time to completion - valuation etc...some questions ???

emujuice

hi all,
had offer accepted on a property in Sheffield - 3 bed townhouse with basement conversion and off road parking. Price at £155,000 and offered £150,000 - and accepted (another couple offered asking price but had house to sell and we're FTBs).
We've had the mortgage offer from HSBC (although they only got the valuation done yesterday - this is at what we offered - is this normal/ok? we have £19k deposit, so I presume they're not worried on getting their money back).

Going to see the solictors on friday to look at the contracts.

Now my questions are. The house is empty - so considering how far along we are with everything - how long do you think it will take to finish it all now? (or is that like asking how long is a piece of string?)

is the valuation at price paid the norm?

There is a leak on the flat roof extension - which we've known about all along and was promised to be fixed, although as yet isn't. Do we now get our own builders in and get a quote then negotiate on the price or wait for him to get it done. there is also a pane of double glazing that is gone - can we negotiate the price for that?

I know the majority of you will say haggle hard in the current climate, but we want this house as there aren't many of this size at this price in the area we want - and also we want to be in quickly as we're living with parents and are sick of living out of a suitcase. So what do you think is a reasonable amount to haggle down now, or if things are fixed do we stay at the price we've agreed? would it slow the mortgage down if we changed the price anyway?

Cheers for the help all!

Reds-on-Sea

I had my valuation done and 2 weeks ago today, and I am completing the day after tomorrow. From what I gather, as long as your solicitor has finished all his checks etc, the acceptance of the valuation is pretty much the last thing to do. As for a reasonable amount to haggle down - did you get your own survey too? We got an independent survey (as HSBCs basic valuation was free, we figured we might as well) He was very helpful and priced up (generously) how much he thought everything would cost to fix up. We sent (an abridged) version to the vendor, including prices and we & the vendors agreed on a discount. We are having it paid back to us as an allowance which means that we don't have to change the mortgage amount. I guess, if you had to adjust your mortgage amount etc, there could be quite a hold up, as there are quite a few forms/docs that need to be changed? Maybe you could sort out something similar?

hope you get your house okay @ a good price etc

emujuice

Thanks reds on sea. We had the hsbc homebuyer's survey, but that hasn't put any estimates of costs in it. I've just phoned a builder friend to go round and quote on the flat roof - but he might not be able to get a written quote to us for a while as his partner is going on holiday - sigh. But the survey suggests it might all want replacing. If we can get the quote perhaps we can get the money back as an allowance so that we don't have to wait for the work to be done before we move in. The survey also suggests the main roof might want some refelting too...sigh. thanks for the advice on the allowance

Reds-on-Sea

Cool. There are quite a few posts on here about people having their discount as a cash refund. Ours was only £1000, and so wasn't of huge relevance to the mortgage. I think there are implications of having a large amount paid back as cash (though obviously it's very handy for you as it gives you the cash in your hand to get the work done straight away) as the selling price of the house gets registered as higher than it actually went for etc.. i.e. it would still say house sold for £150k, even if you only paid £140k etc. This has an affect on surrounding house prices, but is completely legal if done properly. I was tempted by HSBC's surveys, but my bf wanted to use someone reccommended to him and also, he went round with the guy when he did the survey etc so he could ask any questions. Just out of interest (if anyone knows out there?) Our surveyor guy was very adamant that the survey was ours to do with as we please... he's not liable for anything the survey says, we bought the survey, and so it's ours. he was keen for us to use it as a bargaining tool, and (almost) implied that we could add bits to it if we wanted... which sounds a little immoral, but who'd know? Consequently, we've had quotes quite a bit lower than what he stated so all good for us He emailed us a copy as a word doc, and we edited it slightly, highlighting points etc....

anyways...I'd suggest you get someone round for a written quotation asap if you want to hurry things along. Even if you have to pay for it (if you're getting the work done anyways, you'll have to get a quote) it'll be worth it, especially if there's potentially a LOT of work involved. Use the quotes as your bargaining tool and get some money knocked off, then discuss with your solicitor the best way to deal with any discount you may receive. You'll have to weigh up the cost of the length of time such matters may delay your move with the amount of discount you expect off etc.

incidentally, I haven't had the details of my HSBC valuation back yet. All is I know is that it was okay... interesting reading for me when if comes back

COMPLETING TOMORROW - WOOOOOOOOooo, can't wait!

emujuice

hi,

just read through the survey thoroughly (mum just read out highlights over the phone before). It's not nice reading, although nothing too out of the ordinary considering. It's pretty thorough actually and worth the money as we wouldn't have spotted some of the things highlighted. The HSBC valuation says the house is worth £148000 and needs £2000 spending then it will be worth £150000. Quite basic really.
Now we need to crack on and get some quotes, it's going to take time as the house is empty and so we'll need the vendor to go with the builders.

good luck tomorrow!