Negotiating after survey

LandM1

We’ve just had a RICS level 3 survey done on a house we’ve had an offer accepted on. In order to get the house we’ve agreed to pay well over the asking price. The survey has highlighted repairs which are necessary which will probably total about £8000. Is it reasonable to ask for a reduction in the price to account for some of this and if so how much? Thanks. 

HatsofftoYou

I will follow this question as I am in the same position. Costings wise did you get quotes or where these listed in the level 3 survey?

LandM1

They were listed in the survey but I’ve also added on the average cost of scaffolding. 

DullGreyGuy

LandM1 said:

We’ve just had a RICS level 3 survey done on a house we’ve had an offer accepted on. In order to get the house we’ve agreed to pay well over the asking price. The survey has highlighted repairs which are necessary which will probably total about £8000. Is it reasonable to ask for a reduction in the price to account for some of this and if so how much? Thanks. 

It doesn't really matter about what's reasonable or not. 

In my opinion, and it is only that, if the photo on RightMove showed a cracked window, you saw the cracked window on the viewing, the survey says it's £500 to repair then to me its not reasonable to reduce the offer as really you should have factored in what you could see when making your offer. 

Now some may say they had no idea a window could cost £500 or claim not have seen it etc. 

For items that couldn't reasonably seen on viewings etc then to me there is more reason why it should be considered however in the owners mind they may have already discounted the asking price to reflect the fact they knew the roof needs replacing so in their mind its already factored in.

Read the first point again though... house buying isnt about being reasonable. It really comes down to what each side wants, time scales required etc. If you think they are desperate to sell, are late on in the process etc and you're willing to walk away then ask them to drop the price £10k... this happened to my mother over a crack in the garage wall that was obvious that the buyer had seen it but he knew she was desperate to sell and so dropped the offer 2 hours before exchange.

If the seller has a queue of others wanting to buy you may need to suck it up.

lincroft1710

The answer to your question is whatever you can negotiate with the vendor, there is no set percentage amount or any obligation on the part of the vendor to agree a price reduction

turnitround

Look at it this way, you have already agreed to pay over the asking price. Would you have offered another £8000 to secure the house?
Is it worth it to you if they dont agree a reduced figure? It's all down to how much you really want this particular house. If I had already agreed to pay above tthe asking price I would not want to have to pay a lot extra on top. 

MultiFuelBurner

What is well over asking price and was this because the property had a lot of interest, sealed bids etc?

No harm approaching the sellers to suggest some common ground imo as you have offered and been accepted over asking. If you had already offered and been accepted under asking price then depending on the amount it might be worth not approaching the sellers.

gwynlas

Presumably you offered subject to survey and aware whether or not the house was priced at a point that considered work needing to be done. If the survey as shown up a huge non obvious discrepancy then you can enter negociations for price reductions. What did surveyor value house at?