Bad buyers survey - help!

thegreenone

@FreeBear Would it be advisable for the OP to get the fire wall in the loft sorted?

WannabeNigella

thegreenone said:

@FreeBear Would it be advisable for the OP to get the fire wall in the loft sorted?

Yes I do need that fixed too. 

Crashy_Time

WannabeNigella said:

Hi, hoping for some constructive (and kind please!) advice 

My buyer's survey came back this weekend with some scary findings. Long story short, they want circa 30k off the price 😭😭 I am gutted and extremely scared. I'm looking for some advice on whether to sell to them or relist the house.

The survey found evidence of damp (news to me, the house was damp coursed in 2010) no fire wall between lofts of the adjoining house and ours, apparently the rear gable wall of the kitchen is buckling (again, news to me, can't see any cracks or misaligned windows etc) chimney needs repointing and a window lintel needs replacing.

Many thanks!

Why? Are you losing a lot of money on what you paid for the property?

WannabeNigella

Crashy_Time said:

WannabeNigella said:

Hi, hoping for some constructive (and kind please!) advice 

My buyer's survey came back this weekend with some scary findings. Long story short, they want circa 30k off the price 😭😭 I am gutted and extremely scared. I'm looking for some advice on whether to sell to them or relist the house.

The survey found evidence of damp (news to me, the house was damp coursed in 2010) no fire wall between lofts of the adjoining house and ours, apparently the rear gable wall of the kitchen is buckling (again, news to me, can't see any cracks or misaligned windows etc) chimney needs repointing and a window lintel needs replacing.

Many thanks!

Why? Are you losing a lot of money on what you paid for the property?

Because that's a big dent out of my deposit for my next home? 

Crashy_Time

WannabeNigella said:

Crashy_Time said:

WannabeNigella said:

Hi, hoping for some constructive (and kind please!) advice 

My buyer's survey came back this weekend with some scary findings. Long story short, they want circa 30k off the price 😭😭 I am gutted and extremely scared. I'm looking for some advice on whether to sell to them or relist the house.

The survey found evidence of damp (news to me, the house was damp coursed in 2010) no fire wall between lofts of the adjoining house and ours, apparently the rear gable wall of the kitchen is buckling (again, news to me, can't see any cracks or misaligned windows etc) chimney needs repointing and a window lintel needs replacing.

Many thanks!

Why? Are you losing a lot of money on what you paid for the property?

Because that's a big dent out of my deposit for my next home? 

Why not try to negotiate the price of your next home down then to suit your budget, or look at a smaller/cheaper next home?

Snow_Angel

WannabeNigella said:

youth_leader said:

This happened to me, and my buyer used the astronomical quotes given to him by his surveyor to try to negotiate. 

Do you know a builder that would come round and look at the firewall/buckling wall and lintel?  And a roofer to look at the chimney?  

I'm going go get onto getting some quotes together ASAP! This was a figure that the buyer estimated btw, no quotes have been procured as yet 

Have you had any builders' advice and quotes? Have you considered putting your buyers on temporary hold until you have and then, depending on what comes up, renegotiate price then. It may be a lot less than £30k. If they won't budge, either get the work done and relist, or relist at price taking into account work needed based on quotes received. There's no way I would reduce the price of a house by £30k based on a buyers' estimate. 

Ditzy_Mitzy

It's a funny one, this.  Surveyors are supposed to be regulated, so ought to be offering completely impartial advice.  Whether they do or not, however, is a matter of opinion.  The report is, the OP suggests, too bad to be true.  From the buyer's perspective, therefore, it is too good to be true.  I assume the buyer commissioned the survey and chose the surveyor.  The most sensible thing to do is discontinue negotiations with this buyer, who may or may not have had a bent survey produced for the purposes of putting pressure on the vendor, and to commission another report for peace of mind.
Once done, relist.  

WannabeNigella

Snow_Angel said:

WannabeNigella said:

youth_leader said:

This happened to me, and my buyer used the astronomical quotes given to him by his surveyor to try to negotiate. 

Do you know a builder that would come round and look at the firewall/buckling wall and lintel?  And a roofer to look at the chimney?  

I'm going go get onto getting some quotes together ASAP! This was a figure that the buyer estimated btw, no quotes have been procured as yet 

Have you had any builders' advice and quotes? Have you considered putting your buyers on temporary hold until you have and then, depending on what comes up, renegotiate price then. It may be a lot less than £30k. If they won't budge, either get the work done and relist, or relist at price taking into account work needed based on quotes received. There's no way I would reduce the price of a house by £30k based on a buyers' estimate. 

I've got a roofer coming tomorrow and I'm ringing round builders to look at this supposed leaning wall. 

30k to my mind is serious issues of which I'd have surely had an inkling of. My EA says the same. 

WannabeNigella

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

It's a funny one, this.  Surveyors are supposed to be regulated, so ought to be offering completely impartial advice.  Whether they do or not, however, is a matter of opinion.  The report is, the OP suggests, too bad to be true.  From the buyer's perspective, therefore, it is too good to be true.  I assume the buyer commissioned the survey and chose the surveyor.  The most sensible thing to do is discontinue negotiations with this buyer, who may or may not have had a bent survey produced for the purposes of putting pressure on the vendor, and to commission another report for peace of mind.
Once done, relist.  

Yes the buyer chose the surveyor. He was thoroughly unpleasant and whilst I know he's not in the game to win any popularity prizes, he was an obnoxious presence in my home and he left me feeling uncomfortable.

I've just spoken again to my EA who said that he was surprised that they'd buy this kind of house as a buy to let. Usually these buyers go straight for newish builds that are unlikely to cone with the defects that an Edwardian house will inevitably display. He's also miffed that they came direct to me with the issues, terrified me and left me shaken rather than going to the EA where they can allay most fears posed by a survey. 

Ditzy_Mitzy

WannabeNigella said:

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

It's a funny one, this.  Surveyors are supposed to be regulated, so ought to be offering completely impartial advice.  Whether they do or not, however, is a matter of opinion.  The report is, the OP suggests, too bad to be true.  From the buyer's perspective, therefore, it is too good to be true.  I assume the buyer commissioned the survey and chose the surveyor.  The most sensible thing to do is discontinue negotiations with this buyer, who may or may not have had a bent survey produced for the purposes of putting pressure on the vendor, and to commission another report for peace of mind.
Once done, relist.  

Yes the buyer chose the surveyor. He was thoroughly unpleasant and whilst I know he's not in the game to win any popularity prizes, he was an obnoxious presence in my home and he left me feeling uncomfortable.

I've just spoken again to my EA who said that he was surprised that they'd buy this kind of house as a buy to let. Usually these buyers go straight for newish builds that are unlikely to cone with the defects that an Edwardian house will inevitably display. He's also miffed that they came direct to me with the issues, terrified me and left me shaken rather than going to the EA where they can allay most fears posed by a survey. 

Fairly definitely some sort of intimidation tactic from the buyer.  Tell the agent that you're no longer interested in continuing to negotiate with the buyer and leave it at that.  He ought to have no reason to bother you again.  The salient point is that you must not believe anything this buyer or his surveyor have told you; what they are doing is par for the course at the less scrupulous end of the property market.