Negotiations after Survey

neilied

Hi all. Any advise greatly appreciated.

had offer accepted on a property and had a level 2 survey completed. It picked up a number of concerns but listed some as condition 3. Of this the roof was the main issue for me. The old black lining was torn in a number of places and the survey recommended further advise. I spoke to a number of roof companies and was told that the lining would need to be replaced. I spoke with conveyancing and they put concerns to seller. I was asked to gather 2 quotes as did the seller. Could not be further apart when the seller had quotes for £7k and I had £15k.

negotiation has gone back to the estate agent and now I’m being told that although the house was marketed at £250k the valuation by EA was £260-£270 and I have a deal already. My reply was that this information is irrelevant to me and that I viewed a £250k house and offered a little over. 

I have spoken to one of their quotes and he immediately put £5k on top. So the low quotes are rubbish. I have requested that they accept a reduction to cover the cost of the roof but they stand firm that a the roof isn’t an immediate concern and the survey is misleading. And they will only offer 50% of the cost.

More annoying is that they appear to have a copy of my survey. Not that I am hiding anything but only myself and my solicitor have it and it seems that the seller now also has it as they have pasted parts into an email and quoted from it. 

Any thoughts and advice gratefully received. As I think I’m fair to ask to cover the cost be reduced offer as my original offer accepted was over the value marketed and I can’t see them achieving the value that the EA has told
them. 

Thanks in advance

Neil

FreeBear

neilied said:  I was asked to gather 2 quotes as did the seller. Could not be further apart when the seller had quotes for £7k and I had £15k.

I had a number of quotes to do my roof. They ranged from £5K all the way up to £16K, but most were at the lower end. By the time I got round to having the work done, Covid had kicked in and prices had shot up. Ended up paying ~£7500 which took a big chunk out of the contingency fund.

Although the roof did need doing, I could have left it anther 5 or even 10 years. As long as the tiles are in good condition, even with torn felt, I wouldn't regard it as urgent. My roof didn't have any felt, just reed and a bit of lime torching.

jlfrs01

The problem in these scenarios are A: buyers can be spooked by surveys, particularly if they are thorough and the surveyor reports on every little thing, so although an item might be reported as needing attention, it may not be or mightn't need it imminently and B: Sellers are understandably reluctant to lose thousands of Pounds without any benefit.

The OP says the vendor has a copy of the survey and have cut and pasted from it to form a response - what is their view or position now? 

AlexMac

Both you and the seller have options up and down a long scale including toughing it out by sticking, negotiating on price and settling on a reduction, or walking away. 

The vendor may well argue that as the roof doesn’t leak, and that as you will be the beneficiary of any fix or replacement, they should only pay a proportion of the repairs cost.  

That was the approach we took when a buyer sent a surveyor mate in after we’d accepted an offer around £310k. They argued for a £27k reduction based on an amazingly picky list of snags. My wife (who was the sole owner) wanted them to go forth and multiply, and pull the sale. I talked her down, negotiated and settled at less than half that off the price.  

Your seller seems open to negotiation as they’re talking 50%- although you don’t say if that’s off their quote or yours?  It implies they are willing to meet you half way?

Either way, it’s down to how stubborn each side is and whether you are prepared to meet ‘em half way?  Or whether you’re willing to walk away if they refuse? 

TheJP

£15k for roof lining! To fix the spots where its torn i would say £1500-£2k at most. 

neilied

jlfrs01 said:

The problem in these scenarios are A: buyers can be spooked by surveys, particularly if they are thorough and the surveyor reports on every little thing, so although an item might be reported as needing attention, it may not be or mightn't need it imminently and B: Sellers are understandably reluctant to lose thousands of Pounds without any benefit.

The OP says the vendor has a copy of the survey and have cut and pasted from it to form a response - what is their view or position now? 

Hi and thanks for the response. They have parts of the survey that are relating to the roof. They are willing to negotiate but aren’t willing to agree the amount listed in my quotes. Their quotes are lower but on talking to the roofer on the first of their quotes he says that his quote is rubbish and it would be nearer £12k. I have since contacted 6 companies and they all are around £14k for a 3 sided roof. The sellers have given a final offer but it falls short leaving me needing to find funds sooner rather than later.

jonnydeppiwish!

I think the questions is, as a previous poster has said, does it actually need doing now? From what you’ve said, the answer is no, it’ll do for the next 5-10 years.

Also, why did you not see the ripped lining when you viewed the house prior to offer? If it was that serious, you probably should have done.

Your quotes are very expensive to replace the lining. Patch if needs be, and see if the vendor will cover some of that cost.

neilied

TheJP said:

£15k for roof lining! To fix the spots where its torn i would say £1500-£2k at most. 

TheJP said:

£15k for roof lining! To fix the spots where it’s torn i would say £1500-£2k at most. 

Many thanks for the comment. From all the information I have received . The lining is the old black style and white perished and brittle. To replace the lining required the tiles off. All quotes have been replacement tiles, battening and lining along with scaffold and labour. Pre Covid my niece had her up and over done for £6500 but for 3 sided I have been quoted from £12500 to £18000. Also as the current tiles are smaller than standard it would be for replacement but not like for like. Had 6 quotes in total.

TheJP

neilied said:

TheJP said:

£15k for roof lining! To fix the spots where its torn i would say £1500-£2k at most. 

TheJP said:

£15k for roof lining! To fix the spots where it’s torn i would say £1500-£2k at most. 

Many thanks for the comment. From all the information I have received . The lining is the old black style and white perished and brittle. To replace the lining required the tiles off. All quotes have been replacement tiles, battening and lining along with scaffold and labour. Pre Covid my niece had her up and over done for £6500 but for 3 sided I have been quoted from £12500 to £18000. Also as the current tiles are smaller than standard it would be for replacement but not like for like. Had 6 quotes in total.

Why should the seller pay for you to have new tiles? you need to determine the cost of the lining and what you then need to pay. Unless the roof is leaking is there a problem and surely can there be a fix.

housebuyer143

TheJP said:

neilied said:

TheJP said:

£15k for roof lining! To fix the spots where its torn i would say £1500-£2k at most. 

TheJP said:

£15k for roof lining! To fix the spots where it’s torn i would say £1500-£2k at most. 

Many thanks for the comment. From all the information I have received . The lining is the old black style and white perished and brittle. To replace the lining required the tiles off. All quotes have been replacement tiles, battening and lining along with scaffold and labour. Pre Covid my niece had her up and over done for £6500 but for 3 sided I have been quoted from £12500 to £18000. Also as the current tiles are smaller than standard it would be for replacement but not like for like. Had 6 quotes in total.

Why should the seller pay for you to have new tiles? you need to determine the cost of the lining and what you then need to pay. Unless the roof is leaking is there a problem and surely can there be a fix.

Agreed! Why can't they reuse the old tiles?
As others have said, does it actually need doing right now? Does it leak?

neilied

get what your saying but you can’t fix the roof without the necessity of replacing the tiles as to replace the lining the roof has to come off. Now my solicitor has to inform my lender of the issue and possible reduction and yay maybe a change in the lending offer