Negotiating after survey

[Settlersofcatan]

Interested in people's views and experiences.

We have had an offer accepted on a house. It looked like it was in reasonable condition- a few bits and pieces that needed doing so we successfully offered at 3% below purchase price.

The survey was... not good. Various issues- chimneys, penetrating damp, roof issues, brickwork, cracks, etc etc. Surveyor estimates at least 75k (around 10% of the purchase price) worth of work and potentially more depending on further investigations.

We want the estate agents to ask the owners whether they are in principle open to a substantial reduction in price - of up to 50k - if the quotes from builders support the surveyor's estimate. If not, it feels like a waste of time to get investigations and quotes done. The estate agents are making us feel like this is unreasonable and that the surveyor is scaremongering and inflating the figures. They are also suggesting that all Victorian houses are likely to need lots of work.

What's the usual way of doing things?
And are the surveyor's estimates likely to be roughly right?
Are all victorian houses this in need of repair?

We really like the house but with that much work to do, it simply isn't worth what we would be paying in total for it and we were never interested in fixer uppers as we have 2 small children and busy professional jobs.

Am inclined to withdraw the offer and look again. What would you do?

A lot will depend how easily you can find another house and how they can find a buyer.

When we bought our place we settled on 5% off but knew they couldn’t go any lower whatever the survey said. We got our own survey purely to decide wether to walk away or buy. We also knew it would probably be months to years before something similar came up again in the area we wanted.

Estate agents just want a sale- their cut won’t be much affected by your reduction. Depends how much you love it ,how many others you have to choose from, do they need a quick sale etc. Results of survey have to be declared, so hold out for your 50k reduction.

It is true that surveyors scare-monger a bit, most of these repairs ae not urgent unless survey states so. So you could try asking for a reduction for the sum of really urgent repairs, they probably would go down somewhat but not for the whole of the cost.
Bear in mind that when they bought it, they have likely also paid for various repairs, it does go with the territory in Victorian houses.

Did you have a mortgage valuation? Does that agree with the purchase price?

Ofc the EA won’t like it- they work in commission 🙄😒 you’re actively taking money from them to ask for a reduction.

I would say ‘it’s either that or I drop out and look again’ certainly don’t invest more money in the purchase on empty EA promises either as they may come back saying ‘the sellers will consider a reduction’ let you spend X amount getting investigations and then say no in the hope you’ll be more financially invested by then.

Old houses do have issues (ours is 1810 built) but not 10% of purchase price issues 🙈 that’s excessive.

As a pp said, firstly Victorian houses always need work doing. Secondly, surveyors are always cautious and want to cover their backs.

But most importantly, it comes down to value. What is the surveyor's overall view of value? If he says, there are a number of issues but its still worth what you offered, you havent got much hope.

There is usually some sort of scale - things that you'd consider in the long term, some works needed urgently, and those which are so serious that the mortgage company won't release all of the funds until that work is done. How crucial are the works he's identified?

The surveyor says all the work needs doing within a year, around half of it before we moved in. But realistically it would make sense to do in one go as no point having scaffolding up twice in a year.

We were prepared for doing around 30k worth of work but not this much but not sure what is normal for a period house. Friends who have bought Victorian houses don't seem to have had as many issues.

We bought a barn conversion that was in for £750k. Survey said it needed a whole new roof ( listed building and specialist local stone slates). The EA and the owners argued that no it didn't. We said ok then we'll leave it unless you'll take £50k off. Within a week they said yes but never spoke to us again.

When we moved in the roofers stripped the slates, under the rafters were row upon row of buckets. Basins, empty paint tins etc to catch the rain. Lying bastards.

I think it depends on whether the house was valued fairly in the first place and whether your mortgage company would be willing to lend or would insist on having work done.
Yes in the long-term Victorian houses are likely to need work done and some of the issues raised are typical. But does the work definitely need doing or is it something that might need doing or is the surveyor just covering themselves? What work has the seller had done i.e. have they already done work on the roof, had the property rewired, are there damp guarantees etc
It's possible that a house could have been redecorated to sell and does have hidden faults but it's also possible that the house is OK and the surveyor is being very cautious. However as none of us have seen the house, we cannot be sure.
My suggestion would be to meet the sellers half-way and go for approx 5% reduction off the asking price. However they may not accept that.
We are buying a house that needs some work and the surveyor has said that the price we are paying is fair for the condition. Was there a clause like that in your survey?
Have you shown the survey to the EA or your solicitor? Would suggest that as a possible step as well.

