Did you pull out after the survey? And did you regret it?

[TooMuchRain]

We have had the survey done and the house needs work doing on it - we changed our offer accordingly but the vendor said no...

So, just wondering what other people have done and how it all worked out

It depends on the market, what you offered & how much you want it & how keen they are to sell.
Is it significant work?
Don't forget surveys often throw up things that can be liveable with as well as deal breakers.
You could call their bluff, but it is risky.

Yes and no.

The house simply wasn't worth our offer price, given the work that needed doing. (Approx £14k worth on a £300k house. Our original bid had been on the high side, so no wriggle room from our point of view).

The vendors were naive, thinking they should get the amount they wanted to buy their next house, roughly in line with sale prices in the street for houses in much better condition, rather than what their house was actually worth.

Crucially they didn't seem to know the difference between maintenance and improvement. They'd lived there for 25 years and not maintained the house, so there was recent and preventable rot, damp and other problems. They thought our rectifying that to bring the house up to the standard we'd reasonably assumed it to be at on viewing would be 'improvement'.

Fortunately it wasn't our perfect house, aside from this. It was very good but there were other things we'd have needed to pay to change that weren't faults, just our different taste and choice. So, altogether we were much better off finding somewhere that met our criteria better and was in better condition.

We pulled out of a new house purchase after a survey! Wasn't expecting it to be anything more than 'it's fine' but came back with a load of problems including big stuff like 'they've used old concrete garage panels instead of building a retaining wall so in a few years house could slip down the slope towards neighbours' to 'they've used the cheapest of the cheap doors and kitchen fittings in what they are selling as an expensive house and that the kitchen is the same as a house I surveyed a week ago that cost a quarter of this, fine there but all these things add up to red flags about the quality of the things you can't see and as there's a basement layer below ground on one side I'd be worried about that staying waterproof.'

And so on. We pulled out, bought in a different place altogether (big town, not tiny village) and are frequently very pleased that we did. Don't think we've ever once thought wish we had ended up there. Think the survey was actually a very lucky escape for us actually! Also meant we were able to get our deposit back as we had paid it to be non- refundable subject to survey being ok - at the time never imaginging that it would be bad or we would pull out!

We got a quote and the work that needs doing fairly quickly is about 4% of the house price. The house would be good and practical for us, but we don't love it... so tricky, which is kind of why I was just curious to hear other stories

I think the maintenance/improvement distinction may be an issue in our case actually, the vendors have also lived in the house for decades

The really annoying thing in our case was the waste of time. We wish we'd asked at the beginning, whether the vendor would consider changing the price as a result of the survey. They were in no hurry to move and naive, so would probably have said no, potentially saving us the cost of the survey itself.

It might be worth asking your vendor that question before you get any quotes. It could save you time.

Yes, pulled out and have no regrets. Specifically, we asked at the viewing if there were roof problems and were told a very sweet 'Oh NO.'
Of course the survey flagged up about £15K of roof work that would need doing. We couldn't have afforded it at the time and we were pissed off that the vendors had lied.

It's so annoying, I don't really understand the system where the buyer has to pay for the survey, it would save so much of everone's time if it was just done independently before putting the house on the market - and might make vendors more realistic. We have wasted 2 months and £1000 already...

Pulled out after survey revealed 25k of work on a £250k house. KNew it need updating but new roof, new wiring, new plumbing etc was not predicted.

Vendor offered to drop £10k but we didn't have the money to do the work and felt it was still over priced so pulled out. They eventually sold for £221k (love land registry). So they did have to compromise. New owners have not done roof! Despite survey showing structural movement!

Unless it is your dream house don't do it. And never pay more than you can afford or afford to shell out on works.

You don't sound positive about this house so pull out now. You never know if the vendor is desperate to move they may come back to you.
People seem to think that if they need xxx to move then they just stick the house on the market for more than it is worth.

We were in the same position a month ago. Building survey came back with loads of work that needed doing and valuation survey was 10 grand under. Vendor refused to budge on the price!

We were both so disappointed but we decided to walk and it was absolutely the right decision. We have now had an offer accepted on a flat which is only 5 years old and in great condition and it's such a load off our minds.

Some people love renovations and remodelling - others just want to move in and get on with their lives! Trust your gut on this.

We pulled out after a survey ,but it was years ago . TBH we were already having a few doubts and then the survey valued the house at less than the offered price by a few thousand and it also needed a couple of bits of work ( damp related but not major) . Have never regretted not buying it .

