House sale survey

Karenhoward23

Hi everyone
my mother in law has put her house on the market having lived in it for 47 years. The house has been well maintained and any issues rectified immediately. She received an offer she accepted and the buyers had a survey done. They have since pulled out as say the survey is alarming (the surveyor was in the house approx 45mins) and on leaving told us the house was in excellent condition with no issues. 

The estate agent has tried to push them on what is wrong and eventually was told “things like it’s needs a new roof, the chimney needs pointing and restacking and the whole house needs rewiring”. All these points are a shock to us. We had an electrician out earlier in the year and he never advised of any issues with the house especially a total rewire and we have never had any concerns or issues with the electrics. The roof doesn’t leak, visually looks in good order and a local builder has today told us (without going up on it) he can see there is nothing wrong with it. 

Would you get a survey done yourself?
my mother in law in an elderly lady and scared that her house is unsafe as the buyer won’t let us see the report (we know and understand he doesn’t have to as he paid for it) but seems odd to me someone would refuse knowing they have scared the owner by saying it’s structurally unsound.

Anyanka1

If your mother in law has lived in the house for 47 years and has never had it rewired, that in itself says it probably needs to be rewired.  Are you able to post a picture of the consumer unit on here?  That might help a bit but I am pretty sure I would take one look and opt to rewire it, were I in the market.

The roof may be in the same case but again, without pictures, no-one can possibly know.  As you state, the potential buyer is under no obligation whatsoever to allow any access to the survey report although they might be persuaded to share the relevant sections if they wanted to negotiate the price.  I assume they do not.

Anyone who has lived in the same place (or with the same person) for 47 years is going to be blind to many of its (their) faults, largely because they probably occurred gradually.  If the roof fell in, presumably your MiL would notice that (no sarcasm intended, just an example)  Fresh eyes, especially those of house buyers with any kind of a clue, are naturally going to be looking for faults because, if they miss them, they will end up paying for them.  They are really just working out whether it is even worth paying for a survey when they can spot obvious issues themselves at this stage, I imagine.  Is your MiL prepared to negotiate?

powerful_Rogue

Karenhoward23 said:

Hi everyone
my mother in law has put her house on the market having lived in it for 47 years. The house has been well maintained and any issues rectified immediately. She received an offer she accepted and the buyers had a survey done. They have since pulled out as say the survey is alarming (the surveyor was in the house approx 45mins) and on leaving told us the house was in excellent condition with no issues. 

The estate agent has tried to push them on what is wrong and eventually was told “things like it’s needs a new roof, the chimney needs pointing and restacking and the whole house needs rewiring”. All these points are a shock to us. We had an electrician out earlier in the year and he never advised of any issues with the house especially a total rewire and we have never had any concerns or issues with the electrics. The roof doesn’t leak, visually looks in good order and a local builder has today told us (without going up on it) he can see there is nothing wrong with it. 

Would you get a survey done yourself?
my mother in law in an elderly lady and scared that her house is unsafe as the buyer won’t let us see the report (we know and understand he doesn’t have to as he paid for it) but seems odd to me someone would refuse knowing they have scared the owner by saying it’s structurally unsound.

Have never got a survey done when buying.

Sounds like they buyers have possibly read it wrong. For instance, the electrics don't meet the current standard etc - Which would be the case of every property except a new build.

Tell your mum not to worry.

Anyanka1

Sure, a property 47 days old might not comply with current standards and this would matter not a jot.  One 47 years old almost certainly needs attention.  Anyone who does not get either a survey, a structural engineer's report or, at the very least, ask a builder to view it with them is either buying a new build, is a builder/surveyor themselves or is asking for trouble, imho.

Karenhoward23

Anyanka1 said:

If your mother in law has lived in the house for 47 years and has never had it rewired, that in itself says it probably needs to be rewired.  Are you able to post a picture of the consumer unit on here?  That might help a bit but I am pretty sure I would take one look and opt to rewire it, were I in the market.

