How do I negotiate offer price in view of survey?

[TexMex]

My offer was accepted (only £5k below asking price) but survey has picked up approx £2k of building work that needs doing. How do I go about asking for the price to be reduced? I would prefer to go through solicitors as the estate agent are already putting pressure on and made me feel unreasonable for paying for the building survey!! Any experience please?

Just ask outright but be prepared for them to say no as they may state the below asking price acceptance already reflects any work that needs doing. How does the price compare to other properties and how much do you want it?

Ask our solicitors to ask theirs or the estate agent? If thy said no we would lose out as we have paid as much as we could afford, the survey valued it at 5k less than our offer but said our offer was at the top of what thus expect for a house in structurally tip top condition, which this one isn't.

However if we didn't go through with it we'd lose £1k in legal fees etc so not worth it really, but resent being out of pocket!

I would ask solicitor at this stage. Maybe compromise by asking to meet half way? Is the work needing to be done immediately or us it something you can spread out over the years?

Asking solicitor at this stage may be good solution...

Thanks for that. I feel ba doing it right before Christmas though but not sure if dragging it out is worse as they know I've had te survey done!

What kind of work needs doing? Is it something you would be aware of from a viewing? Did the asking price reflect the fact that some work was needed? Surely every property needs work of some description, i.e. general maintenance, in which case I would have thought it was perfectly acceptable to expect that not everything is in tip top condition? For instance, the house we have bought has a 21 year old boiler, which has been serviced annually - however, it would not be unreasonable to expect that it will need replacing in the not too distant future?

And what sort of survey has brought this to your attention?

MiL's house was 'surveyed' and the survey suggested that it had subsidence and recommended £20k of work. There was a crack on the plaster on the inside of the bay window that needed sorting - but no cracks on the outside anywhere, and none on the street of Victorian Terraces. Plaster was fixed and buyer agreed that the survey had not been reasonable...

Well, some things were obvious such as old windows, some of which were not double glazed which we knew about and were happy to accept as being part of the house and would not expect a reduction in price for. The work that needs doing is structural work which would not be obvious unless you were a surveyor, and presumably will come up in a survey again if/when we come to sell, so if not tackled now I am concerned will just come up again.

I would get estimates for the work and ask the buyer to meet half way on the cost - if it's 2k work then agree a 1k reduction on the price.

I had a bad survey which put me off the house. I just emailed the EA listing the problems (so the vendor could improve his chances of selling it in the future) and said I was pulling out.

In fact, I'd just seen a far nicer house for almost the same price, and had lost interest in mine.

EA just emailed me to ask if I'd consider a discount on the first house. I said I would but only if it were sizeable, not take into consideration the costs of repair AND of renting while we had the work done. (A few of the repairs needed are for safety reasons.)

I'll let you know what they say. It's easy for me to be all ballsy now though, as I've gone off the house and genuinely don't care either way. Harder for you as you love the house!!

Why not just show then the survey and the valuation? They'll know you're not just trying to get one over on them, and they'll know that any other buyer will say EXACTLY the same thing when they have THEIR survey done.

Present them the document and say, these are our concerns. Be open and honest. They can't argue with a survey.

Are the structural issues dangerous? I'd play up the danger aspect. They'll want to get the hell out if there ASAP and be scared that word will go round that the house is unsafe.

stop feeling bad, this is business.

go through the estate agents (who work for the seller so are pressuring you) and say why your offer is reduced. Vendors take it or leave it, you then decide if you want to continue.