Bad buyers survey - help!

kungfu_navs

An alternative way is to get your own independent damp survey and a GSI (general structural inspection done by a structural engineer). 

put the house back on the market and present these surveys to any buyers who make an offer with the understanding that these are the defects of the property and if they where to drop it would be at this stage. 

When i sold my last property this is what i did, my first buyers level 3 survey came back with over £30k of work needed and the GSI came back with £1900 of work needed.  

WannabeNigella

kungfu_navs said:

An alternative way is to get your own independent damp survey and a GSI (general structural inspection done by a structural engineer). 

put the house back on the market and present these surveys to any buyers who make an offer with the understanding that these are the defects of the property and if they where to drop it would be at this stage. 

When i sold my last property this is what i did, my first buyers level 3 survey came back with over £30k of work needed and the GSI came back with £1900 of work needed.  

Thank you for this advice!

Can I ask, did you relist with the £1900 knocked off or did you allow your buyers to negotiate this off themselves? 

kungfu_navs

I re-listed at the original price.

WannabeNigella

kungfu_navs said:

I re-listed at the original price.

Thank you! 

melb

If I was buying a property I might find it hard to accept the findings of a Structural survey carried out and paid for by the vendor as I might suspect its independence but I think I am maybe too cynical!

TBagpuss

OP, you mention they wanted £30 off - have they actually shown you the relevant parts of the survey, and the valuation the surveyor gave?  The issue is whether the house, with the faults as identified, is worth less than the agreed price.

Crashy_Time

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.  

What happens if the next buyer says similar?

WannabeNigella

Crashy_Time 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.  

What happens if the next buyer says similar?

Well they may do (but I absolutely dispute many of the findings) but most reasonable buyers would ask for a portion off the asking price to meet the costs of some of the works. Not the seller to pay for every item on the list. 

Crashy_Time

When prices get as inflated as they have become buyers are out to get as much off as they can.

WannabeNigella

Just an update if anyone's interested! 

I've actually backed out of the sale. I heard of these findings last Monday and by yesterday, the seller hadn't engaged with my EA or their surveyor to discuss the survey! It sounded like they weren't planning to or at least there was no sense of urgency so I've pulled out of the sale and am relisting tomorrow! I feel relieved. When I spoke to the buyer yesterday she said they'd only budgeted for £1K for repairs so it was probably always on a road to nowhere. 

Thanks all for your advice!