Buyers surveyor undervalued our house

ReadySteadyPop

RocketRonnieRadox said:

Hello all,

After being on the market for one year and three months, we finally accepted an offer on our house. The asking price was £280,000 and the offer was £270,000 as we know the exterior render requires some attention. We agreed to settle on £273,000 and a sale memorandum was sent to the solicitors.

the buyer arranged a survey and the surveyor was here for around two hours. last week the buyer received the result of the survey and I got a phone call from the estate agent telling me that she doesn’t want to proceed because of the outcome of the survey the survey highlighted a number of defects with the roof, mainly the survey said that there was rot and damp in the timbers, the party wall did not go all the way up to the roof presenting a fire hazard, the roof coverings were loose and required replacement and the insulation was inadequate.

I chatted with the estate agent and we both agreed that it would be worthwhile going back to the buyer and explaining that these surveys are meant to highlight things and that I would be happy to get a roofing specialist out of the following day in order to assess the condition of the roof. The buyer came back and said that the survey had valued the property at only £250,000 and that she may be prepared to proceed at that price so long as the Roof checked out okay.

the following day I asked a company called elite roofing to come and inspect the roof and to do a written report. They got up onto the roof with ladders and gave it a thorough examination and took many photographs. They also went into the loft and extensively checked for signs of rot and damp. 

They found no rot and no damp they found the torturing to be in keeping with what you would expect of a property of this age. They found no problem with the party wall. Both party walls reached the roof and the roof being was supported by the party wall and the installation Had been installed in 2008 and it had a certificate staple to one of the beams in the roof and they said that it was absolutely fine and compliant they were shocked at what the survey report reported.

other accents from the survey stated that the timber cladding to the front of the property was damaged in some areas or did they use the word rotting again? This surprises me because the cladding on the front of the house is made of plastic and not timber and it is not damaged anywhere. 

I’m very surprised that a surveyor cannot tell the difference between plastic and wood

This has left me with very little faith in the survey and the surveyor and if he could misrepresents the property so badly do I trust his valuation?

£30,000 is a heck of a reduction in price.

the estate agent spoke to the buyer again and it sounds like they may well be willing to proceed at £250,000 but they are reluctant to pay anymore based on the value that the survey gave.

I did a desktop evaluation on Purplebricks and it was valued that between 268 and 296 with an average of 282,000 this was also represented on other desktop evaluation sites

I believe the surveyor on the value of the house. Is there anything I can do to have this revalued or re-assessed to the satisfaction of the buyer?

How could a surveyor so grossly misrepresent the condition of the roof and the so-called timber cladding to the front of the house which is plastic?

Thanks for any advice. This is a critical time for us because we’ve already bought our next home and we really need the money to renovate it. We honestly thought that we were selling the house at less than it’s worth when we agreed to 270 3000

Thanks in advance

In this market the 30k change is normal, however the buyer sounds like they may still withdraw from the purchase, you should accept the 250k and wrap this up, the government are only going to punish multiple home owners more and more it looks like?

jimi_man

A house is worth what someone is prepared to pay for it - no more, no less. The housing market is rubbish at the moment so personally (having just sold ours after 13 months) I'd take the £250k. 

If the surveyor has valued it at less than the offer price then presumably the mortgage company won't lend them as much either so they may not be able to afford the £260/270.

I'd grab £250k with both hands. 

michael1234

I wouldn't grab that with both hands because as you know the house you're buying isn't reducing.

monkey-fingers

michael1234 said:

I wouldn't grab that with both hands because as you know the house you're buying isn't reducing.

They've already bought it. Both houses are mortgage free.

ReadySteadyPop

michael1234 said:

I wouldn't grab that with both hands because as you know the house you're buying isn't reducing.

Why not  ?

BikingBud

monkey-fingers said:

michael1234 said:

I wouldn't grab that with both hands because as you know the house you're buying isn't reducing.

