Survey came back with issues..what next?

[p-and-d 10]

Theres a few good ideas on here, probably the best is to walk away or get the owner to reduce the price to reflect the work what needs carrying out. Personally i'd get the work done myself as the current owners can just get a cheap alternative to get it sold.

[Pretzel 10]

I went through this process only 6 months ago, and was very dissapinted with my survey. My survey came up with loads of issues, recommending that I undertake:

- A complete rewire

- A new damp course

- Possible replacement of the sub-floor downstairs

- Replacement of the roof of an offshot.

In the end, I got an expert to look at the need for a damp proof course/replacement of the sub-floor and another to look at the electrics before I bought -I discovered that the jobs recommended by the survey were not required (my electrics for instance are less than 20 years old!)! Now, 6 months later, I have got people to do a few repairs, which have cost less than £1000.

 

My survey came up with a valuation the same as my accepted offer, so I didn't negociate the price down. I would take the survey findings with a pinch of salt and arrange to get some people to look at the probs before deciding what to do - my seller had no probs with this as it was in their interests.

[Cyclone 10]

It's a good point, the survey on my house said that it needed a new roof, the old one is still fine 9 years later. It also said a full rewire, nothing's apparently wrong with the electrics though.

I think some of it, they just put down to cover their own backs.

[dan2802 53]

Get a couple of quotes and then approach the vendors with prices.

At worst, they should meet you half way.

I'd be happy to quote. Contact details are below.

[garrence 10]

They are minor not serious.

 

1. You weren't to know about the mould (though I'd bet it's fairly trivial) but you can see how old the roof is and would have taken its expected remaining life into account when you made your offer.

 

2. It's almost de rigeur for surveyors to claim damp proof course failure. Re-injecting one is maybe £30 per metre of wall length, plus any remedial work needed to internal plaster and decoration (although, again, the latter should have been apparent to you before making your offer).

 

3. Pointing is the motar between the bricks. Again, it is reasonable to assume you inspected this and took the condition into account before making your offer.

 

Unless 1 and 2 have caused significant decay then I'd suggest any repairs would come to a few hundred pounds. If so, and you believe the vendor will be amenable to contributing towards the work, I'd suggest a discount of say £500 for you to use to have the work done after completion.

[Puplet 10]

Hi, I was forced to change my user name but just wanted to say (again) thanks for the advice. Ill talk to the agents tomorrow and see what they suggest before talking to them about getting quotes and possibly renegotiating the price.

 

Thanks also to those that offered quotes, Ill keep you in mind when the time comes to it!

[andrejuan 10]

As I see it you have 3 options :-

 

Get them to do the repairs

 

Knock the price down to reflect the repairs and get them done them yourself ( at least you would know they were done properly)

 

Walk away

 

Sterling advice.

 

Tell the agent and they will relay it to the vendor.

[HarrietStar 10]

we were in a similar situation, we made an offer of £107k which was accepted, then the survey came back with problems with the floor joists, the roof and damp. We made a revised offer of £104k which the vendor accepted and the mortgage company were ok with, given the survey findings. We have had the work done ourselves over the last year with the money we saved on the renegotiated price.

[numero uno 10]

surveys always sound worse than they are they have to exaggerate problems even if they are small so as not to be claimed against if they miss something..

[Puplet 10]

surveys always sound worse than they are they have to exaggerate problems even if they are small so as not to be claimed against if they miss something..

 

 

I can see that this could be the case but feel it best to get everything checked out first.

 

However, we contacted the agents and they said the vendors believe the house is worth more than several different agencies said it was. The agent thinks that they will just refuse our requests for quotes or re-negotation based on the quotes...still waiting to hear back...

[Cyclone 10]

don't forget that the agency is desperate for the sale to complete so that they get their commission.

[Phylis 10]

I can see that this could be the case but feel it best to get everything checked out first.

 

However, we contacted the agents and they said the vendors believe the house is worth more than several different agencies said it was. The agent thinks that they will just refuse our requests for quotes or re-negotation based on the quotes...still waiting to hear back...

 

Walk away..................