estate agent wants to see survey when negotiating offer.. Normal?

[red30505]

We've asked our vendor to consider a decrease in offer (just over 5%) because the survey has shown 4x as much work needed in first year or so (£20k rather than £5k imminently), plus all the other stuff like kitchen / landscaping / etc that comes with buying a house.

The estate agent has asked to see our survey and quotes to discuss with the vendor?

half of me is a bit uneasy about this - as it's info we've paid for and I dunno if I want the vendor seeing the survey etc? (but I don't know why)

Is this part of normal negotiations or a bit odd?

we're ftb so unsure of protocol

Normal I think. We negotiated on a survey on our first house and queried something that came up when buying our current house and both times they asked to see it which I think it’s fair enough. If you’re claiming, for example, that the roof is about to cave in and needs immediate repair of course they’d want to see proof. You also can’t reasonably reduce your offer for stuff like kitchens and landscaping because you knew about that when you made your original offer. IMO it’s only really unexpected stuff where it would be reasonable to ask for a reduction.

If you're wanting them to reduce the price, then of course they are going to want to see your justification for that. Maybe the price was already reflective of the property needing some work.

It's up to you, but I would share the relevant extracts of the survey with the EA. You don't have to send them the whole thing.

It's up to you, but I would share the relevant extracts of the survey with the EA. You don't have to send them the whole thing.

This. It's your document, I would take screenshots of the relevant bits and send those. Otherwise if you pull out and the vendor/agent has a copy, there's nothing to stop them passing it on to other buyers.

Sending relevant bits seems the right response to me. A friend of mine recently pulled out of a sale of her house because the buyer claimed that the survey showed lots of things needing work and wanted a reduction. But wouldn't share any of the survey or discuss further. My friend assumed that she wasn't serious about buying and withdrew. She now has another buyer and is about to exchange.

Totally normal - they will pass on the evidence for the vendor to consider. For all they know otherwise you're making it up or grossly exaggerating what it says

Yes it's normal. Bear in mind that if a property is obviously in need of updating, things like electrics being a bit old or a boiler being near end of life are usually accounted for in the price.

So the vendor may well say no.

Estate agents always want the survey for free after you have spent hundreds on it. I wouldn't hand over the whole document but I would send screenshot to them of any major work required if you are reducing your offer

As you've decreased your offer post survey, then yes, I would expect to see the survey.

We panicked after receiving our recent survey as it highlighted so much. We reduced our offer but ended up negotiating for a smaller discount to cover urgent matters. We shared relevant pages but not full report.

Just share the relevant portions and screenshot the valuers' name/contact/qualifications. Also, I assume the valuation is lower than asking? If so, screenshot that also.

Has it been valued down because of the work that needs doing? If so then definitely show them that part, and the sellers will see it's worth less than you're paying. If it hasn't been valued down you might not want to show that part as they're unlikely to be willing to reduce it :)