They've already bought it. Both houses are mortgage free.

And both houses are consuming cash.

Cash that could be contributing to the new kitchen in the new house.

RocketRonnieRadox

Well today I got a bit more information. The buyer called the estate agent and said that she was withdrawing from the purchase on the ground that after the survey she feels like the house is gonna fall down on her if she moves in that surveyor needs to be hung drawn and quartered for lying and scaring a 66-year-old buyer out of the purchase.

The estate agent tried to talk reason to the buyer and informed her of the report I had commissioned from a roofer which concluded that the roof is fine and fit for purpose and only requires some minor routine maintenance at the cost of £930. After speaking to the estate agent buyer said okay I will reconsider my position. There was no talk of money. The buyer is scared about the condition of the property because of the lies that that surveyor told

this buyer needs reassurance she’s afraid that the Roof is going to cave in on her she’s obviously not technical so I have offered to cover the cost of the roof repairs to take that worrying off her mind. Let’s see if that makes the difference over the next few days.

I have also suggested that she has another viewing to reassure herself that this house is not going to fall down. It sounds like she’s overthinking it and she’s in her own head..

Archergirl

RocketRonnieRadox said:

Well today I got a bit more information. The buyer called the estate agent and said that she was withdrawing from the purchase on the ground that after the survey she feels like the house is gonna fall down on her if she moves in that surveyor needs to be hung drawn and quartered for lying and scaring a 66-year-old buyer out of the purchase.

The estate agent tried to talk reason to the buyer and informed her of the report I had commissioned from a roofer which concluded that the roof is fine and fit for purpose and only requires some minor routine maintenance at the cost of £930. After speaking to the estate agent buyer said okay I will reconsider my position. There was no talk of money. The buyer is scared about the condition of the property because of the lies that that surveyor told

this buyer needs reassurance she’s afraid that the Roof is going to cave in on her she’s obviously not technical so I have offered to cover the cost of the roof repairs to take that worrying off her mind. Let’s see if that makes the difference over the next few days.

I have also suggested that she has another viewing to reassure herself that this house is not going to fall down. It sounds like she’s overthinking it and she’s in her own head..

Have you shown your independent roofing survey to the original surveyor? There must be consequences for his incorrect report surely?

dannim12345

Assuming the buyer doesn’t have any background in buildings/construction, I think the only way to put their mind fully at rest is to get their own roofing company or similar out (or another surveyor but that will cost).  If she wasn’t 100% sure on the property or was having second thoughts anyway this might have just spooked them. 

I know you have got a company in for all she knows they are your mates/families company. 

RocketRonnieRadox

Archergirl said:

RocketRonnieRadox said:

Well today I got a bit more information. The buyer called the estate agent and said that she was withdrawing from the purchase on the ground that after the survey she feels like the house is gonna fall down on her if she moves in that surveyor needs to be hung drawn and quartered for lying and scaring a 66-year-old buyer out of the purchase.

The estate agent tried to talk reason to the buyer and informed her of the report I had commissioned from a roofer which concluded that the roof is fine and fit for purpose and only requires some minor routine maintenance at the cost of £930. After speaking to the estate agent buyer said okay I will reconsider my position. There was no talk of money. The buyer is scared about the condition of the property because of the lies that that surveyor told

this buyer needs reassurance she’s afraid that the Roof is going to cave in on her she’s obviously not technical so I have offered to cover the cost of the roof repairs to take that worrying off her mind. Let’s see if that makes the difference over the next few days.

I have also suggested that she has another viewing to reassure herself that this house is not going to fall down. It sounds like she’s overthinking it and she’s in her own head..

Have you shown your independent roofing survey to the original surveyor? There must be consequences for his incorrect report surely?

No I have not, I didn’t commission the buyers survey so I didn’t think that would be appropriate?

If I lose they buyer I may follow up on this and see if I can use their complaints procedure / ombudsman