Negotiating offer price after survey

mikey_bach

Had a survey on a property showed a few concerns.   Asbestos and  woodworm in garage.  Ridge tiles need urgent attention etc.   Have costed this work and it comes to about 5k.  Going to email the,estate agent.   Anybody been able to get the price down after a survey 

BarelySentientAI

Many do, many don't.

NameUnavailable

You can try but it depends on how the property was priced (i.e. did they price it bearing in mind work was needed), how desperate the vendors are to sell, how much you offered originally etc. etc..

Don't ask, don't get, but also be reasonable - all properties need work and some is routine maintenance. Most older property has asbestos, it's not an issue unless disturbed. It's probably the garage roof in this case?

RHemmings

In 2016 Which found that 67% of buyers managed to renegotiate price or negotiate for repairs to be undertaken after a survey that revealed problems. This was from 2016, but I doubt that the housing market has changed dramatically in this aspect since then. 

https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/two-thirds-use-problems-revealed-by-house-surveys-to-renegotiate-454619-a28y94Z9w78x

There are quite a few statistics in that article. 

AskAsk

£5k doesn't sound like a lot to ask off for the work mentioned, so I would think this is acceptable to the seller, but some people can be very silly about selling, but it is worth a go.

Albermarle

mikey_bach said:

Had a survey on a property showed a few concerns.   Asbestos and  woodworm in garage.  Ridge tiles need urgent attention etc.   Have costed this work and it comes to about 5k.  Going to email the,estate agent.   Anybody been able to get the price down after a survey 

There are numerous similar threads on here.
One issue is that surveyors tend to be ultra cautious in their reports, to cover their backs.
So some things they give the impression are urgent, are more 'needs looking at at some point' in reality.
For example asbestos in a garage is nothing unusual for properties over 30? years old.

So the seller may at best only be willing to make a contribution, and not pay the full price for having works done that may not be entirely necessary in the short term anyway.

RHemmings

Albermarle said:

mikey_bach said:

Had a survey on a property showed a few concerns.   Asbestos and  woodworm in garage.  Ridge tiles need urgent attention etc.   Have costed this work and it comes to about 5k.  Going to email the,estate agent.   Anybody been able to get the price down after a survey 

There are numerous similar threads on here.
One issue is that surveyors tend to be ultra cautious in their reports, to cover their backs.
So some things they give the impression are urgent, are more 'needs looking at at some point' in reality.
For example asbestos in a garage is nothing unusual for properties over 30? years old.

So the seller may at best only be willing to make a contribution, and not pay the full price for having works done that may not be entirely necessary in the short term anyway.

And many sellers will say that the work needed is already priced in. And, that it should have been obvious on inspecting the house. Not so much for Asbestos and woodworm, but I'm more thinking of buyers who want money knocked off because the kitchen looks tired. Some sellers are cynical because there are buyers (some have posted in this forum) who bid high, with the intention of knocking the price down after the survey. 

However, as per the Which article, the success rate for knocking the price down or requesting repairs after the survey is high. 

shiraz99

Things like the ridge tiles and asbestos garage should've been easily identifiable during the viewing and the seller could, and probably will, say that they've been priced in. That said £5 isn't that bad and they may offer to go halves if that would be acceptable to you.

propertyrental

mikey_bach said:

Had a survey on a property showed a few concerns.   Asbestos and  woodworm in garage.  Ridge tiles need urgent attention etc.   Have costed this work and it comes to about 5k.  Going to email the,estate agent.   Anybody been able to get the price down after a survey 

Just to add to the comments already made

* is the woodworm active or historic? Often a survey mentions it based on evidence of holes, but the little blighters have long gone!

* and woodworm in a garage? Not such an issue as it might be in the house. Is the garage detached? An old wooden construction? Or modern brick with a few wooden joists?

* ridge tiles are not a major job depending how many and how badly damaged.

If you are going to request a price reduction, you'll need to share your survey with the seller to be taken seriously.

TheJP

Surveyor estimates on costs are usually highly inflated as they are not industry experts. Get a true quote to ensure you can negotiate fairly.