Independent survey valued 10k less than we offered plus other issues

[feejee]

Hi there, This house buying lark is stressful isnt it.

We had a homebuyers survey done yesterday, our mortgage lenders did not want a valuation survey done they offered the mortgage without (im told this is unusual but probably due to a decent deposit from us from selling). Anyhows, the chap has just phoned and sent the report through which is showing so many things not quite right. He has valued it 10k less than we have offered (tbh I thought the house was over-priced compared to another one like it on the market just a year ago, so we put a lower offer in anyway and ended up getting it for 5k less than asking price).

So main 'urgent' issues are the boiler has been in since the house was built in 1990 and he reckons could go kaput anytime, no longer spares/parts for it. We knew the boiler was old hence offering less than asking price, but survey says the radiators would all need to be updated too which we hadnt counted on. The owners don't seem to be able to confirm they had planning permission for converting the garage to a living area. He says the kitchen is on its last legs as well. There is also no evidence the electrical system is covered by a current installation and test certificate. These are just the 'urgent' issues.

Also it says the property is in an area with potentially high levels of Radon gas, which is a bit worrying. We only live 300m away and thats not on our report from the purchase of this place .

Anyone had experience of getting a valuation less than the price you offered? been valued at 175k our accepted offer was 185k and their asking was 190k. What should i do now, do we go back to estate agent with this or solicitor?

So stressful - our buyer wants us out within the next couple of weeks and we really dont want to lose the sale.

I would think the only real issue is the planning permission and your solicitor needs to investigate. Also, the Radon issue.
Boilers and kitchens are always going to need replacement at some stage and you say you were aware of the boiler being old.
Ask for an electrical test and certificate. Possibly you could get a further reduction
We've bought much older houses and eventually replaced kitchens, boilers and updated electrics because we loved the house.

It is hideous isnt it!

You say your buyer wants you out/to complete in 2 weeks? So presumably the sale, and purchase has progressed for 4 weeks at least?

Yes, mortgage companies dont seem to be asking for surveys where there is a deposit of 40%+. I guess they think even a quick cheap sale will recoup their money if needed.

First Id say, you didnt get much of a discount from asking price, Id have expected £5k just because. But I suppose it pays for the boiler.
Although we've replaced lots of boilers over the years and never had to change radiators, so dont understand that comment. The old kitchen, should have been accounted for in the asking price or noticed on viewing and mentioned as a reason for a lower offer.

Do you need PP for a garage conversion? I thought only building regs was needed (to show it had been done safely and to standard).

But the issues noted really are moot as the HUGE problem here is the surveyors valuation, I know it doesnt affect your mortgage offer, but £10k is a large percentage and with house prices falling, there is a big risk if you overpay. To keep the sale/purchase a few £k maybe, but you need at least £5k off the price you've agreed to pay. You're going to have to ask the EA to renegotiate or prove their valuation.

I think sometimes building survey valuations are lower than purchase prices because when they are only a "bricks and mortar" valuation rather than taking into account features which may be subjectively appealing and so push the sale price up.

Usually when they're done by a mortgage lender they're just to make sure they could recover the debt were you to default and them be left with the asset, in which case they wouldn't want to wait around for that buyer who "fell in love" with the property and was prepared to pay a bit extra because they loved x/y/z about it, whereas a seller on the open market would probably hold out for someone to see the value of those things and be prepared to pay more.

Yes, its been an ongoing saga. Our buyer offered in late Jan but didn't have the finance finalised until 20 March as ex buying her out, and now she has it wants us out asap. In the meantime our vendors lost the house they had offered on because of our buyers ex husband was taking his time, and its taken them until a fortnight ago to find a new house. So we only just had our survey done, as we were waiting for them to find a new house and then its the busy period for surveyors (took a week just to get someone booked in).

Yes, i calculated about 5k for a new boiler, as we had ours done on a smaller house for 3.5k. I will ask what he means by new radiators as i hadnt expected that comment.

I dont quite know how to feel about the valuation. It is 30k more than a very similar house which was on the market a year ago (it didnt sell). Im worried about resale value for our sakes and paying more than it is really worth, but then you have no idea what the market will do. Realistically we will be staying in this next house until my son finishes school (he's only 3) so were looking long term, except of course there is always redundancy etc and we need to make sure we aren't in negative equity really dont we. Ah decisions decisions. It would help if our solicitor would return one of my calls instead of me repeatedly speaking to the answerphone.

Radiators are cheap - I wouldn't let the prospect of needed new radiators put you off.

What was the survey wording on the radon?

If it were me, and I was planning to be there for a long time, the "undervaluing" wouldn't worry me at all. If.

Converting garage without pp? Have the impression that if it's been done long enough, effectively doesn't matter. Anyone else know more?

Most house electrics don't actually have a current bit of paper. Ask the survey or point blank if he saw anything that looked really dodgy? Even then, he'll prob say he can't tell.

Kitchen- you've seen that, it didn't make you not offer.
Have you actually talked this through with the surveyor?

Your buyer is being unrealistic re timescales. Probably no point telling her that though, she'll presumably be being advised that by her solicitor.

I think you need the surveyor to justify his pricing and tell you what comparables hes used. You cant overpay because you think you're there for 15 years, you never know when you may need to move, unfortunately lifes very unpredictable.

with house prices falling - is this a fact? Where I am there is no evidence of falling prices

Radon wording: The property is in an area with potentially high levels of Radon gas that can affect health.

However, ive just looked on radon.org map and the 1km square the property is in is rated low, but the surrounding 1km squares to top and right are orange (higher risk). I'll ask the surveyor what he used - i was in the GP surgery when he rang this morning and he's out till later today now.

Yes, the kitchen looked old and would need doing up a bit. I didn't get the on its last legs feel, but then i didnt open all the doors up to check with the vendor stood there. I was planning on painting it up until we could afford to replace it.

Sorry it is building regulations not planning permission on the garage conversion.

Anyhow, thanks all for your input - its very useful having someone else to bounce thoughts off as my 3 year old isn't particularly helpful and the husband is at work.

If they got building regs approval then the council would still have a record of it, so the seller should be able to get another copy of the approval (or even an email from the council to say that it exists and they will post it on shortly). It would prob be for insulation checking rather than anything structural. But yes, you should have it ideally.

Electrics, you could pay ie £200 to get them checked yourself. But I wouldnt have thought there was anything majorly wrong on a modern house (unless noted on survey?)

These things are annoyances and time wasters, but the undervaluation really concerns me. Could you ask the agent for previous house if they are still considering selling? Or what they think it would be worth if for sale today?

Yeah, 3 yr olds,eh?

Bought a flat valued by surveyor last year at K160 for K170.
Cause I knew I'd got a reduction, wasn't getting any more, and I knew there were plenty of interested buyers.

That's a tough call.