WWYD....Feeling angry today!

[kades2000]

Can anyone offer any advice? Or tell me some stories if it happened to you?

Long story....... we sold stc our house 7 weeks ago to FTB. We wanted quick sale so dropped price at EA advice by 15k after 1 week (this was our lowest price we could accept and made ours the cheapest of its kind on the market, EA would make buyers aware we wont accept any lower) we thought the price drop would reflect some work that may be needed such as a new kitchen (small kitchen so 5k max) and to avoid negotiating further down the line.

So after valuation and homebuyers survey, buyer comes round with a builder, a week later they want a damp survey done. Fair enough, it shows they are serious and are covering themselves as its a 1930's property, feeling good they are having things checked at an early stage.

So-called damp surveyor turns up 2 hours before appointment time, insists it's rising damp before he even gets his damp meter out. All he does is go around the walls with a damp meter above the skirting and says that 2 walls and the bay window are wetter than the rest of the house, he says its so minor we dont have any visual evidence of it. Says about 2k to fix and after a 10 minute survey off he went.

A week later EA call to say our buyers want 4k off the price to cover the cost to fix damp (the quote they received has doubled and so has number of walls that need treatment)
I am completely taken aback by this so advised the EA exactly what the surveyor did and also advised that we researched the company who did the survey and they are a company that sell damp course treatments and offer a free survey, so i was very wary of them pulling a fast one like this.

I asked the EA are they aware we have already dropped the price by 15k to which he said yes, other small niggly things came up on the homebuyers report which you expect on a property of this age but they are willing to overlook them but they are concerned about the damp and feel that the cost of damp should be taken off as no one expected it to come up!

Great, so now they are defending their decision to drop price by 15k when we said 10k initially so that would have given us 5k to negotiate with later. We have now arranged for an independent damp specialist at £250 to attend our property soon in the hope he can prove for us that the other company are just a con.

We feel so angry at the EA but even more so that the buyers think it is acceptable to demand 4k of on the basis of the quote which has a sentence saying they found rising damp because we dont have a damp course at present, 2 pages in the report goes on about their products!

[wowfudge]

I understand why you feel like that and getting your own proper damp survey is the correct thing to do. You might ask the surveyor if he would be willing to speak to the buyers - if his findings are that the house has no rising damp problem of course. Sounds as though your buyers are trying to keep their costs down. In all likelihood they just haven't realised these free survey damp proofing companies are just trying to sell you something you don't need. Damp meters always record higher levels around windows and external doors as well.

[Kiwi32]

I can totally understand why you're annoyed and I think getting a proper damp survey is a great move. At the end of the day the EA want their commission as quickly as possible so they aren't going to care if it costs you £5k.

I would imagine that FTB are nervous of everything and will be just taking advice and doing their best to muddle through a new process.

If your survey comes back with no issues then share it with the buyers and hold firm on your price. If you are the cheapest already of the houses of that type available then you're in a good position.

[kades2000]

Thank you for your comment, that is a good suggestion so i will ask him if that's possible. We do get condensation on the bay window during winter at which ive noticed seems to puddle on the windowsill and i just wipe it up, i am confident this is what has caused the spike in readings there which i explained to the surveyor but he dismissed it completely, didnt even look at the windows!

[peaceout]

Don't take it personally and get all offended, it's business, a kind of game where each party tries to get the best deal possible, buyer is bound to try and negotiate you down.
They made a move now it's your move, weigh it up and make a decision

[Maggy74653]

We had similar with our first buyer. We got to the point of exchanging contracts and she went from saying she was happy to proceed to wanting £10,000+ off for work that was highlighted as non essential and a consideration for the future in the homebuyers report. (House was only selling for around £120,000.)

We got our own quotes from several different builders and they came in at a maximum of £3000.

She had had to outbid three other buyers in order to secure our property and I think had therefore stretched herself beyond what she wanted and thought she could reduce the price by doing this last minute as we would be desperate to proceed. We offered to cover half costs £1500, in order proceed quickly. They said it wasn't enough so we put the house back on the market. It sold within 6 days and for more than she had paid.

I'd call their bluff and say the house is already significantly reduced in price to sell quickly and you aren't willing to reduce it any further. (It's worth getting your own damp quotes as well, esp not from a company who is trying to sell stuff!!)

[wowfudge]

Incidentally, we think we got a bit of a bargain with our house so when the survey came back with a few things you would consider part and parcel of ongoing maintenance with an older house, we didn't try to renegotiate the price - you want to have some goodwill with the vendor. Asking for more money off smacks of inexperience or desperation as they are overstretching themselves.

[neonrainbow]

Just say no!

[Goingtobeawesome]

I'd tell them they have until 5pm to accept your offer otherwise you're withdrawing it for sale. The buyer doesn't get their house, the estate agent doesn't get their commission and you get to put it back on the market with someone better in x weeks time by which time you know the real situation regarding the damp, if there is any.

[Doublechocolatetiffin]

What's your position? Do you absolutely have to sell to this buyer or could you afford to get a new buyer?

