Actions following survey

tallguy19991

Hi

I am a 30 year old first time buyer going through the buying process. I have just had my survey done, I wasn't expecting my survey to be perfect especially given the house was built In the 1940s. The house is well looked after therefore I didn't expect there to be too many concerns, luckily for me there doesn't seem to be. 

The biggest concerns on the report are 
1) The property has one chimney stack which is of rendered construction.

We noted dampness to the chimney breast within the roof space where the chimney stack passes into the

property. We are of the opinion that this is caused by leaking flashings.

We also noted that the flashings are loose in places and repairs are required to prevent damp penetration from

occurring.

The cement render to the stack is cracking in places and re-rendering is required to prevent damp penetration

2)The walls to the property are of Easi-Form construction. This is a type of cavity construction using poured in-situ

concrete to form both leaves of the wall. Steel reinforcement may be present in either, both or none of the

leaves and its presence cannot be determined without detailed investigations which are outside the scope of

this report.

The rendered wall surfaces are cracked in places. Damaged rendering can cause dampness internally and the

affected areas should be repaired.

It is a lovely house and see no reason to walk away based on the outcome of the report. 

I am very lucky that the vendors are very genuine they are an elderly couple downsizing and have already carried out a lot of checks and precautions to make sure the house is in good condition for me as a first time buyer i.e repainted, recent gas the electrical checks etc. They have also thrown In a lot of useful freebies which will help me settle in my first few days/weeks worth a good few hundred quid.  They have been very open and honest and have been forthcoming with any defects that they have resolved before I move in. I genuinely feel like I have gained two new friends (100% on my Xmas card list!) 

They have said that once I get the survey to let them know what the issues are and they will resolve them. My natural instinct was to ring/text then regarding the above which I'm confident they would resolve or at least get it looked into. Would I be ok doing this given the great rapport we have built so far? Or should I go through my solicitors. I don't want to sour the relationship we have built by feeling like I'm going behind their back. But I'm also concerned if they don't do the work to the correct standard/complete at all then I have to challenge them on that which I don't want to and things get messy. 

The report has confirmed that there is nothing that has been discovered on the report which should lower the value and this is a good purchase. Nevertheless, I would like to get the issues resolved before moving in if possible. I'm not looking to get the value altered, unless they refuse to do the work. 

Any advice would be welcome as to what my next steps should be. 

 Thanks in advance  

tooldle

Does the survey valuation match or exceed your offer? If it does the seller may be disinclined to undertake any works. 

Redwino222

To be honest I would see these as resolvable issues that I would be prepared to address myself, and indeed would have expected in an 80 year old house that has been cared for but not fully renovated.  

P

ssparks2003

It's a 80+ year old house that requires a a bit of maintenance, a couple of thousand for the works tops.

I assume you were aware it was not a new build when you viewed, so why are you now expecting them to resolve? 

If its an issue buy a nice new house and have the fun of peeling the plastic wrap off the new shiny toys, as it would appear that older houses may not be for you.

Redwino222

I would also say that if I was the owner I would be a bit amused by your attitude.  It’s naive at best.  But as the previous poster has said this is an eighty year old house, you must have known it wouldn’t be perfect.

this is a lovely couple, but if you were my buyer I would tell you either proceed with the sale or take a hike🙂

tallguy19991

Sorry apologies to all those who knew everything when they bought their first house. I was just asking for some advice. I'm happy to admit I'm naive I have never done this before. Thanks for feedback anyways. 

We live in a world where it is frowned upon to ask those who know more than us lol how else are we to learn?

MaryNB

tallguy19991 said:

They have said that once I get the survey to let them know what the issues are and they will resolve them. My natural instinct was to ring/text then regarding the above which I'm confident they would resolve or at least get it looked into. Would I be ok doing this given the great rapport we have built so far? Or should I go through my solicitors. I don't want to sour the relationship we have built by feeling like I'm going behind their back. But I'm also concerned if they don't do the work to the correct standard/complete at all then I have to challenge them on that which I don't want to and things get messy. 

The report has confirmed that there is nothing that has been discovered on the report which should lower the value and this is a good purchase. Nevertheless, I would like to get the issues resolved before moving in if possible. I'm not looking to get the value altered, unless they refuse to do the work. 

