Getting vendors to complete repairs

[LopsidedWombat]

Hi all,

Just wondered if it is common (or advisable) to get the vendors to complete repairs highlighted in survey (some of which are quite major). Vendor is a builder if that makes a difference.

Looks like this is how we are going to proceed for one reason and another but now second guessing myself!

Well I have been wondering that myself. Why do so much (including an extension) then leave the roof? We had a full building survey done so the place has been quite thoroughly checked out.

Because it’s really, really expensive to fully replace a roof and people prefer to spend that kind of cash on cosmetic stuff or things they can see the benefits of, like extensions. It’s easy to say out of sight out of mind with a roof and if I had it in the back of my mind I was going to sell I probably wouldn’t bother either.

Why don’t you suggest you get it done yourselves but reduce your offer slightly? I’d rather be in control of such a major job and know it was being done properly. Most roofing companies will offer a guarantee but if he does it himself you won’t get this.

If I was in your position I would ask for the requisite amount of money off your offer. Do not trust them to do the best job themselves. They shouldn't have lied when you originally asked about the roof.

For a new roof I would get quotes and then reduce the offer as it’s quite significant work.

Get the roof done yourself....nothing worse than a poor job and it start leaking as the damage as a consequence is huge

£8000 would be very cheap to replace a whole roof.

It sounds really risky to let your vendors do the work themselves. I'm not suggesting they are unscrupulous but there is no incentive for them to do the best job, only a quick and cheap job. Unless you have a proper contract of work with them as a builder then you will have no recourse if there are any issues.

Knock it off the purchase price.

I would be suspicious of a place that had been done up to sell without doing the roof, when it clearly needed doing. I would wonder what other short cuts and ‘papering over cracks’ had been done.

I have renovated three properties over my lifetime, and sorting out the roof is always the first thing you need to deal with. Structural work takes precedence over cosmetic work, always.

[quote LopsidedWombat]@Daisydoesnt Yes, this is why we were surprised. They have done loads to the place and it looks lovely, they have done a great job but obviously did everything except the roof. We asked when viewing if there were any issues with the roof, they said no although we thought it looked like it might need a bit of attention, we assumed some minor repairs. However it cannot be repaired due to a process carried out many years ago and so replacement is the only option.

We wanted to get a roofer to provide quotes and confirm the urgency thinking we could get a few thousand knocked off the price and get it sorted in summer. Vendors came back suggesting they sort it out. So just a bit confused at this point. We had a full building survey done so don't think they are trying to hide anything.[/quote]
The ball is very much in your court here. I would get a quote for the cost of replacing the roof, then reduce your offer by up to that amount - so if the quote is £5K, reduce the offer by £4K. They can either accept your new offer and continue with the sale, and you get the roof done when you move in, or they can decline and you pull out. If they need to put the house back on the market the same problem with the roof will come up again, so its probably better for them to accept a reduced offer.

It sounds like a unanimous vote to not have them do the work! Weird, I'm really not a trusting person but it hadn't occurred to me they'd not do a decent job. What if we pulled out last minute, would they risk being left with a home to sell with a badly done new roof? To be honest I did quite like the idea of not having to deal with it ourselves.

It hasn't been done up to sell, the works have been completed over a 10 year period. They are selling due to personal circumstances.

I don’t think they’d necessarily do a bad job, but it will be cheaper for them to do it themselves with his builder contacts than it will to discount you the cost of a new roof.

My husband (builder) said as a vendor he would 100% want to do it himself but as a buyer he would want to lower the offer and arrange the work himself.

I guess it depends how much you want the house and how much wriggle room you have on the deal.

Just wondered if it is common (or advisable) to get the vendors to complete repairs highlighted in survey (some of which are quite major)

No. If you want to buy the property, buy it. If the survey means that there'll be a mortgage retention, negotiate the price.

But if I were selling, why would I bother to do repairs? That's the buyer's issue, not the vendor's.

It's a business matter - don't get all moral or personal.

@SaveWaterDrinkGin thank you for your thoughts. From what the estate agent said I do think they'd rather complete the work themselves.

@QueenoftheAir I hope I'm not getting all moral or personal! The vendors have suggested sorting the roof out themselves and the suggestion took me by surprise but I wasn't entirely against it. This post has been helpful though and confirmed that this is not the usual say of sorting out an unexpected finding in a survey.

You should request guarantees.
If they don't want to reveal the cost of the repairs that is fine but you do need evidence the work has been completed properly.