Additional survey request from buyer

Albermarle

xmsdave said:

I just reread the email from the EA, turns out it wasn’t the surveyor asking to lift the floorboards, it was the buyer, said he wanted to be in attendance when a structural engineer lifted the floorboards.

I should have mentioned before, the buyer was a retired Civil Engineer. 

Probably they will do the same for any other older properties they are interested in, as an L3 survey on a Victorian property will always raise some issues.

xmsdave

Agreed. I had an L3 when I purchased the property. It recommended additional surveys, which I stupidly paid for, they didn’t reveal anything I couldn’t see with my own eyes. I did however use the results to get money off, which is how I had always presumed the purchasing process worked.

propertyrental

xmsdave said:

Agreed. I had an L3 when I purchased the property. It recommended additional surveys, which I stupidly paid for, they didn’t reveal anything I couldn’t see with my own eyes. I did however use the results to get money off, which is how I had always presumed the purchasing process worked.

I do wish people did not see surveys as simply either a warning not to buy, or a means to reduce the price.

They often (usually) provide invaluable information for a future owner about maintenance/improvements they may wish to make (esp for FTBs!)

doodling

Hi,

Unless the house was a bargain then I wouldn't buy without confirmation that the chimney is correctly supported.  Your "assumption" that the chimney is correctly supported isn't going to save your life if the chimney lands on your head.  Any buyer who has a survey where a surveyor actually looks at the house rather than just parks outside and guesses a price is probably going to ask you how the chimney is supported as it is one of the things that surveyors are quite hot on.

I do agree that looking under the floorboards is probably OTT if there is no obvious sign of damp or distress to the floor.

If a different buyer asks the same question (quite likely) then your solution is to have an answer for them which could be one of "I've priced it on the basis that the support for the chimney is unknown", "OK, I'll give you a price reduction of £Xk to reflect the fact that you might have to do some work", "I thought this might be an issue so I've lifted the boards and taken some pictures, here they are" or "go away, I'll sell to someone else if you are going to ask questions".

newsgroupmonkey_

The chimney isn't going to fall on someone's head.

I'm with propertyrental here. Frankly, if you're a FTB and you're scared something might happen to your house, buy a new build.

You wouldn't buy an old car and not expect to have to maintain it. It's the same with a house.

xmsdave

I was actually quite happy to negotiate on the price. If the buyer wanted to drop £5k based on the fact there was no “proof” it was supported correctly (also no proof it wasn’t), but he had no intention of continuing with the purchase unless there was proof and also if it was proven not to be supported correctly, so there was no incentive for me to contribute to the costs. Lifting the floorboard may have also proved to be inconclusive, not just inconvenient. I would rather use an endoscope where more than one small hole could have been drilled.

Thanks for the advice though, I’ll use that as my response if it happens again. I have priced the property quite competitively as I really want to move. 4 potential buyers lined up for tomorrow, fingers crossed.

kinger101

Millsandovis said:

BarelySentientAI said:

Millsandovis said:

Depending on the area you live in and if there’s a lot of interest in your property then I would hold your ground and refuse. If they’re a nightmare now they’ll be a nightmare later on (some people might not think this is them being a nightmare but I would) 

I told my estate agents not to sell to people who had taken numerous pictures during an open house to later bring up issues. No offer and no idea about proceedabilty but demanding answers from me and taking pictures. Some people might not see a problem with that but I did and simply wouldn’t entertain selling to them. It’s not always about money but I’m in a privileged position in the area I’m selling in 

You take offence at people taking photos and asking questions about something they might be spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on?

I'm glad I'm not buying in your area.

I can do that when I’ve had 3 offers from 8 viewings, 4 more viewings on Friday and 45 booked for Saturday. 

I’m glad you’re not as well, you might end up disappointed. 

There's something seriously wrong with your agent / marketing strategy if you've had three offers you've not accepted so have another 49 viewings arranged next weekend.

Millsandovis

kinger101 said:

Millsandovis said:

BarelySentientAI said:

Millsandovis said:

Depending on the area you live in and if there’s a lot of interest in your property then I would hold your ground and refuse. If they’re a nightmare now they’ll be a nightmare later on (some people might not think this is them being a nightmare but I would) 

I told my estate agents not to sell to people who had taken numerous pictures during an open house to later bring up issues. No offer and no idea about proceedabilty but demanding answers from me and taking pictures. Some people might not see a problem with that but I did and simply wouldn’t entertain selling to them. It’s not always about money but I’m in a privileged position in the area I’m selling in 

You take offence at people taking photos and asking questions about something they might be spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on?

I'm glad I'm not buying in your area.

I can do that when I’ve had 3 offers from 8 viewings, 4 more viewings on Friday and 45 booked for Saturday. 

I’m glad you’re not as well, you might end up disappointed. 

There's something seriously wrong with your agent / marketing strategy if you've had three offers you've not accepted so have another 49 viewings arranged next weekend.

Or it’s sealed bids and I haven’t seen them yet. Something seriously wrong there 

xmsdave

I have a bit of an update on this story. The property went back on the market just over a week ago and I accepted an offer on Saturday.

The offer is from a FTB. The valuer is visiting tomorrow and the surveyor (Level 2 this time) is visiting a week tomorrow. The surveyor is from the same company that did the original Level 3 survey.

My question is, is this a racket?

BarelySentientAI

xmsdave said:

My question is, is this a racket?

No, it isn't.