I'd be tempted to just say no to any further price drops. Say that you've already dropped the price by £15k and they can either buy it at that price or you'll put it back on the market and find someone else who will. It shouldn't be hard to get someone else in if it's the cheapest of its kind on the market.

[kades2000]

Thanks for all your advice.

Me and the OH did discuss after this salesmen left that if it's 2k to fix then to save hassle we would agree to drop by 1k as goodwill even though we honestly felt he was just trying to get his commission and sell damp course treatment!

Im battling with OH too as he just wants to re-market it rather than waste more time but im trying to be reasonable and i really dont want to lose the house we are purchasing (the reason why we dropped the price so quick in the first place)

This whole process really sucks, we sold a house before and never had anything like this, our FTB for that place was great.

Ive not told the EA when our damp specialist is coming, im going to make them sweat for a bit like they did to us, now it makes sense why their solicitor was not responding to ours!

[kades2000]

We don't have to sell to these buyers, im certain if we re-market it at the same price it would sell just as quick, still nothing like ours at the same price too and in a sought after area so we are at an advantage, plus new 4 piece bathroom suite fitted last year.

The only thing that puts me off is the 7 weeks we have already been waiting, having to go through viewings all over again, isnt easy with a baby and an old dog to get out the house!

[Bobbybobbins]

We bought a 1930s property a few years ago and the mortgage company required us to have a timber and damp surgery before they would release the mortgage. They came back with a few high readings round the fireplaces. They quoted us a lot less to fix the damp -£4000 seems like a hell of a lot. Great idea to get your own survey done.

[Bobbybobbins]

*survey not surgery!

[Doublechocolatetiffin]

I do see where you are coming from by not wanting to start all over again, but a poor buyer can be so much more hassle than someone viewings.

Either these guys are really trying it on and may we'll continue to do so as you get further down the line or are seriously interested in the house and will realise that they already have a bargain and that they won't be able to buy anything else for less.

You'll only find out if you say no. Tell them that the price was already negotiated below anything similar in the area, you did this to ensure a smooth quick sale and there will be no more coming off and you'll be happy to re-marked it because at the price they are paying someone else will snap it up.

[Badweekjustgotworse]

Remarket it op. Buyers like this will only ever be a pain in the arse. Also I'd be tempted not to take EA's advice and just drop below market value by the 10k rather than the 15k next time round.

[FinallyHere]

Another vote for re-marketing.

It might bring them to heel, or you might get another, better set. WinWin.

[Goingtobeawesome]

It isn't easy with small people and animals but it's a few weeks and then it's done. If you give in it will rankle for a lot longer. Lovely that you're being reasonable. Is anyone else being so in this scenario?

[neonrainbow]

If you remarket them maybe do an open house? All over and done with in 1 day.

[m0therofdragons]

We had similar and on our solicitor's advice We got quotes and agreed to pay cash to the sum of the cheapest quote for the work after the sale so solicitor billed us extra and transferred the funds. That was about £2k for a very tiny house - less than 3 meters of wall - in 2007.

[LosingDory]

The vast majority of the cost will be to knock the plaster off and replaster it after. When I had a survey done the damp course would have cost 500 quid but the total was more like 5k!

[kades2000]

Just to update you all.

Our damp specialist attended yesterday and confirmed no rising damp!!

He was at the property for 1hr and 35mins and inspected every bit of the exterior and interior, he used all kinds of gadgets including thermal imaging, he took photos of all his readings and explained scientifically what all the readings mean. I was even impressed that he asked if he could drill 2 small holes into our wall, which i allowed, he inserted prongs and recorded the internal wall was dry. If we had rising damp then it would have had a high moisture reading.

His inspection determined that one room had condensation issue due to poor ventilation (the vent was blocked!) and the exterior ground level around the bay window had risen allowing low level rainwater penetration, to fix this, we need to put in a drainage channel which is a very minor job.

The best £225 i'd spent.

We are just waiting for him to send the report so we can forward onto purchasers.

My question now is.....would you allow the buyers to obtain quotes for the drainage channel?

As far as a price reduction, its likely the drainage channel shouldn't be any more than £500. We are reluctant to cover any costs for the drainage channel considering they have already cost us £225 for employing someone to put right their mistake of arranging a conman to inspect our property.

Plus we already reduced it by 15k already.

Im just feeling very annoyed with them to the point where we are not really happy to proceed any further if they request a price reduction. They are FTBs so i guess they are being easily led by other people maybe?

[neonrainbow]

No i wouldn't entertain them getting quote for drainage channel. They've messed you around enough and surely a builder can give them a rough estimate without seeing the place. If they hadnt messed you around i might be more accomodating! Time to play hardball?

[wowfudge]

I would let them have a copy of the damp survey and ask the EA to make it clear it is take it or leave it with no further negotiation on price. Then it's up to them and you have the survey for any other interested parties. Might be worth asking the EA to suggest they Google issues with free damp surveys as they just won't know.