Buyers survey causing big timey delay. What should I do?

akorn77

• I accepted an offer on my house on 30th January which was 12k under asking price. 
• The house was then down-valued so I accepted a revised offer which was another 6k lower, making it 18k lower than guide price. 
• Upon agreeing the revised price, the Buyer then insisted on Tuesday that he wants to undertake a structural survey. It's a mid terrace 2 bed house, that was well presented and in fantastic condition. The Buyer spoke to the surveyor who did the valuation and the surveyor said theres no issues with the property etc. Despite all of that the Buyer wants to press ahead with a structural survey. 
• I have told the Buyer that regardless of the outcome of the structural survey, I will not be re-negotiating the price any further, which the Buyer accepted.
• Since Tuesday, he still hasnt instructed a surveyor. The EA said the Buyer is struggling to find a surveyor with availability and that the current wait times are running into weeks, meaning it could take upto 1 month (or more) to get the survey done and issue the report. 
• In tandem, after months of looking I've found a property that ticks all my boxes and is on the exact road im looking for. I'm viewing it next weekend, and I'm almost certain that I will make an offer on it 

Due to the above, I've been left feeling very stressed and angry. I feel that the Buyer should have said at the initial offer stage that he wanted to do a structural survey. Given the situation and how long the structural survey will take, what's the best course of action? I'm a first time seller, and I feel really lost. I feel like making me wait another month is very unreasonable. 

I should add that I had a lot of interest in the property and received 4 offers. The current Buyers offer wasn't the highest but I accepted it as its a FTB with no chain. I feel so angry, I feel like just putting it on the market again and finding a faster buyer...

canaldumidi

30th Jan? and now it's 18th Feb? Patience!!!!

The price reductions you quuote mean nothing without context. £12K off asking price of £100K is not the same as £12K off £1m.

Survey? Perfectly normal. Most sensible buyers want a survey. They are spending £100,000! (or is it £1,000,000?).

But if you are seriously unhappy, then pull out and find a new buyer. Who will probably want a survey....

akorn77

canaldumidi said:

30th Jan? and now it's 18th Feb? Patience!!!!

The price reductions you quuote mean nothing without context. £12K of asking price of £100K is not the same as £12K off £1m.

Survey? Perfectly normal. Most sensible buyers want a survey. They are spending £100,000! (or is it £1,000,000?).

But if you are seriousy unhappy, then pull out and find a new buyer.

Although I'm confident, its inevitable that every survey will find niggles with a property. What if he gets the survey as a nervy FTB and pulls out? Thats another month wasted for me....

housebuyer143

Why are you worried about a month delay, you haven't even found anywhere. You should be grateful he didn't wait for the chain to complete before doing anything. Most people would have. 

You can't control people, that's what this process taught me. I waited 3 months for my buyer who couldn't get a mortgage and pulled out. Now starting again. He could have no survey and pull out. As long as things are moving forward and he's communicating that's all you can hope for tbh 

HotPantsCruiser

akorn77 said:

canaldumidi said:

30th Jan? and now it's 18th Feb? Patience!!!!

The price reductions you quuote mean nothing without context. £12K of asking price of £100K is not the same as £12K off £1m.

Survey? Perfectly normal. Most sensible buyers want a survey. They are spending £100,000! (or is it £1,000,000?).

But if you are seriousy unhappy, then pull out and find a new buyer.

Although I'm confident, its inevitable that every survey will find niggles with a property. What if he gets the survey as a nervy FTB and pulls out? Thats another month wasted for me....

What happens when the next buyer wants a survey done?

stevenway

Steve the Surveyor here - quite usual - we get enquiries to see if we can do surveys 2 days before exchange, most surveyors have a two or three werk lead in at the moment.  What usually happens is that somewhere in the process the solcitor sends a letter with all sorts of horror stories and says "you must get a survey".  They do this to cover their backs.  BTW The property wasnt "down-valued", it was valued. The valuer valued it at a market value that was the less than the over valuation your agent placed on it and persuaded someone to offer at (often in expectation that the actual selling rice will be less than that),

BikingBud

If you are confident the house is worth £18K more then why have you accepted the offer?

If you are confident it is worth £18k more then relist it, especially if you feel the buyer is not progressing quickly enough! -

When do you intend moving out so as to enforce such unrealistic expectations on somebody that is making a significant purchase and is seeking appropriate professional advice, bearing in mind there will always be a lead time for that service.  

Nevertheless, if the professional valuation and your acceptance of £18K below listing has burst your balloon, that is what happens when people try to over inflate the market.

penners324

I accepted my offer (no chain) on 1st October, still haven't exchanged.

Your 2 weeks into a 12 to 20 week process, relax

TBG01

akorn77 said:

canaldumidi said:

30th Jan? and now it's 18th Feb? Patience!!!!

The price reductions you quuote mean nothing without context. £12K of asking price of £100K is not the same as £12K off £1m.

Survey? Perfectly normal. Most sensible buyers want a survey. They are spending £100,000! (or is it £1,000,000?).

But if you are seriousy unhappy, then pull out and find a new buyer.

Thats another month wasted for me....

And? Your buyer owes you nothing. They're acting in their best interest by getting a survey that could potentially save them from wasting money on a property with costly defects.

I'm assuming you'll be getting a survey on your onward purchase and if it does bring up costly defects you'll still continue with the purchase because you wouldn't want to waste the vendors time even though financially you could be ruined?

Oh and it's 15 working days for those wondering

Brie

You could insist that the buyer forego the survey.  But if I was that buyer I would be wondering what you are hiding.

steve866

A structural survey will be costing the buyer money. It shows they are serious about purchasing the house. Agreeing that you won’t down value further doesn’t really mean anything if they were to discover something major/costly.

It sounds like the buyer was quick on the mortgage side having had the valuation survey already. You should confirm whether the solicitor has started work and and if they have for searches. The legal side will take much longer than the survey.