The roof may be in the same case but again, without pictures, no-one can possibly know.  As you state, the potential buyer is under no obligation whatsoever to allow any access to the survey report although they might be persuaded to share the relevant sections if they wanted to negotiate the price.  I assume they do not.

Anyone who has lived in the same place (or with the same person) for 47 years is going to be blind to many of its (their) faults, largely because they probably occurred gradually.  If the roof fell in, presumably your MiL would notice that (no sarcasm intended, just an example)  Fresh eyes, especially those of house buyers with any kind of a clue, are naturally going to be looking for faults because, if they miss them, they will end up paying for them.  They are really just working out whether it is even worth paying for a survey when they can spot obvious issues themselves at this stage, I imagine.  Is your MiL prepared to negotiate?

Hi,  thank you for your message and taking the time to apply - I agree with most of what you are saying with regards to being blind to your own property however, an electrician was in the house last year when a brand new kitchen was put in and checked the whole house and said no issues or recommendations hence we are surprised. 

I guess I’m more stunned a buyer would be happy scaring an elderly, recently widowed person with sketchy info that started with “the house is massively unsafe” and outright refuse to give more detail. I find that inhumane as it’s of no benefit to them but a massive scare to an elderly woman who is now worried her house is unsafe.

If the work does indeed need doing it would cost approx £10k - a large amount of money yes but not in terms of what the house is worth so we could raise the money to do it or indeed reduce the price. I just find it all very sad that it’s ok to scare people but not be open and honest.

I think we will get our own survey done for peace of mind 

Thrugelmir

Little point getting a survey if you aren't buying the property. The potential purchasers are simply adjusting their offer for the money that they expect to spend in the next few years. The value of the house is open to negotiation. How far under asking price was the offer that your mother accepted? 

Little different to being told by your garage that the brake discs or exhaust system on your car will need replacing. No immediate requirement but start budgeting for the expense. 

user1977

Your MIL lives there, she's got far less reason to be scared by the survey than the buyers who only have the surveyor (and their own eyes) to go on. Unfortunately buyers sometimes don't realise that they've effectively asked the surveyor to list all the defects in the property, and then freak out at the big list of often routine/trivial items, or disclaimers about things like the electrics.

purplebutterfly

Karenhoward23 said:

I guess I’m more stunned a buyer would be happy scaring an elderly, recently widowed person with sketchy info that started with “the house is massively unsafe” and outright refuse to give more detail. I find that inhumane as it’s of no benefit to them but a massive scare to an elderly woman who is now worried her house is unsafe.

 We had a survey done and our vendors asked us to tell them what it said.  They were more than a little shocked to be told that someone had removed a chimney breast in the kitchen prior to their moving in 20 years ago and this meant there was the potential for the chimney stack to come crashing through the roof.  I should add that it's a roof which is also apparently about to collapse and needs immediate replacement AND the chimney stack requires pointing and remedial repairs. 

All surveys suggest having an EICR because surveyors are not qualified to make judgements.  We were told to get one as it is a 100 year old house and might need an entire house re-wire (it doesn't).

Then we have the standard "potential asbestos in the ceiling" warnings as well as advice to check the ceilings as they are the original lathe and plaster and may have come loose from their fixings.

I paid a surveyor £500 for him to spend 4 and a half hours taking readings, measurements and photos in the house in order to report back ALL the potential problems.  This is what he did, giving worst-case scenarios in the written report.  

Talking to him on the phone was a different matter and things are nowhere near as bleak as the report might suggest. He did the job we paid him for by telling us all the issues he could identify. 

We DID forward the relevant sections to the vendors, as asked,  and they couldn't understand how it could possibly be referring to their much-loved and well-maintained family home.

I highly doubt that the potential buyers had any intention of scaring your MIL but probably got scared themselves by the survey and simply passed that on.  If they'd said they were pulling out because they didn't like the wallpaper, that would make them look like flaky buyers. 

youth_leader

I am sorry your MIL has been scared by this, it's fantastic she has you to help her, but don't pay for your own structural survey, I did and it was a waste of money.  Ask the buyer for extracts from their survey so you can take action, whatever has been highlighted may continue to put other buyers off.

