Worried about the house offer we've put in

[ClarkL]

We've put an offer in on a house, its not perfect but it's certainly good enough. It needs an awful lot of work (stairs rebuilding, damp, new bathroom, kitchen, ceilings moved the works!), our builder has quoted and we put an offer in based on how much work needs doing and the potential value once the work is done, as a result our offer is quite a bit lower than the asking price. The house has been on the market over a year, was rented prior to this and has had no offers.
The offer we put in was almost 2 weeks ago. First they wanted to know if it was our best offer, we confirmed it was.
Then they wanted to know what sort of buyer we are (no chain, deposit ready, mortgage agreed in principal)
Then he had to talk to his partner
Now further delays because they are talking to their financial advisor

I'm somewhat sick of the waiting, but think if I retract the offer I'm cutting my nose off. However my biggest fear is if they accept the offer and have taken this long to decide, what happens is anything comes up in the survey? If there is anything our builder hasn't noticed we are risking almost £1000 on a survey for a seller who seems unreliable and almost certainly is struggling to sell at the offer we've put in already.

Is this just normal nerves?
Would anyone else wait this long?

[concertplayer]

Waiting is something that a lot of folk have to do depending on how keen they
are to buy the property .2 weeks is quite a long time to wait for a reply to an
offer but possibly they were hoping for a higher offer? They may be in debt/
negative equity who knows? There may be a chain and their sellers have pulled Out?
Friends of ours bought their house a year after it went on the market They
managed to get it reduced . It has none of the problems yours has condition wise
so it can take a year
You say it was rented out before Is it now the case that they would struggle
to find tenants given the state of repair? It has been on the market a year Why?
Trying to sell when tenanted can be difficult as many would-be buyers will
not exchange contracts until the tenants have left.
Before you purchase your survey the mortgage lender will do a valuation so
I would wait for this. Obviously they work for them not you but it will give you
a litttle more info
But in the first place I would go to the Estate Agent and state your concerns
that the vendors seem very unconcerned about your offer etc

[ClarkL]

Thank you Concert
The property definitely cant be rented in it's current state, in 3 rooms the plaster is peeling off. The bathroom is bizarre in that its up 4 very steep stairs the equivalent angle of walking up a ladder so the house is no good in its current state for families and as a 4/5 bedroom house too large for a singleton. There's also no parking....I think I may be talking myself out of the house!!!
There is so much going against the property its a massive project to take on and the margin so small. My builder is amazing though and helping us out greatly with the cost of work, I do not believe its possibly to buy the house, do the work and sell for a profit. We aren't interested in a profit but need to be sure we don't go into negative equity. If it weren't for our builder I don't think its feasible for many people to take it on.
I didn't realise we could wait on the mortgage company doing a survey first though that's a really good way of not spending on lots of pennies to fall at the first hurdle

[JeffreySadsacIsUnwell]

We gave a 24hr deadline for acceptance of our offer, as we had second viewings of other properties booked.

I'd do the same if I were you - phone the EA, say that as you haven't heard, you assume they're not interested and so you are viewing other properties (and do they have anything else for you to look at?) but if they do want to accept your offer a) you will leave it on the table until the end of tomorrow and then withdraw it or b) they have 24hrs to accept, otherwise you will feel free to make an offer elsewhere.

Wording slightly different - choose best fit for you!

[concertplayer]

You do not have to wait to do your own survey but in your circs I would wait
for the mortgage approval first.You can still have a Surveyor waiting in the
background?
The EA only gets his money when the sale goes through so def your first
thing to do is contact him Another indicator would be if the EA has been in
touch with you.They usually like to push things through asap UNLESS THE
VENDORS HAVE TOLD EA THEY ARE NOT IN A HURRY OF COURSE!
def start looking for something else
Btw remember a mortgage offer is usually only valid for a period of time
normally 3-6 months so check this as well

[ClarkL]

The EA has been in touch regularly and I get the feeling she's a bit miffed with the seller (nothing she's out and said) but she has been great in terms of him asking what our best price was, her telling him and then him asking again, she didn't bother checking back and was very clear we've done our maths and research and that's it. I'm pleased really because I am the sort that if I say something and I'm questioned twice I'd probably respond by lowering my offer and thanking them for checking!!

So far there isn't another house we've found. My husband is selling his but has a tenant in and we cant give notice for another 4 weeks then 3 months of their notice period (we can buy this house without selling his) but of course if we get an offer on his we could potentially buy a much more expensive property that doesn't need any work so the longer he takes the more temptation we have.

I think the next time the EA calls I'll be advising that we don't fully trust the seller due to the time its taking him so will be insisting on the mortgage companies review before we pay for a structural survey ourselves which will of course slow the process down for him if he ever agrees a sale.

Actually - is it cheeky to suggest that we will lower the price we've offered. He will pay for the survey from someone of our choosing and if it all comes back fine we'll pay the original offer we put in?

[ClarkL]

Our offer has been accepted!
So now the hard work starts...

[OurBlanche]

Remember, you can still reduce your offer once the survey is in, if anything comes up the builder did not notice.

By then you might have your DHs house sold....

[ClarkL]

Thanks OurBlanche, The seller has said they can't afford to lower the price regardless of what the survey shows up as they paid £15k more than we have offered, so any issues we may well still loose it as otherwise we risk going into negative equity like the seller

[OurBlanche]

That is entirely their issue and, in a way is a good thing, as it might be the thing that keeps you from making a snap decision.

Whatever the survey shows, I hope it turns out well for you.