Selling our house

jeanette251978

Hi everyone,

Just some advise if anyone can help!

We put our house on the market 2 weeks ago and we had our first viewer last night, all went well but it seems we have a small patch of damp in our cellar (it is a really small cellar in a 2 bed terrace cottage) maybe the start of problems which i hope can be solved, the viewers noticed this and the feedback i got this morning was that they are interested but need to sit down and discuss it in greater depth due to the damp in the cellar! this i can understand.

Problem is what do we do now? we cant really afford to get the work done, hence the reason we are selling (that sounds bad, we arent running because there is a damp patch, we a moving due to money problems)! I thought maybe get a few quotes for whatever work needs to be done and offer to knock this amount off the asking price.

Does anyone know what actual work we would need doing? because its below ground level im not so sure.


Thanks

neas

if no initial negotaition has taken place be prepared that the buyer will automatically knock 5-10% off your asking price PLUS the cost to get the damp repaired... this is normal house negotiation tactic... the 5-10% depends on a number of factors.

But the market is a buyers market so dont be offended when it happens :P.

Bungarm2001

It's all a bit up in the air until a 'proper' survey is done. If I was you, I'd tell the prospective buyers that you are quite happy to negotiate as and when they have their own surveyors report on the damp. Until you (or they) have it investigated properly, the questions about what is involved are unanswerable.

My gut feeling tells me you should be prepared for some hard bargaining here. Nothing a prospective buyer likes to hear more than the word 'damp' for using as a lever to get a huge reduction.

jeanette251978

Thanks for the replies,

I can imagine that they are going to do some hard bargaining, they were very picky to start with anyway, taking a list of what we would be leaving in terms of fixtures and fittings etc

I guess time will tell, we are not going to let it go for a rediculous amount because the house is immaculate, thats the only short fall and its a very small patch, probably easily sorted out to be honest.

neas

if you are desperate to sell... you might regret that stand point... when the house will fall in value as houses are across the country. Its a decision only you can make though.

PasturesNew

My advice is to get a couple of quotes to get the work done. Then have your EA be open on it's existence during viewings and show the best quote.

This means that anybody who does offer won't be put off when it gets to survey stage as they'll already know about it.

Obviously it is priced lower than the rest (it is, isn't it?) because you know of the damp and cost to fix that. It's not like you're asking top dollar and hoping they won't notice.

silvercar

A can of stainstop will set you back a fiver. Not a long term solution, but at least it will get your buyers past the offer stage.

jeanette251978

We are not desperate to sell, we have our problems but we still pay our bills and have money to do this, but for our long term future we have decided to sell to have fresh start if you like, we need to sell anyway because i work 30 miles away from home and dont drive (public transport is a nightmare) so for whatever reasons we would be looking to move now anyway.

As for the damp, to be honest i didnt notice it, its not a room i use, i hate it and i rarely go down so no i didnt notice it, i didnt choose to not notice it, it was a genuine error on my part, Ive priced the house well i feel, they get value for money, ive spent alot of money on this houses adding kitchen, and general decoration, its all freshly painted and carpetted, there are similar properties in the area which are alot more money, and are not as well presented, obviously this is in my opinion, im going to be biased haha!