getting cold feet about house purchase

[abouquetofsharpenedpencils]

Some of you may remember my previous thread "estate agent got our offer wrong".

Well, since then, a few things have cropped up and now I am having doubts about the purchase. I am not sure if this is just usual cold feet though. Please offer your honest opinion!

The searches came back and highlighted a few points. I realise that searches will usually do this so was not getting too anxious about it... but the vendor's reaction has been a bit strange. We had a chance to do a second viewing/measuring up and asked him a few questions.

First- radon. The property is in an elevated area for radon. Fine, many properties are and as long as steps are taken to mitigate this, it shouldn't be a problem. However, he dismissed it as nonsense and did not seem keen to do anything about it. He hasn't had his property tested, nor does he think it necessary.
Personally, a bit concerned and would like to initiate testing. Especially as husband has chronic respiratory disorder and is an ex-smoker. But perhaps I am being neurotic?

1. Ground instability and land contamination - similar reaction , all nonsense although he then said he wouldn't touch the neighbouring house with a bargepole.

1. Bamboo - we noticed a bamboo plant at the end of the garden the first time we viewed. The second time we went he seemed reluctant to let us in the garden, but did let us when I pushed. The bamboo had tripled in size! it was like jack and the beanstalk! and that was in the space of a month! Also, could see where bits of it had popped up on his side of the fence and he had hacked the stalks down. A bit concerned, I casually asked him about the bamboo. His response was to brush it off, absolutely no problems whatsoever he said.

Also interesting to note is the bottom half of his garden has all been concreted over in one part and gravel laid in another part with a black weed membrane thing underneath. He was getting visibily irritable at this point and I thought best not to pursue it anymore.

Am I overthinking all these things?

I don't know what to think now.

After all the business with the lying estate agents and now this, I am just sick of it all and just wish I had never bothered.

The estate agent had also done their best to dissuade us from getting a proper survey saying the bank valuation is enough and nothing could possibilt be wrong as the house is under 20 years old but as I don;t trust them, I booked it anyway. The vendor has now told me to take the survey with a big pinch of salt.

Also, he is still very insistent on completing by the end of the month and I am feeling very pressured to dismiss these concerns in order to help him attain this. He has told me he will be losing thousands of pounds if I don;t compete in time.

Any advice much aprecciated.

many thanks for reading.

@abouquetofsharpenedpencils, I feel your pain. I recently walked away from a purchase (illegal loft conversion etc). I felt so pressurized by the EA, and the Seller (saying everything is okay, literally so many houses like this, it is "storage only" etc, and "they had no issues getting a mortgage"). My Solicitor and Surveyor advised me, the place was causing me sleepless nights even though it was a lovely house. Don't listen to the EA, they work for the Seller and not for you. As someone else has said, this is your due diligence, and you can take as much time as you need. Any pressure from them is a red flag

I think your gut instinct is right. You are being bullied and I don't think I would trust the seller, he just wants to get rid of the house. In your shoes I would walk away, there will be other houses. Good luck.

Your post is raising red flags for me too. The last house I bought - the EA tried to make out a full structural survey was unnecessary. I did it anyway and it raised concerns re timbers in one room and recommended a specialist timber and damp survey.

The EA tried to recommend a "specialist" company for this but they sounded weirdly unprofessional on the phone (I naively rang them), so I sourced another company. That second company informed me that they have recently done a survey on the house and were happy to share the report for free..... rotten joists under the floor, and whole thing needed replacing. EA and vendor had tried to cover it all up! Still bought the house but dropped the price to cover the works.

Moral of story: do not trust the EA and vendor, especially if they try to pressure you. Do ALL your due diligence and do not allow yourself to be rushed. Walk away if not satisfied. This is a massive commitment, and you are entitled to be sure of what you are buying.

Can you cancel the survey, @abouquetofsharpenedpencils?

Given what you’ve said, I’d go full buildings survey or nothing at all. And given that they’ve tried to influence you not to have one, I’d presume it’ll come back with something that made the previous buyer drop out.

I’d be upgrading the survey or walking away. It’s only going to be harder once you’ve got an unhelpful half-report, and you’ve spent more money on it.

The radon & ground instability would probably be enough for me, to be honest, if he’s not willing to budge on anything.