I was widowed in 2016,  and ready to sell my listed building in 2018.  I knew the house needed renovation and decided to commission my own survey before I put my house on the market, so I could price it accurately. I went on the market in September 2019.  My buyer's surveyor was in the house for six and half hours and found far more '3's than mine had, the buyer convinced my EA the house was a 'great risk'.  My EA weren't listening to me when I put my own survey findings forward, and the buyer continued to chip at the price.  The negotiation was manipulative and ugly,  I withdrew from the sale and the EA and went to auction - where unfortunately this person offered the highest bid.  I'd had enough, and settled, I just had to move on.

babyblade41

It's why I never have surveys .. !!!!!! covering exercises at best 

Any house will not meet the electricity standards unless it was built in the last month 

Chimney pointing is an afternoons work with a man and a ladder (yes I do understand H & S) 
Maybe a tile has slipped on the roof, get the man with the ladder to have a look and replace as necessary 

Tel MIL she had a lucky escape as the potential buyers sounded like a right pain and would have made things difficult along the way 

AdrianC

Karenhoward23 said:

Anyanka1 said:

If your mother in law has lived in the house for 47 years and has never had it rewired, that in itself says it probably needs to be rewired.  Are you able to post a picture of the consumer unit on here?  That might help a bit but I am pretty sure I would take one look and opt to rewire it, were I in the market.

The roof may be in the same case but again, without pictures, no-one can possibly know.  As you state, the potential buyer is under no obligation whatsoever to allow any access to the survey report although they might be persuaded to share the relevant sections if they wanted to negotiate the price.  I assume they do not.

Anyone who has lived in the same place (or with the same person) for 47 years is going to be blind to many of its (their) faults, largely because they probably occurred gradually.  If the roof fell in, presumably your MiL would notice that (no sarcasm intended, just an example)  Fresh eyes, especially those of house buyers with any kind of a clue, are naturally going to be looking for faults because, if they miss them, they will end up paying for them.  They are really just working out whether it is even worth paying for a survey when they can spot obvious issues themselves at this stage, I imagine.  Is your MiL prepared to negotiate?

Hi,  thank you for your message and taking the time to apply - I agree with most of what you are saying with regards to being blind to your own property however, an electrician was in the house last year when a brand new kitchen was put in and checked the whole house and said no issues or recommendations hence we are surprised. 

I guess I’m more stunned a buyer would be happy scaring an elderly, recently widowed person with sketchy info that started with “the house is massively unsafe” and outright refuse to give more detail. I find that inhumane as it’s of no benefit to them but a massive scare to an elderly woman who is now worried her house is unsafe.

If the work does indeed need doing it would cost approx £10k - a large amount of money yes but not in terms of what the house is worth so we could raise the money to do it or indeed reduce the price. I just find it all very sad that it’s ok to scare people but not be open and honest.

I think we will get our own survey done for peace of mind 

I suspect it's as straightforward as the buyers (FTB?) getting scared and over-interpreting things.

Yes, the electrics may well be safe insofar as the testing required to go with the new kitchen would have checked. But if it's not been rewired in half a century, there will be minimal sockets, and probably rewirable fuses...? I bet the survey's simply said "Not modern standards, get it checked." - as they ALL do.

Yes, the roof may well be leak-proof and look good. But if it's not been touched in half a century, there may well be signs of work needed in the near future, and it may well benefit from upgrading in many ways.

Yes, the chimney may well look good. But if it's not been touched in half a century, there may well be signs of repointing needed in the near future.

The surveyor will have covered his backside with all of these - as you say, he was only there 45 min - and they've simply got scared. I very much doubt the survey would actually be half as doom and gloom as they've read it. Add in a bit of chinese whispers on the way from them to you...

The buyers owe you nothing. They've simply done what they're entitled to do... Walk away from the purchase before exchange.