Asbestos

[fiftyfifty]

We have had an offer accepted on a house we love. However, the estate agent called to advise us that the vendor had told him there is asbestos in the ceilings. We are about to sign for the mortgage and book a survey but now I'm a bit unsure.

We had opted for the homebuyers survey (middle priced one) but now a friend has said we'd be better to pay for the top notch survey as this will show much more detail.

Anyone have any experience of similar situation?

TIA

Well at least the vendor is being honest about it.

You will need an additional survey from an asbestos removal company. They can provide a quote for removing the asbestos. A normal surveyor will just say they saw asbestos and the mortgage provider may require a proper asbestos survey anyway.

You can then reduce the asking price by the amount it will cost to remove the asbestos or make exchange conditional on the vendor removing it. If they are being upfront about it now I suspect that they will be ok with one of these options. Perhaps sound them out before you start spending money.

I hope it works out.

Thank you. We are first time buyers so absolutely no experience of surveys or anything, feel a bit swamped by it all tbh.

We were originally outbid on this property but that buyer pulled out and we put in another offer, slightly higher than our original one. They have already accepted our offer which is 5% below the asking price, and they have had an offer accepted on their next house so I have no idea if they will drop the price any more but I guess it's worth a try.

I will look into quotes from asbestos removal companies.

Thanks for your help.

My parents bought a house last year like this and the sellers told them in advance. No probes with survey or mortgage and sometimes as long as it isn,t disturbed it is best to lessee it or enclose it rather than remove. You do need to think about re sale though as a lot of people panic at the word and I think my parents were about the third potential buyers as the other 2 pulled out.

Probs not probes iPad !