Actions following survey

tallguy19991

I really value everyone's feedback. I genuinely didn't know the extent of the work required from what you are all saying it isn't major. My comment about wanting to lower my asking price was misplaced and was based on it potentially being major and costly repair work doing (you hear those horror stories of people ending up with a bill for 000s after they move in) They are a lovely couple and no way would I try take advantage. 

I make it clear I don't profess to be an expert which is why I came on here 

Mutton_Geoff

Be sure what you are buying if it's Laing Easi-Form construction. Some lenders might not mortgage them as they are "non standard" construction although there must be thousands of them still standing 70 years after they were built.

What sort of survey did you have done? Proper surveyors are always at the end of the phone to answer your questions and will speak a lot more than they will write (for liability reasons).

md258

Our surveyor gave us a very quick "no reason why you shouldn't buy it" phone call straight after he'd seen it, followed by a written report and a phone call to answer any questions we had.

In your situation, I'd send the sellers a message saying that there's nothing on the survey that worries you and thanks for their offer. That way, if they do see the survey, you can dismiss the points on it as not worrying you and you can get the work done later to your standard.

verytired11

tallguy19991 said:

I really value everyone's feedback. I genuinely didn't know the extent of the work required from what you are all saying it isn't major. My comment about wanting to lower my asking price was misplaced and was based on it potentially being major and costly repair work doing (you hear those horror stories of people ending up with a bill for 000s after they move in) They are a lovely couple and no way would I try take advantage. 

I make it clear I don't profess to be an expert which is why I came on here 

It sounds like a situation that has been partly caused by dynamics on both sides.  The fact that the couple are agreeing to resolve any issues out of the survey is slightly unusual - I would expect the survey results to result in a renegotiation of price if there was anything major and unforeseen, but usually a buyer of an old property would expect to have to do quite a bit of work on moving in (unless the house was recently renovated by previous owners, which would be obvious on viewing and reflected in the asking price).  The two questions I would be finding out answers to are 1. how much will it cost to make the repairs and is that an unusually significant amount and 2. why are the sellers bending over backwards to be so nice - naivety or hiding something?  Personally, I don't understand what the implications are of the non-standard construction and would want some advice from the surveyor as to what it means.  Is the surveyor just covering themselves or is there a likelihood of problems with it and if so what type of problems - a total rebuild costing huge amounts or a bit of repair work?  Good luck! Buying a house is very anxiety provoking.

WoozieSioux_tse

As the vendors are being quite helpful, why not ask them if they wouldn't mind if you had an actual roofer out to quote for repairs? Explain that it's not to start renegotiating on price, just so that you know what the cost of repair is likely to be so you can budget for it? If it turns out to be thousands, then you might have to pull out, but if it's only going to be a few hours repair work plus scaffolding, you'd be daft not to just pay for it yourself. That way, you'll still be on the vendors Christmas card list too!

edgex

Mutton_Geoff said:

Be sure what you are buying if it's Laing Easi-Form construction. Some lenders might not mortgage them as they are "non standard" construction although there must be thousands of them still standing 70 years after they were built.

What sort of survey did you have done? Proper surveyors are always at the end of the phone to answer your questions and will speak a lot more than they will write (for liability reasons).

Laing Easi-Form is the better non-standard construction, & isn't on the 'defective' list.
There's loads of them all over the country, & they regularly sell.


To the OP;

render is basically a long-term decorative feature, so it cracking in a few places isn't a big issue, as long as you know why it's cracking.
You need to have a good look around/above any openings.

It's worth looking at having the render removed & redone with external wall insulation + render.