Our surveyor gave a very different report on paper to down the phone. In short they said they had to write certain things had to be done to cover themselves, but also that the same things had clearly not been trouble for decades previously.

You don't need to do this though the EA OP - if you prefer, your solicitor / conveyancer can negotiate with the sellers solicitor on your behalf.

I've just had exactly the same scenario and dropped the house I was buying. Vendor refused to drop the price so I dropped the house. Way too much work.

Tricky to give a fair answer because I've sold property that had a survey with a high estimate , I carried out the work with good trusted tradesmen for around 1/4 of what the survey estimated - but then the backstory was the prospective purchaser was a young architect who had very little money to spend to buy the property and used his friend who was a surveyor to carry out the survey - make what you like of that !

Having said that , old houses are notorious money pits and it's easy to rack up a large renovation bill even when you know the right trades and who to ask

As a previous person said the EA will be looking to sell as quick as he can , remember he is acting for the vendor NOT the purchaser and will have their interests fore most

Get estimates from trades , do your own sums , make a new offer , but ultimately it's up to you and how much you want / can afford this house

Remember also a survey can look very bad with endless list of things needed to be done but usually they are marked at three levels of priority and the lesser ones may not need to be carried out but your surveyor has itemised them because that is his job to list everything possible that is wrong as far as he can see

Hope this makes sense as I'm a bit tired typing this and hope it helps

You havent said whether the surveyor said whether it was worth what you've offered?

The surveyor was a bit reluctant to give a precise view on value - definitely not worth the price we have offered, he suggested that we could expect 30k or so off. The problem is that that wouldn't even cover half the work.

We went round with the surveyor and spoke to him afterwards and if anything, it feels like a low estimate as in a couple of areas he has costed for repairs (e.g to chimneys and roof) but in reality it would make more sense to do a total replacement.

The surveyors job - even someone doing a building survey. Their job is to value properties. So that seems shady to me.

The surveyors job - even someone doing a building survey. Their job is to value properties. So that seems shady to me.

^ This. Was this a home buyers survey? The whole point is to give a value.

Do you have a mortgage valuation? If so, what did that say?

I would never take a surveyors estimate of costs, I would always get separate quotes first. Then you are able to renegotiate from a position of strength.

I recently bought a property. When viewed it clearly had some rendering issues. We didn't need a mortgage so there was no valuation, but our survey highlighted the rendering as needing immediate attention and recommended getting quotes from specialists. (Usefully all recommendations were colour coded to show level of urgency - quite helpful, as some issues are pretty long term and not such a concern).

We got a specialist to come out and quote - was about 5% of property price. We then emailed EA and sent them the section of the survey report plus named the specialist and his quote for the work. We asked the seller to choose tondo the work before completion or reduce the price by the full amount.

To be honest we expected to meet half way and were surprised seller agreed to the full reduction.

Later when completing, it transpired the seller was selling due to mortgage arrears. I sounded like they were under pressure for a speedy sale or could face re-possession. We think this focused their mind and just made them accept what we asked for.

So, the circumstances of the seller can play a a key role in how they react. You can only ask and only they can decide. Their reaction will depend on how keen they are to sell, how serious the lower price is for their next move (if any) and if they feel the work needs doing. People react differently and some sellers refuse to budge by a penny and others accept a big drop. You should be clear if your own mind the max you are prepared to pay given the work needed - do no be lured in by love if the house if the cost of work is too much. Decide what younwillmoay and walk away if needed - being willing to do that is really important. Accept you might have to walk away.

And know that in all liklihood you won't get the full amount you ask for. We were lucky in getting it all. We are now seeking quotes to get the work done and at least we know we have the cash to cover it.