Estate Agent wants copy of Survey

moneysavinghero

If the works needed are 30k why you are looking at 50k off.
Yes the vendor is likely to tell you where to go if you ask for 50k off. They may be more willing to consider it if you send them a professional report saying that the property needs 50k of worth. But currently you only have a report saying £30k and you don't even want to show it (i guess it wouldn't go down well seeing a report for 30k and being asked for 50k).

kingstreet

If the vendor was my client, or I was their EA's advisor I'd be asking for a copy of your lender's mortgage report and valuation to back up your request for a price reduction, not this homebuyer's report.

SameOldRoundabout

Personally I’d send the shots of the worst bits along with cost implications and a lower offer figure. I definitely wouldn’t ask for £50k off as that cannot possibly be justified even by the surveyors (likely OTT) costs! If you want the house still, offer something, send your reasons and be prepared to negotiate. If it’s too much for you, walk away. 

purplebutterfly

If it helps at all, we are FTB  buying a property that sounds as though it has very similar issues to yours.  The difference is that we knew the vendor had already accepted the very lowest offer possible and we couldn't negotiate a new price.  Whereas you seem to be in a strong position if your seller needs to complete fast.

Ours is a 1920s property that, according to the survey, "needs" a complete central heating overhaul because the old radiators can't be individually thermostatically controlled and use old piping.  All the radiators work (we went round and checked for cold spots) and the water heating is fine.  The boiler was installed 10 years ago with no certificate  or building regs and had never been serviced until the vendor had it done last week.  Everything in tip-top condition, safe and efficient so , even though our survey recommends a complete new system, we won't be getting one.  The existing system is old but it is functional.

We also have the same asbestos warnings as you  - again, not something we are worried about as we won't be drilling holes into the ceilings so it isn't urgent.  Unless we choose to disturb the artex, it isn't an immediate danger. 

Original 1920's roof, no felt, torching mostly gone -  written survey recommends an entirely new roof within 5 years.  HOWEVER, after talking to the surveyor on the phone, he says it is in fair condition for its age and with regular maintenance to keep it watertight, we should be okay for up to 10 years.   At some point it will fail and need re-roofing but it isn't as desperately urgent as the written report makes it seem. We got some quotes from local roofers that were half of what the surveyor had estimated. 

We've also got a "missing" chimney breast in the kitchen that will need investigation and possibly expensive structural work in the future.

All of these things sound horrendous and the survey reads like a horror story BUT we spend an hour on the phone to the surveyor and it settled our minds. 

We have also paid for a full EICR of the house and that set our mind at rest there (the vendor very kindly paid for £200 worth of small remedial works).

It's entirely up to you what you want to offer but, if you love the house, maybe talk to the surveyor again and get some independent quotes so you can work out what true cost of immediate work is.   

We've been able to talk directly to our vendor and they have paid for various things that were flagged in the survey (missing/slipped roof tiles, gutter repairs, external pointing, render, electrical work) so these things have been done before we move in.   That might be an option if you can't get the price down as much as you want?   We did send them the relevant parts of the survey - I don't know why you wouldn't?  They can't do anything with it and you'll be sending it to your solicitor anyway.

purplebutterfly

DancingQueen93 said:

 instructed us to not send a copy of the survey to the estate agent/sellers under any circumstances! 

Is that usual?  I don't understand why that would be advised.  (FTB asking for my own general information purposes because that sounds really odd to me)

theoretica

What was your contract with the surveyor?  It may say that the report is for you only and not to be shared.

Chandler85

The problem you have is clearly the lender is happy or they would have told you otherwise.  So they will lend what you want against it.

I assume the house looks dated and in need of some modernisation.  There is very little you have mentioned that I think you can really argue to get more money off, you can replace a roof because it is old, but that doesn't mean it needs replacing and the vendor should reduce the price for you to do it (if it was leaking, then that's different).

The penetrating damp due to blown render, you could probably ask for a reduction due to that potentially. 

The electrics, get a sparky to take a look, a surveyor who isn't qualified (and boy to they make that clear very often) usually does some rear end covering, so I'm surprised they even commented.

Old Boiler that works and was serviced 12-18 months ago, well it is working and has been serviced relatively recently, if you want to replace it then you can do but that is your problem, not the vendors.

I think you need to look at the different type of property if you want a turnkey property for a needs work doing price.

Blue_bell_20

We copied a certain section of ours that was related to the work we thought should amount to the reduced offer (we asked for half the roof work, meeting in the middle). Get quotes first, surveyors usually over estimate, and it can be a lot! The surveyor said our roof would be 15k, roofers said 8k. Thats a 7k difference.

pinkshoes

DancingQueen93 said:
boiler and central heating system needs replacing due to age (has not been serviced since before lockdown 1 and no certificate given), flat roof of extension is significantly beyond life expectancy and needs replacing,

Just picking up on these two...

Lots of people don't service their boiler. I bought a house that had a 40 year old boiler, and we only got round to replacing it this year after 6 years!! Not ones did we have it serviced! Old doesn't mean it doesn't work, and the only reason we changed ours was due to a complete lack of thermostats for either hot water or heating!

Flat roofs always need replacing...

Don't forget the surveyor doesn't want to miss anything because you could hold them responsible, so they are going to be over-cautious. 

I would go and look round again, and this time take the survey and someone "technical" with you and have a proper look. 

Section62

DancingQueen93 said:

We obviously don’t have an accurate estimate yet apart from what the surveyor suggested and my family have advised us to offer MUCH lower to account for all work needed, the lack of completion certificates and inconvenience to life having all this building work carried out (ie £50k lower!!).

...
Would offering £50k lower be an insane idea and likely to make the seller pull out or would it provide a first step for negotiating to a more realistic price?

* note the seller has already moved out and overseas and wants to complete fast due to “financial commitments”. If we can’t reach an agreement we are more than happy to walk away.

Asking for a £50k reduction on an accepted offer for a property marketed as "Offers Over £280,000" could be described as 'optimistic'.

In that scenario a desire to complete fast due to “financial commitments” could work either way if you ask for that level of reduction - e.g. the vendor desperately needs some cash (but less than ~£230k) and accepts your reduction, or alternatively the “financial commitments” require them to raise £280k+ and your request for a reduction spooks them into thinking they won't get the money they need in time if they proceed with the sale to you.