Quotes fox fixes

Huiyy

Hi. I’m in the process of buying a house. Iv had my survey done and plan to have an engineers report done this week. Once i know what needs fixing and once i have quotes, do i send these quotes to the estate agent and ask to renegotiate? Or do i send these to my solicitor and they renegotiate for me? Thanks

Section62

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6674273/quotes-fox-fixes

It depends what the issues are and how much it would cost to put them right. Also how keen you are to buy this particular property.

The seller doesn't have to accept a lower value, your offer should have reflected the value of the property as you saw it, not a property in perfect condition. Therefore requests to renegotiate should normally be for unexpected things, although that doesn't mean you can't chance your luck with other stuff.

But it is chancing your luck… property transactions involve a fair amount of good faith. For some sellers a buyer asking to renegotiate the agreed price downwards on the basis of some minor work required could lead them to think you aren't buying in good faith. Sometimes people are unpredictable. And the result could be the seller deciding they don't want to sell to you at anything other than the previously agreed price (or even not at all).

You might want to wait till you get full information and post back here for views on how reasonable a request to renegotiate might be.

Keep_pedalling

Presumably the asking price is based on the condition the house is currently in, so if I was the seller I might just reject the request unless your survey has thrown up something that was unknown.

Huiyy

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82051314#Comment_82051314

Yeah the surveyor no doubt is covering his backside with minor things. The biggest issue was suspected ongoing movement of the property. And the surveyor advised to book a structural engineer report. Going to book it this week. I know in the survey is says the lintel needs replacing. So that’s one thing. I wasn‘t going to just list every minor issue to the EA.

Do i send the quotes to the EA? Or does the solicitor do that?

Section62

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82051325#Comment_82051325

Are you buying with a mortgage?

Ongoing structural movement might be a no-go, if so.

Did the surveyor say why the lintel needs replacing?

Huiyy

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82051474#Comment_82051474

Yeah i’ve got a mortgage. He just said the lintel has cracking and should be replaced or repaired.

I take it if there is bad ongoing movement then the lender just pulls out? How does it work? Is there a world where you don’t show the lender the structural engineers report?

Section62

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82051533#Comment_82051533

He just said the lintel has cracking and should be replaced or repaired.

The lintel is concrete? (or wood?) Concrete lintels usually have steel reinforcing which can rust and cause the concrete to spall. The early signs of that would be cracks. If the cracking is due to corrosion of the reinforcing steel then that would be less of a worry than cracking from an unknown cause… however if one lintel is affected then there's a risk other ones in the property are similarly affected.

You need the surveyor to explain why the lintel has cracked, not just that it needs replacing.

I take it if there is bad ongoing movement then the lender just pulls out? How does it work?

It depends on the lender and what exactly is going on with the structure. Uncertainty about what is causing the movement and whether it is still happening is the big risk for the lender. If the cause is known and can be fixed then they might be less worried. Until they are given the information there's no real way of knowing how they might react.

Is there a world where you don’t show the lender the structural engineers report?

One in which 'fraud' isn't a criminal offence, perhaps.

In reality your solicitor is also acting for the lender, and the solicitor would have to inform the lender of issues that might cause them reconsider their offer. Concealing the issue from both your solicitor and the lender would put you in a very risky position. Worst case, the mortgage lender finds out between exchange and completion and pulls out - leaving you committed to purchase but without the funds (or any chance of getting them) to do so.

Bigphil1474

OP, normally you would deal with these matters through the EA selling the property. Leave your solicitor to deal with their bits (and EA's won't charge per hour either). As above, the marketed price will reflect current condition, not a perfect house. If you have offered marketed price and some issues have come to light which you couldn't reasonably be aware of, then that's a fine reason to consider reducing your offer. See what the costs come back at. Did the surveyor value the property? If so, you might be getting it at a good price anyway. All a bit if's and buts. Definitely worth a discussion, but bear in mind the vendor may need to sell at a certain price anyway, so might prefer to remarket than sell to you at a lower price.

Chief_of_Staffy

You won't be able to get quotes for structural issues because they'd need to do investigative work first to establish the problem. You might get a vague estimate, but probably not even that.

The good news is, you're not required to inform your lender of your survey results. The bad news is, they will find out, as your solicitor is mandated to do so, and they must check for adequate insurance prior to purchase. Since you will have declared the suspected defect to the insurance, that means your lender will withdraw their offer. Unless your structural survey shows no issue, in which case the survey findings are irrelevant and you needn't tell anybody anything.