Yes.
And no.

We pulled out - had no choice really, the roof was bowing (amongst other problems) and the valuation came back at £0 - ie the mortgage company weren't prepared to lend us anything at all to buy the house! This was a Victorian terrace not a delapidated wreck btw.
The estate agent tried to convince us that it was the surveyor who had got it wrong and the house was actually structurally sound, but there wasn't much we could do.
I regret not pursuing it further though, as it was a lovely house in a much better location than the house we eventually bought!

Yes, we pulled out. The survey basically put in black and white what we feared: the windows were rotten and the roof needed replacing.

On top of that, the lovely just-completed extension was in fact TWO separate extensions. The owners had built a single storey extension 20 years ago,then built on top of it in the last couple of years. We had no way of knowing whether the foundations were strong enough to support the extra storey without significant drilling / exploration. Also, the electrics in the new bathroom weren't fitted according to regulations.

The house had been on the market for sometime with two offers on it before ours that we knew about. That should have been a red flag straight away. It eventually sold some months later for £15k less than our offer, and a whopping £65k less than when we first saw it.

Looking back, I knew it wasn't right but was desperate as I needed a nest when we viewed it (I was 8 months pregnant). We now live just around the corner in a much nicer house which was £20k less. Go with your gut instinct - if it doesn't feel right, it probably isn't .

Yes we pulled out of one where the ivy on the walls was literally tearing the house down growing through the bricks, cement and windows. I now won't touch a house with ivy (or any other climbing wall plant)

Yes, we pulled out after a full structural survey. The surveyor said the plumbing had all been done by amateurs (the owners) and needed to come out and be redone. The sellers were apparently annoyed with us, but I had no regrets and I felt it was their own fault for not paying professionals. We ended up moving to a different part of the country for a job soon after, so if we'd bought that house we'd have been selling it fairly quickly.

Our buyers pulled out after a survey last year. They didn't give a reason but I think they were just not really in a position to do any extra work on the house that they hadn't already known about so the things that the survey threw up were the last straw. I think they were naive for not allowing for the possibility of anything coming up in the survey. The house sold to someone who knew about the most major issue that had come up and didn't bother to have a full survey done themselves.

Thanks, this is really helpful, at least I feel that we do really have a choice now...

We pulled out of our 'dream' house sale. It was a gorgeous Georgian house with loads of character and space. It seemed to tick all the boxes as these houses are a rare find in this location.

However, thd SE confirmed our suspicions of subsidance. I'm sure it could have been corrected as it was a later addition that was moving. But we did not want the financial risk. The owners seemed pretty desperate to drop the price and continue the sale which actually worried us more.

Fast forward and we are now in a beautiful house in a wonderful location (actually the best location). While I still love Georgian architecture there is no way i would risk my financial security for a house that is going to cause years of stress and worry.

Looking back the location was significantly less desirable and on a busy road. There is no doubt we made the right decision. It's all very well having a lovely home, but I would rather have a lovely home that I can afford to live in very comfortably and not have to save for emergencies and maintenance.

Everything happens for a reason. Just trust your instincts and make it a business decision.

We knew it needed work but required it to be liveable quickly. Workable loo and sleeping area was essential even if it needed updating. However every surface in the house was duff - springy floors throughout, plasterwork throughout, new roof, asbestos building to knock down, rotten windows etc etc. So we pulled out and took on a different project that still needed a huge amount if work but was at the same time liveable mostly. The estate agents wouldn't accept our list of issues with the first house and were patronising. However we forwarded the survey over view and they then saw the building for its true and lesser value. They asked if we would still buy the house but we said no. Our present house was a better investment and in a better location.

I pulled out after a shocking survey. Ive done up lots of houses and knew most of what needed doing, however, the rear two story extension was bowing as only single skinned, the whole roof was rotten and there was extensive damp ( I knew it had some but not that much). I was still prepared to buy it with a drop of £30k in the asking price but the vendor refused. Its still for sale now, two years on...and the price has gone up by £35k!! delusional!

We pulled out after we found it needed a new roof. They were actually happy to drop the price, but that wasn't so much the issue - it was the thought of dealing with the builders and complaining neighbours and the possibility of it going wrong/doubling in cost and all that malarkey. I just couldn't face it, especially as it would of course be me, not DP, who would have to do it, as he works full-time and I don't.

Don't regret it at all. We found a better house in much more like move-in condition. However, it did need a few small jobs doing and even those were pretty stressful so I knew we'd done the right thing.