quoted us £500 for the work, we wouldn't renegotiate. But without a quote, I don't know what the true cost would be, so we would be tempted to reduce our offer significantly as we're essentially proceeding blindly. 

Mani_London

I would say definitely it is more than flashing on the roof and that is the reason seller is not allowing builder to have a look. I would have either dropped the offer by considering the worse case scenario and cost for that or just walk away. 

Anyanka1

I would not consider proceeding unless the sellers allow access for your builder.  I would want to see just what is going on in the loft... Inadequate flashing tape could mean anything from replacing it with the proper stuff (a few hundred quid, I would think) to replacing the entire roof and all the timbers (rafters, purlins, what are all those other things?)  Worst case scenario, you could be looking at the thick end of £10,000.

If things were that bad, I would imagine you would have seen/smelt the signs but there are various ways of covering up the damage temporarily:  New paint can stink, so can bleach, so can incense...  Without more to go on, it is all guesswork, as usual on forums.

Whatever you decide, good luck with it all.

AdrianC

wild33 said:

greatcrested said:

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.

Thanks - that's the thing, with no quote we have no way of knowing what the job would cost, and therefore how much would be sensible to drop the offer by. Anyone have any experience with roof flashing and could offer a guide cost?

Don't forget that the vendor is under no obligation to agree to any reduction in the offer, either.

So, again, we come back to whether you'll walk away...

lookstraightahead

wild33 said:

lookstraightahead said:

wild33 said:

greatcrested said:

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.

Thanks - that's the thing, with no quote we have no way of knowing what the job would cost, and therefore how much would be sensible to drop the offer by. Anyone have any experience with roof flashing and could offer a guide cost?

So you are wanting to renegotiate? If you do that, remember you will have to get your mortgage offer updated.

is it a house that you would expect to do work on?

If the builder quoted us £500 for the work, we wouldn't renegotiate. But without a quote, I don't know what the true cost would be, so we would be tempted to reduce our offer significantly as we're essentially proceeding blindly. 

My choice would either be get a quote or walk away.

the while reducing the offer thing at this point is all very hot and miss. It might be nothing, it might be a new roof / loft.

FreeBear

wild33 said:  with no quote we have no way of knowing what the job would cost, and therefore how much would be sensible to drop the offer by. Anyone have any experience with roof flashing and could offer a guide cost?

Had quotes to do the flashing around my chimney last year (a typical post war 3 bed semi). One was for £400, the second, just shy of £300. East of England... London quotes would be quite a bit higher, but up North, I would expect a similar price.

To strip and reroof, I'm looking at £5-7K as long as the timbers are sound.

It may pay to have an informal chat with your surveyor and see what he (she) thinks the repair costs are likely to be.

Scotbot

I would also get a quote or walk away for the simple reason the house is vacant so no good reason not to let a builder have access