Any advice would be welcome as to what my next steps should be. 

 Thanks in advance  

I think this is very unfair. They've been far more generous than most sellers would be. On one hand you acknowledge you weren't expecting a perfect house but on the other you are looking to alter the value if they refuse to do the repairs, despite the report confirming that nothing noted should lower the value. There is zero obligation on any seller to carry out repairs noted in the survey report. Cracked render is not unusual and you should have been able to see it during the viewing and accounted for it in your offer. Leaking flashing is not major work. Nether of these things sound unreasonable for a house of that age. No house you buy will be perfect and there's no obligation on any sellers to bring it up to a perfect standard. I mean of course you're not obliged to buy the house if they don't but you will be waiting a very long time if you are trying to buy an older house that is in perfect condition.  

My Homebuyers report had plenty of reds but the surveyor valued it at the price I offered and said these issues were expected for a house of that age. I've lived in plenty of old houses so I knew they were far from perfect when I offered. I'm also an FTB but accepted that maintenance and repairs were part and parcel of buying an old house and I budgeted for it. 

tallguy19991

Ps I swear I said in my post I wasn't expecting the survey to come back perfect? I wasn't. And to make it clear there are other things in the report of concern I posted only a couple as these were the ones I wanted advice on. I wasn't sure if they were major issues or not. I haven't asked for the work to be carried out, they had an inkling of the issue when they spoke to the surveyor on the visit and they offered to sort it before I moved in. I just wondered what the best approach was next 

MaryNB

tallguy19991 said:

Ps I swear I said in my post I wasn't expecting the survey to come back perfect? I wasn't. And to make it clear there are other things in the report of concern I posted only a couple as these were the ones I wanted advice on. I wasn't sure if they were major issues or not. I haven't asked for the work to be carried out, they had an inkling of the issue when they spoke to the surveyor on the visit and they offered to sort it before I moved in. I just wondered what the best approach was next 

And I swear I acknowledged that in my post....

MaryNB said:

tallguy19991 said:

They have said that once I get the survey to let them know what the issues are and they will resolve them. My natural instinct was to ring/text then regarding the above which I'm confident they would resolve or at least get it looked into. Would I be ok doing this given the great rapport we have built so far? Or should I go through my solicitors. I don't want to sour the relationship we have built by feeling like I'm going behind their back. But I'm also concerned if they don't do the work to the correct standard/complete at all then I have to challenge them on that which I don't want to and things get messy. 

The report has confirmed that there is nothing that has been discovered on the report which should lower the value and this is a good purchase. Nevertheless, I would like to get the issues resolved before moving in if possible. I'm not looking to get the value altered, unless they refuse to do the work. 

Any advice would be welcome as to what my next steps should be. 

 Thanks in advance  

I think this is very unfair. They've been far more generous than most sellers would be. On one hand you acknowledge you weren't expecting a perfect house but on the other you are looking to alter the value if they refuse to do the repairs, despite the report confirming that nothing noted should lower the value. 

Fiesto88

tallguy19991 said:

Ps I swear I said in my post I wasn't expecting the survey to come back perfect? I wasn't. And to make it clear there are other things in the report of concern I posted only a couple as these were the ones I wanted advice on. I wasn't sure if they were major issues or not. I haven't asked for the work to be carried out, they had an inkling of the issue when they spoke to the surveyor on the visit and they offered to sort it before I moved in. I just wondered what the best approach was next 

I’d just send them a message to say everything’s fine with the survey. Apart from anything else, you’re much better off having the work done post completion - that way it’s being done to your satisfaction and not somebody else’s. 

Redwino222

It just feels like you are taking advantage of this lovely couple.  They should never have offered to resolve issues on a survey, no one in their right mind would make this commitment.

i hope they are talking to their family and solicitor about theta they are doing.  You have stated you expect them to resolve The issue or you will reduce your offer.  That is fair enough if it’s how you want to play it, but my heart goes out to this couple who seem clueless.  They should be getting advice on how to manage this situation, and how to deal with demanding buyer who is contacting them directly.

I suppose we all have our own set of values.  I would be uncomfortable with this situation and wouldn’t want to take advantage.