Bloody survey, whole load of bloody issues - freaking out

[PostBellumBugsy]

So, I'm under offer and I've made an offer.

At the moment, I am paying top whack for the house I like because I was told that the current owner had done a complete refurbishment in the last 10 months & "nothing" needed doing.

Given the house is over 100 years old and I am naturally cautious, I had a full structural survey & a whole load of stuff has come back. Basically, a lot of the refurb is not quite a bodge, but very cosmetic and only internal. Lots of external issues & lots of work not done to a very high standard, which will need completely re-doing or adjusting.

Surveyor reckons there is £15k worth of work to be done.

Do, I just go back and say following this damning report (with photos of all the bodges), I'm not prepared to pay more than X? Are there better ways to negotiate?

I don't really want to lose the sale, but I'd feel really ripped off if I bought the house at the price I agreed when I thought nothing needed doing to it.

I would list what is wrong and the approximate costs to fix it (saying you are happy to get proper quotes from workmen if need be) and enclose the relevant highlighted sections of the survey (with your surveyors permission).

I would drop this at the estate agents or direct at the vendor after phoning and asking for the money off.

In my experience surveys can often read like horror stories as they are being extra diligent about every aspect of the house and all houses have thing wrong with them but I usually call the surveyor as ask what is seriously urgent - EG leaking roof and what can wait a year or so whilst I save up the money.

Good luck!

Thanks Guff. I had thought I'd separate out issues requiring urgent attention, issues that were bodges to recently undertaken work & then have a list of more long-term issues that just exist because the house is the age it is.

I guess at the end of the day, it is going to depend on how hard-nosed the seller is going to be. Am smarting a bit at the moment, because having owned a number of houses and always had a structural survey, this is the most dreadful one I've ever seen.

Offers in England are always subject to survey so if you're sure that the survey is bad (and not just arse-covering) then it's perfectly fair to go back and renegotiate. I suppose it depends what proportion of the house £15k represents - 3% the owner may take a view, 15% they won't be too happy.

I'd really get a builder (or other expert depending on the problems raised) to go around with you and see what they think and what they'd quote to put things right. I'm very biased on this as our buyers just pulled out of buying our house after a survey that made it sound like it was falling down. They had 2 builders round and the quote for any work needed came to just £1000. Unfortunately our buyers still chose to pull out, but what I'm saying is that the survey can be so misleading that if you want the hosue I think its really worth getting an opinion from a good builder. It could be that your surveyor is correct or it could be that he's talking s* like the guy who surveyed our house was. At least this way your sellers will also know that any reduction you ask for is fair and backed up by quotes, so it might make them more likely to consider it.

Thank you for more useful tips. I think the fact that I have photos of the bodges and issues that the surveyor took makes me think that he's not just arse covering.

Feel a bit weary contemplating all that needs to be done. Do feel prepared to walk away if there's no negotiation on price, as I'd feel a chump if I paid the price I've offered at the moment.

No house is perfect, there will always be work that is needed, older houses even more so. BUT if you were led to believe x or y had been done to a good standard then I would expect those things to be done and finished and not to be costing you another penny. So those are the things that I would highlight and ask for a reduction on - all backed up by builders quotes.

£15 is not very much in grand scheme of buying a house.

£15,000