Survey at 11th hour

whaleroad

I think I've found the answer to this but want to hear human views. How common is it as a vendor to get to the verge of exchanging contracts and suddenly learn your buyer wants a survey?

This isn't for me, it's for someone close to me. It's been over three months since they accepted the buyer's offer, which was 24% lower than original valuation.

They have gone through all the searches etc and signed all their paperwork ready to complete. The estate agent has now said the buyers want a survey because of some work they want doing to the property. That survey has happened today and they're awaiting reports.

The estate agent initially said the buyer's mortgage had been agreed. Now they are saying it's a mortgage survey.

What's your experience of this kind of thing? And how far off exchange would you say the vendor is if the survey is all good?

Brie

Perhaps the mortgage had been agreed in principle only?

whaleroad

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82131435#Comment_82131435

No all the searches and enquiries are done and solicitors were instructed three months ago. This is well past that stage.

bobster2

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6682743/survey-at-11th-hour

Sounds unusual to me. Most buyers wouldn't get this far along and only then suddenly decide they want a survey.

If it's not about a mortgage (that was not agreed earlier) then my prediction is they will be asking for a further reduction in the sale price following the survey - saying they cannot proceed without the reduction (e.g. perhaps because it's supposedly thrown up issues that make the work they want to do more costly).

And by leaving it this late - rather than doing the survey earlier - the vendor will feel more pressure to accept a further reduction rather than put the property back on the market.

Vendor may need to be prepared to call their bluff.

whaleroad

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82131454#Comment_82131454

This is exactly my fear. It's absolutely rotten if so and a good case for why we need a law change in England. I quite like the system we have in principle, but it is too open to exploitation with absolutely dire consequences for innocent parties.

user1977

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82131459#Comment_82131459

I blame the obsession with "moneysaving…" - buyers seem to get advised to only do one thing at a time (in case one of them throws up a problem) rather than multitask, so the process takes months longer than it needs to (which itself increases the risk of something throwing a spanner in the works).

twopenny

I had this done to me which was followed by wanting a £10,000 reduction 3 months after agreeing asking price and taking it off the market but without me seeing the proof of the problem they suggested.

I was furious and a brief search showed it's suggested online as a way to get a price reduction and have since heard people say it's a fine way to do it. Frankly I just said no. It's going back on the market which did the trick. Then they wanted an immediate exchange. Not enough time to pack .

Messed me about a lot and stressed. It's never going to happen to me again as I won't hang around next time.

Just search 'leaving survey till last minute to get a reduction in price uk'

bobster2

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82131695#Comment_82131695

Yes - if the demand is unreasonable vendor needs to stand firm and call their bluff. If buyer has just spent money on a survey and other fees they may be unwilling to walk away when it comes down to it.

Bigphil1474

And what if the survey came back and said it needs £20k worth of work to be habitable and even then it's not worth what they are paying? There's too many variables to have a hard and fast rule. If they are FTB they may have not realised they need a survey and decided to do it last minute because they've just found out it's a good idea. As above, the vendor tends to be the one who has spent the least on their sale, the main danger for them is their onward purchase. If it was me, I would be asking why they hadn't had a survey done within a few weeks of accepting the offer. I wouldn't even consider reducing price unless they sent me a copy of the survey to look at though.

LightFlare

They’ve already had a 24% price reduction

What was this based on ?

How realistically priced was the property initially to attract and accept such a reduction

See what the survey says and any amended offer.

If the property has huge underlying issues then price and expectations may need to be updated anyway for future buyers

Dustyevsky

We haven't full context, but agreeing a 24% reduction is pretty startling in itself.

At the height of the 2008/9 price crash we sold at 16% below original valuation, and that felt upsetting for an up-together house in a great location.

We might be heading for another 2008, but things are not that dire yet, so was this large reduction due to acknowledgement of structural/condition issues with the property? If so, one would surely have expected the survey to come then, not now.

It doesn't add up.