Always listen to your gut.
I would walk away.

You have to do one of two things here.

Either trust your gut and walk away now or - if you really, really want the house - get a full structural survey and take it from there.

Just getting a Homebuyers would be madness. You wouldn't know much more than you do now.

Pour yourself a large glass of wine or make yourself a pot of tea...

You are a first time buyer, it's a 20 year old house with 3 known problems, you don't have a full structural survey, the estate agent has not been straight with you and now the owner is presurising you. Walk away. You will find another house.

If you dont want the house walk away.

Theres plenty of other houses, and quite frankly half the garden concreted would be the main issue for me.

I’m not sure what the issue with radon is. I live in an area that is seeing a massive influx of people who have decided to work from home and move down here. The town is built on granite so there’s radon, everywhere here has it and it’s a complete non issue, you just have a sump in your cellar/ ground floor and if there isn’t one you get on fitted for a few hundred pounds. My brother is an estate agent and has had so many people get in a tizz about it despite the town having been here for hundreds of years and everyone being absolutely fine.

The bamboo - well, it’s a bit of a pain to get rid of but you know it’s there. You can either pay someone to remove it or do it yourself over a couple of days.

The owner and EA sound a bit pushy and annoying but tbh it sounds like you don’t want to buy the house and are just looking for reasons not to. That’s absolutely fine, just don’t buy it. Just let the sellers know ASAP as it’s absolutely soul destroying to be sat in a chain and then have it all falll apart because someone changed their mind at the lady minute.

There’s a lot of hysteria about bamboo. If it’s just on your property it’s relatively easy to get rid of , it won’t damage concrete foundations , that’s a myth. If it’s on your neighbours property and growing into yours then you need to remove it on your side then install a root barrier to keep in out.

If you don't love the house nor feel excited about moving in then walk away. The bamboo is more of a problem as it's in neighbours garden and you have little control over it. Whatever you decide don't rush it just to keep others happy.

I'm in the 'bamboo is a bastard' camp.

I'd be concerned about the vendor's attitude- and the HA's. The HA has no business to suggest to any potential buyer that they do a less thorough survey than they may be considering having.

I'd also be concerned with issues with the neighbours. If the bamboo has been causing issues causing your vendor to cement the garden then I'd bet it's not the best relationship.

Any update @abouquetofsharpenedpencils, have you withdrawn?

@imonlyhooman thanks for checking in

Here's an update.

After reading the replies here I went back to the surveyor with my doubts that the Level 2 survey would be sufficient and why. She said the survey was 2.5 hours long and was pretty thorough despite being non-invasive. She said I could let the surveyor know in advance of particular areas of concern that they would focus on so I asked for particular attention to the ground instability, radon and bamboo. She didn't think it necessary to upgrade to a more detailed survey and it would prolong the process even more.

Meanwhile, I spoke to my solicitor about the concerns. She also seemed to think the radon wasn't worth worrying about, but said the other issues should be checked out and recommended me to contact the surveyor in advance of the survey which I did.

So, the survey has happened and I am awaiting the report back now.

@areyouhavingagiraffe

I am sorry to hear of your experience and totally understand what you say about the sleepless nights and stress. It has been the same with me. It sounds ridiculous, but it really takes over your whole life.
I was talking about it at work and surprised at how many colleagues had similar, nightmare stories about dealings with EA's and vendors. As I say, it has certainly been an eye-opening experience.
I hope you have been able to find another lovely house!

Another collegeaue said that their EA had recommended a very good surveying compaany but they sounded a bit dodgy so they went with a different one, which brought up significant, major issues with the house, similar as @BilboTheBurglar said in her post. Great that the second company offered to share the report for free @BilboTheBurglar.

Just want to say thanks for every single message, all read and appreciated. It has been reassuring to hear the "trust your gut" from others because as I have said, I feel I have lost my ability to think logically and in a level-headed manner.

The solicitor also agreed the vendor and EA's behaviour have been off and said it could be because the vendor is hiding something or just simply he and the EA are just desperate to complete before 30 Sept in order to avoid the SD.

So, still unsure, but awaiting the survey report which should have arrived by tomorrow. Also had planned to drive out to the house and ask the neighbour about the bamboo but petrol stations are all closed here and don't have enough in the tank.