Odd homebuyers report?

bbh1989

We are in the process of selling our house and have recently had the surveyor in from our buyers who were kind enough to share the report with us as the sellers. I will say that everything is progressing nicely and our buyers are happy with everything - But some of the things mentioned in the survey we found rather odd and wondered if this is standard or if they really are usual things for a surveyor say:

Firstly the survey claimed “No smoke alarms in property” - This is more blatantly wrong than odd, as there are smoke alarms, and in fact they were brand new so stick out like a sore thumb!

“Garage door needs repainting” - probably true but it’s a metal door that could just use a lick of paint - Hardly something that needs flagging in a survey?

“Living room contains many boxes - these need to be removed” - ummm yeah .. we have packed up the house ready to move which the surveyor knew - does a buyer really need to know that? 

“Kitchen decor is dated and NEEDS to be updated” - again not exactly a material factor and surely the buyers choice .. I think a little liberal with the term “needs” 

“hallway walls in need of repainting” - again true but do people really need to spend £600 to be told this sort of stuff?

“Small amount of debris in garden needs to be removed prior to completion” - while the surveyor was conducting I explained that I was in the process of cutting up an old sofa and that it was going to the tip the next day .. I mean leaving the house free of stuff like that is a contractual obligation anyway so why bother mentioning it? 

Anyway to us it seems like our buyers wasted their money a bit but we get why people get home buyers report - just wondering what people’s thoughts on the above are and if you have ever had ridiculous things put in your reports? 

theoretica

Would the buyers feel they had wasted their money more if they spent the same amount and report came back really, really short? 

bbh1989

theoretica said:

Would the buyers feel they had wasted their money more if they spent the same amount and report came back really, really short? 

Probably to be fair, but is that a reason to pad it out with stuff that’s either immaterial or factually wrong? 

theoretica

bbh1989 said:

theoretica said:

Would the buyers feel they had wasted their money more if they spent the same amount and report came back really, really short? 

Probably to be fair, but is that a reason to pad it out with stuff that’s either immaterial or factually wrong? 

Actually the immaterial stuff does serve some purpose - in demonstrating the surveyor was there, and paying attention.  So the garage door mention shows that the surveyor made it to the garage, found nothing more significant to comment on, and may be an appreciated pointer for a buyer who has so many things to think about that they might have never considered painting it.  The boxes in the living room cover the surveyor's back if some of them were hiding the hole in the floor...

lincroft1710

Are your buyers visually impaired?

bbh1989

theoretica said:

bbh1989 said:

theoretica said:

Would the buyers feel they had wasted their money more if they spent the same amount and report came back really, really short? 

Probably to be fair, but is that a reason to pad it out with stuff that’s either immaterial or factually wrong? 

Actually the immaterial stuff does serve some purpose - in demonstrating the surveyor was there, and paying attention.  So the garage door mention shows that the surveyor made it to the garage, found nothing more significant to comment on, and may be an appreciated pointer for a buyer who has so many things to think about that they might have never considered painting it.  The boxes in the living room cover the surveyor's back if some of them were hiding the hole in the floor...

Fair point to be honest 

NameUnavailable

A survey should pick up ALL defects or areas for improvement. Not sure why you think it's a problem?

Re. smoke alarms they tend to ignore the battery type - probably should have expanded to say wired smoke detectors (to be fair a lot of survey content is cut n paste stuff that's the same for all).

Boxes comment is !!!!!! covering in case it was blocking access or sight of some issue i.e. a damp patch on the wall etc.

bbh1989

lincroft1710 said:

Are your buyers visually impaired?

No lol - I mean they drove to the place when they viewed… although saying that I once pulled up at a petrol station to fill my tires with air and they had instructions in Braille so there might be a few blind drivers out there 🤷🏻‍♂️

robatwork

bbh1989 said:

Firstly the survey claimed “No smoke alarms in property” - This is more blatantly wrong than odd, as there are smoke alarms, and in fact they were brand new so stick out like a sore thumb!

No excuse for this - are they mains powered? If not maybe he meant to point this out. But v poor.

“Garage door needs repainting” - probably true but it’s a metal door that could just use a lick of paint - Hardly something that needs flagging in a survey?

Valid point

“Living room contains many boxes - these need to be removed” - ummm yeah .. we have packed up the house ready to move which the surveyor knew - does a buyer really need to know that? 

Already pointed out that this could be to hide something dodgy, and he can't move them

“Kitchen decor is dated and NEEDS to be updated” - again not exactly a material factor and surely the buyers choice .. I think a little liberal with the term “needs” 

Just wrong. Nothing dated NEEDS to be updated. Was it your upper case? Again v poor if water/gas/cooker works

“hallway walls in need of repainting” - again true but do people really need to spend £600 to be told this sort of stuff?

Valid 

“Small amount of debris in garden needs to be removed prior to completion” - while the surveyor was conducting I explained that I was in the process of cutting up an old sofa and that it was going to the tip the next day .. I mean leaving the house free of stuff like that is a contractual obligation anyway so why bother mentioning it? 

Nonsense

Anyway to us it seems like our buyers wasted their money a bit but we get why people get home buyers report - just wondering what people’s thoughts on the above are and if you have ever had ridiculous things put in your reports? 

Overall about C+ for this surveyor, must try harder, see me after exchange.

PollyWollyDoodle

My buyers’ survey report was more like a snagging list for a new build. Only a few parts were shared with me, but I was practically incandescent when I read them.

“bedroom door does not close, remove from hinges, refit and rehang door”. If the surveyor had glanced upwards he would have seen a metal rail hooked over the door which I used to hang laundry on. It wasn’t even screwed to the door, and if he had lifted that off the door closed perfectly. 

There was also a picture of the loft with my belongings in marked “storage in loft could be overloading the joists and should be removed”. I doubt that a box of Christmas decorations (plastic, so the contents were visible) was going to overload the joists. Moreover, it should have been bleedin’ obvious that they were my things and would be leaving with me!  We’re not talking about ‘the hoarder next door’, the removal men actually commented on how little I had in the loft.  I guess it’s their job to find fault with things.  

juliedee4663

Our level 3 survey indicated that there was evidence of leak damage in the hallway from an upstairs bathroom. The "evidence" in question was where our sellers had removed a doorway from the hall into the kitchen, had the hole filled in and plastered over when they had the wall between the two rooms removed. The seller pointed this out to the surveyor at the time. It was very obviously a blocked in doorway even to our untrained eyes. It really made us doubt all the other "issues" that he raised.