Buyers Survey Says Garden Wall Shows Signs of Movement

Katief12

Hi I am in the process of selling my house and I have had an enquiry via the solicitors based on their survey. 

Basically the survey says the garden wall shows signs of movement. This wall is low and seems fairly sturdy - I don’t have any other information but this. They have asked it anything is in place to fix this and I have replied there isn’t. I’m concerned they may come back and ask me to sort it -
I’m unsure what the is normal/reasonable in these circumstances. Can anyone advise?

GDB2222

They probably don’t really want you to sort it out, but they may ask for some money off.

In my experience,  garden walls are rarely built properly. They should have much deeper foundations than they usually have. So, they are nearly all prone to movement.  Besides that, the buyers know perfectly well that they are not getting a brand new wall, and they could see its condition when they viewed the house.

 I guess that they will ask for a reduction equivalent to the price of a new wall, and I suggest that you offer a lot less.

I'm assuming that it’s not a retaining wall, by the way.

Katief12

Hi thank you for your reply.

No it’s not a retaining wall - it’s a tiny wall just inside the boundary - it doesn’t really have a purpose as there is a fence behind it separating the garden from next doors.

GDB2222

You will just have to wait and see what they say, but if that’s the main thing they can find wrong with the property it must be in fantastic condition!

canaldumidi

A tiny, non-retaining wall that simply marks a boundary?

If they ask you to fix it, or to reduce the sale price, just politely refuse.

Now if this was a structural wall in the main house, they'd have a point, but otherwise......

Noneforit999

I would point out the facts.

Its not a retaining wall and there is a fence which marks the boundary. 

If it becomes a problem, i.e. the buyer wants it 'fixed' then I would just offer to remove the wall myself, assuming its not miles long and 1000's of bricks to get rid of. 

A skip will cost you £300, a crowbar and club hammer another £30 and a day to remove it. Far cheaper and easier than getting quotes to repair a redundant wall.

If they are looking for a price reduction I would firstly reiterate the wall is for decoration only, it serves no structural purpose and advise there will be no price reduction. It seems unlikely a buyer would back out over a garden wall which can just be removed.

GDB2222

Why would Katie remove a wall that she describes as sturdy? It’s a little garden wall that shows signs of movement, so it probably has many years of life left. 

eddddy

Katief12 said:

Hi I am in the process of selling my house and I have had an enquiry via the solicitors based on their survey. 

Basically the survey says the garden wall shows signs of movement. This wall is low and seems fairly sturdy - I don’t have any other information but this. They have asked it anything is in place to fix this and I have replied there isn’t. I’m concerned they may come back and ask me to sort it -
I’m unsure what the is normal/reasonable in these circumstances. Can anyone advise?

It's very likely to be something that's been blown-up out of all proportion.

For example...

• The buyer sent the survey report to their solicitor and/or said to the solicitor "The survey said there's movement in the garden wall, what should we do?"

• The solicitor has no idea whether it's a short 50cm high wall or a long chunky 2m high wall - and probably doesn't want to get involved in discussing movement in garden walls.

• So the buyer's solicitor just sends a generic enquiry about the garden wall to the seller's solicitor - so they can say they've dealt with it.

So perhaps the best solution is to reply saying it's a tiny decorative garden wall, it appears to be robust, and you don't believe any action is necessary. And the buyers are welcome to come and have another look at it at any time.

Katief12

Hi thanks for your reply you’ve really helped as I will wait to hear what they reply and if they ask for me to fix it/ a price reduction I will go back and say no. I was just worried that there was a requirement or etiquette that may require me to sort this.

I’m defiantly not going to remove the wall on the basis of someone who was in the property less than an hour and spent 5/10 minutes outside of the house.

user1977

Just because the question has been asked doesn't mean it's a deal-breaker, I wouldn't get too excited about it. Just answer the question and take it from there.

eddddy

Katief12 said:

Hi thanks for your reply you’ve really helped as I will wait to hear what they reply and if they ask for me to fix it/ a price reduction I will go back and say no. I was just worried that there was a requirement or etiquette that may require me to sort this.

I’m defiantly not going to remove the wall on the basis of someone who was in the property less than an hour and spent 5/10 minutes outside of the house.

You're almost certainly over thinking this.

Maybe phone your EA and say you've had this strange enquiry via your solicitor about the garden wall.

So can the EA phone the buyer to see if there's a real worry, or whether it's just a big pile of nothing.

And if the buyers really are worried, suggest to the EA that he/she should 'calm them down' and put things in perspective - which is part of the EA's sales progression role.