Etiquette for offering on house with obvious issue

FreeBear

Flugelhorn said:

Is it "rising damp" or just really grotty guttering on the garage leading to lots of splashing against the wall when it rains?

Most likely rain bouncing off the tarmac and soaking the lower 150-200mm of brickwork. If there is a DPC, it will probably be in the mortar bed just below the door, so say 20mm above the tarmac. Not surprising the wall is in the state it is. A relatively easy fix though.

That wall would prompt me to have a closer look at the main building to see if there have been any other "design" flaws or issues that have arisen since the place was constructed.

cymruchris

Go and see the house, have a good look around, and if you like it, put in an offer that you think is appropriate to pay.

They can only say no.

There's a lot of negativity at the moment around prices falling like a stone - but I don't think that applies to every area, and certainly not to every property. Depending on your circumstances (how proceed-able you are) and how many other parties are interested will lead to discussions about offers being accepted or rejected, and no doubt having the opportunity to raise the offer if you feel it appropriate. 

(Just as a point of comparison - the property I'm in was listed around 6 weeks ago - it had 5 offers, 2 at asking price, and is now SSTC)

tealady

Ding, ding ding. Hear that? It's an alarm bell.
You mentioned tenants. Do be careful if there is and make sure they have left before exchanging contracts (if you get that far)
Good luck

dr_bogenbroom

cymruchris said:

Go and see the house, have a good look around, and if you like it, put in an offer that you think is appropriate to pay.

They can only say no.

There's a lot of negativity at the moment around prices falling like a stone - but I don't think that applies to every area, and certainly not to every property. Depending on your circumstances (how proceed-able you are) and how many other parties are interested will lead to discussions about offers being accepted or rejected, and no doubt having the opportunity to raise the offer if you feel it appropriate. 

(Just as a point of comparison - the property I'm in was listed around 6 weeks ago - it had 5 offers, 2 at asking price, and is now SSTC)

5 offers in 6 weeks is great - how did you choose between the 2 at asking price? 

dr_bogenbroom

tealady said:

Ding, ding ding. Hear that? It's an alarm bell.
You mentioned tenants. Do be careful if there is and make sure they have left before exchanging contracts (if you get that far)
Good luck

Thanks - I’ve been told the tenants will be leaving shortly, so will keep an eye on this should be decided to offer and have it accepted 

dr_bogenbroom

FreeBear said:

Flugelhorn said:

Is it "rising damp" or just really grotty guttering on the garage leading to lots of splashing against the wall when it rains?

Most likely rain bouncing off the tarmac and soaking the lower 150-200mm of brickwork. If there is a DPC, it will probably be in the mortar bed just below the door, so say 20mm above the tarmac. Not surprising the wall is in the state it is. A relatively easy fix though.

That wall would prompt me to have a closer look at the main building to see if there have been any other "design" flaws or issues that have arisen since the place was constructed.

Although I’m no expert I’ll take a look when we go see it to see if I can see the DPC on the main house - would a surveyor look for this? If we offer and have it accepted we’ll be appointing our own surveyor in addition to the one used by the mortgage provider as I’m guessing these are just basic surveys?

cymruchris

dr_bogenbroom said:

cymruchris said:

Go and see the house, have a good look around, and if you like it, put in an offer that you think is appropriate to pay.

They can only say no.

There's a lot of negativity at the moment around prices falling like a stone - but I don't think that applies to every area, and certainly not to every property. Depending on your circumstances (how proceed-able you are) and how many other parties are interested will lead to discussions about offers being accepted or rejected, and no doubt having the opportunity to raise the offer if you feel it appropriate. 

(Just as a point of comparison - the property I'm in was listed around 6 weeks ago - it had 5 offers, 2 at asking price, and is now SSTC)

5 offers in 6 weeks is great - how did you choose between the 2 at asking price? 

One was a first time buyer getting a mortgage (but not yet applied) although they had cash reserve backup from bank of mum and dad, and one was a retired downsizer with no mortgage that was known to the family who had been through the buying and selling game before, and was willing to be flexible on just about everything including the price of their own property to get it sold so they could get this one, and wasn't likely to nitpick over this and that trying to get the price down later.

We didn't go to the 'who can up the offer by another £5.50?' route to secure the sale.

Initially the FTB  wanted to offer £20k under asking, and was made aware of the asking price offer, and still put an offer in of £5k under as they thought they were more proceed-able. When it was declined, they upped it to asking. So we went with the downsizer that we happened to know who didn't muck about and just put in the offer at asking with no quibbles and qualms. 

cymruchris

dr_bogenbroom said:

FreeBear said:

Flugelhorn said:

Is it "rising damp" or just really grotty guttering on the garage leading to lots of splashing against the wall when it rains?

Most likely rain bouncing off the tarmac and soaking the lower 150-200mm of brickwork. If there is a DPC, it will probably be in the mortar bed just below the door, so say 20mm above the tarmac. Not surprising the wall is in the state it is. A relatively easy fix though.

That wall would prompt me to have a closer look at the main building to see if there have been any other "design" flaws or issues that have arisen since the place was constructed.

Although I’m no expert I’ll take a look when we go see it to see if I can see the DPC on the main house - would a surveyor look for this? If we offer and have it accepted we’ll be appointing our own surveyor in addition to the one used by the mortgage provider as I’m guessing these are just basic surveys?

Yes - 100% don't offer unless there's an absolute clear timeline of tenant exit, and definitely don't proceed to exchange if the tenant is still there. You definitely don't want the headache of the tenant refusing to move out and having to wait to go through a lengthy court process to remove them.