FTB - Roof Survey Needed

Jabeyabey

Hi,

Our mortgage valuation came back with this note from the valuation and the lender saying the 2nd quote:

The roof covering requires an overhaul

Specialist Report Required - Other (Roofing report by qualified roofing contractor required as per valuation)

In this situation, who would be expected to pay for the roof survey? Us or the vendor? I assume that it would be perfectly normal to expect any problems to be fixed before move in, or for the cost to be reduced from our offer.

There was a previous buyer who pulled out of the property right after their mortgage valuation. They never mentioned anything about the roof popping up in said valuation.

Considering house prices went up a fair bit between now and when they had their previous offer, I’m certain we’re paying a higher price for the property and the cynical part of me thinks they re-listed knowing about the roof and are hoping the increase on house price will let them knock off money from the offer to fix the roof and still get the same money in the end!

But obviously that’s pure speculation.

So in my situation, would you expect to be paying for the roof survey, or would you expect the vendor to?

youth_leader

I'd expect to pay for the roof survey as part of my due diligence.  I'd also expect to pay for the work to be done when I completed.

Depending on the cost, the vendor might offer to negotiate a reduction, but perhaps the house has been valued to reflect this needs to be done.  What price have similar houses sold for?

user1977

You pay for your own surveys (assuming you can't find a roofer prepared to do it for free, though that's less likely where you might not even buy the property, never mind go ahead with the work).

And you would not normally expect the vendor to carry out work - nor would you want to (unless of course the lender actually insists on the work being completed before they lend).

Jabeyabey

House price I’d say is reasonable, not particularly higher or lower than others similar ones in the area. Regarding it being priced in, (which I don’t think the price has been reduced to account for it), surely it should have been mentioned during a viewing or once we made an offer? Otherwise it’s just wasting peoples time if they pull out once they know about the extra cost of the roof.

To clarify in case it’s not obvious (it wasn’t to me), this is a different survey to a standard survey, which we’ve already paid for a level 3 but have had to reschedule for later after the roof survey.

At first I assumed I should pay, but my mortgage broker has advised me I’d be silly to pay for it myself, that’s why I popped on here! Surprised everyone’s saying the opposite to him.

Regarding youth_leader’s response about expecting to pay themselves for the work, I thought it’s standard to negotiate prices down when faults that’ll be costly to repair are found during surveys? Unless you’re including negotiating the house offer down and then getting the work done yourself as “paying yourself”.

TheJP

Jabeyabey said:

House price I’d say is reasonable, not particularly higher or lower than others similar ones in the area. Regarding it being priced in, (which I don’t think the price has been reduced to account for it), surely it should have been mentioned during a viewing or once we made an offer? Otherwise it’s just wasting peoples time if they pull out once they know about the extra cost of the roof.

To clarify in case it’s not obvious (it wasn’t to me), this is a different survey to a standard survey, which we’ve already paid for a level 3 but have had to reschedule for later after the roof survey.

At first I assumed I should pay, but my mortgage broker has advised me I’d be silly to pay for it myself, that’s why I popped on here! Surprised everyone’s saying the opposite to him.

Regarding youth_leader’s response about expecting to pay themselves for the work, I thought it’s standard to negotiate prices down when faults that’ll be costly to repair are found during surveys? Unless you’re including negotiating the house offer down and then getting the work done yourself as “paying yourself”.

Why would a person selling their house pay for a survey for you as the buyer to use to then negotiate a reduction in price. Its in your interests so you should pay for the survey regardless if you are also paying for a level 3 survey.

Jabeyabey

As mentioned previously, I originally thought it would be something we pay for.

But regarding your question about why the vendor would pay. It is in their interest if they’re unable to sell the property if lenders won’t lend on it because of a roof problem, isn’t it?

user1977

Even if you can persuade the sellers to pay for the survey, note that you want a survey addressed to you (not them) so you can rely on it.

TheJP

Jabeyabey said:

As mentioned previously, I originally thought it would be something we pay for.

But regarding your question about why the vendor would pay. It is in their interest if they’re unable to sell the property if lenders won’t lend on it because of a roof problem, isn’t it?

Not necessarily as it depends on what type of valuation/surveyor the mortgage provider uses/how the surveyor carries out their checks. Some don't even walk into the property. If it has been a recurrent reason as to why people pull out then yes it would be in their interests to have it looked at.

Jabeyabey

Yeah I’m not even sure how the valuation went down.

Sounds like the consensus is that it’s be standard and as user1977 mentioned, in my interest, to pay for the roof survey myself.

Thanks for the rapid responses, everyone 

babyblade41

Firstly you pay for a roof survey as part of your due diligence.

Have you had a chat with your surveyor?  (all roofs have a certain life expectancy) 

Is it leaking or is it the surveyor is just saying may need ongoing maintenance as part of home ownership 

Jabeyabey

In all the FTB guides I read, they only mentioned home buyer / building surveys, which I had already paid for and scheduled. I hadn’t even heard of a survey specifically for the roof, so it surprised me. I assumed that would be part of the building survey.

There’s only been a mortgage valuation so far, they just mentioned “Roof covering requires overhaul” and recommended to get a roof survey.