Renegotiating after survey

kayen

Hi, 

I'm after some advice after a Level 3 survey- said the property is in 'poor condition' and needing lots of work-  number 3's incl rising damp/ inadequate under floor ventilation, collapsing around kitchen sink, roof, removal/ rebuilding of lean to and more.   Sounds like ££s++ and work significantly above what I was anticipating when offering.   My £well over asking offer now seems unjustified. 

I still like the property overall but feel I need to renegotiate price to take into account some of the cost of the works needed. Don't expect it all to be covered. If it could possibly be to asking price  (ie £20k reduction) or close to I could work with this.  I'd then use that 'saved' purchase money to go towards the works instead. 

How to go about renegotiating?  Is it essential to get a builder to quote?  (don't know if this is possible as I hear they're in demand). 

Would it be taken seriously going to negotiation without quotes? 
 

Bank didn't do an in-person valuation survey (desk top only) and issued mortgage offer due to my favourable LTV. 
Other potential buyers with lower LTV could find the bank downvalues making it more difficult for buyers as they'd need to finance the shortfall.    - could be in my favour? 

Am also aware we're prob closer to exchange/ stamp duty about to end so negotiating could extend timelines etc. 

Any advice appreciated 

ETA  As has been pointed out details of the 3s in the survey were in a previous post  https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6296092/what-to-do-after-survey-lots-of-3s#latest   I've made this new post  due to  having a different focus- hopefully how to renegotiate as a result of the survey findings.  thanks 

Slithery

Please quote the relevant sections of the survey in full. They usually sound far worse than the issues actually are.
A lot iof the issues you mention will have been visible to you when viewing, so are already factored into the asking price.

MaryNB

Does the report include a valuation? 
If the report says the house is in a bad condition, how bad was the condition when you viewed it?

Your sellers may agree a reduction in price without quotes, they may require them and judge accordingly, they may refuse outright saying it was priced with the issues in mind. It's not essential for you to provide quotes and it's not essential for the seller to renegotiate even if you do.

badger09

Slithery said:

Please quote the relevant sections of the survey in full. They usually sound far worse than the issues actually are.
A lot iof the issues you mention will have been visible to you when viewing, so are already factored into the asking price.

In great detail here

 https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6296092/what-to-do-after-survey-lots-of-3s#latest

@kayen there was no need for a separate thread. Easier to follow on your original

youth_leader

My buyer wanted £50K off after his survey and refused to let me see any extracts.  He used quotes to justify his reduction request given to him by his out of town surveyor who was quoting prices much higher than locals would have charged. I found the buyer's language of negotiation unpleasant and withdrew from the sale.

The works were obvious to viewers and my house was priced to allow for this.  If you allow your buyers to see the extracts, ask them to allow trades in to cost up the works, they may be amenable to a reduction.  

ss2020jd

The level three survey I had done estimated the cost of potential works but did say also to get quotes before exchange. 

Most of them are minor things, so in my case didn’t warrant going back for a renegotiation, plus I didn’t pay over the asking price.

The costliest part from our survey being suspected damp in one small area and recommending injecting a DPC, but I instead (and being an older property) spoke to a very helpful and knowledgeable independent damp surveyor who gave many other reasons that cause have caused the reading other than ‘rising’’. I plan to have him come and have a look once moved in, 

if you could get the extracts and estimate from the surveyor, or builder quotes, you may be in a better position but it all depends on how urgent the works are and how much the house was priced to reflect that.

Thrugelmir

kayen said:

My £well over asking offer now seems unjustified. 

What was your justification? 

kayen

Thrugelmir said:

kayen said:

My £well over asking offer now seems unjustified. 

What was your justification? 

I was pushing it but comfortable offering what I did over asking and knew there would be work to do. But as a FTB and lay person without building exp. I just offered based on the assumption that works would be needed but not anything to the extent of what the survey says.    I didnt know what to look for, telltale signs etc.  Some things that were visible to my untrained eye, I thought could be just repaired, the surveyor has said to remove/ start again etc.   

Wish I'd known then what I know now...said the first FTB ever!

kayen

ss2020jd said:

The level three survey I had done estimated the cost of potential works but did say also to get quotes before exchange. 

Most of them are minor things, so in my case didn’t warrant going back for a renegotiation, plus I didn’t pay over the asking price.

The costliest part from our survey being suspected damp in one small area and recommending injecting a DPC, but I instead (and being an older property) spoke to a very helpful and knowledgeable independent damp surveyor who gave many other reasons that cause have caused the reading other than ‘rising’’. I plan to have him come and have a look once moved in, 

if you could get the extracts and estimate from the surveyor, or builder quotes, you may be in a better position but it all depends on how urgent the works are and how much the house was priced to reflect that.

@youth_leader said: 

The works were obvious to viewers and my house was priced to allow for this.  If you allow your buyers to see the extracts, ask them to allow trades in to cost up the works, they may be amenable to a reduction. 

Thank you for sharing.  Yes ideally I'd get some quotes now before exchange/ proceeding further..but whether it's possible to find a willing builder, timeframes etc.   I'd have just let it go if damp was the only issue - surveyor said its one of the 'minor' things in the grand scheme of the other 3's....(eek!)

Main concern is there seems so much more work needed that I hadn't counted on in my offer.  Hard to know whether the seller priced in the condition of property or not.  Naturally they want the highest possible price.   If my offer at asking had (I wish) been successful I wouldn't be so worried. 

If it gives any indication, the surveyor recommended it was a property for a cash buyer who could do all the work themselves.  Well...I know its the surveyors job to look at the details so I don't expect that the house will be perfect (I haven't even mentioned the 2's yet...) but its a flag I can't ignore. 

Good idea...will see if I can send on some details from the actual report when approaching seller. 

FreeBear

kayen said:  Yes ideally I'd get some quotes now before exchange/ proceeding further..but whether it's possible to find a willing builder, timeframes etc.

Realistically, you are looking at six months wait for the decent reputable tradespeople to start work. Some are not even offering quotes at the moment. If you can find anyone to start a job within a month, you should be asking why - A good chance that it will be a cowboy that will cut corners and leave a shoddy job.

That said, some small jobs could be squeezed in if the builder (or what ever) is already in the area, but don't count on it.

kayen

FreeBear said:

kayen said:  Yes ideally I'd get some quotes now before exchange/ proceeding further..but whether it's possible to find a willing builder, timeframes etc.

Realistically, you are looking at six months wait for the decent reputable tradespeople to start work. Some are not even offering quotes at the moment. If you can find anyone to start a job within a month, you should be asking why - A good chance that it will be a cowboy that will cut corners and leave a shoddy job.

That said, some small jobs could be squeezed in if the builder (or what ever) is already in the area, but don't count on it.

thanks @FreeBear.   At this point am thinking more to try getting a quote to support price negotiation.  But I know its difficult to get builders to come around, let alone with time scales.  From their POV there's not much in it for them -quoting for work on a property for someone who it doesn't belong to (yet).   So I'm asking around to see if anyone I know has contacts to see if a possibility as a favour but it seems remote.