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Original poster

House Being "Sold as Seen" WWYD?

55 replies

Elle8344 · 10/05/2022 21:57

Need some advice as I'm really keen to find out what others think.

I've found a house, offer was accepted, then seller was really slow to deal. I instructed solicitors, arranged a survey (full level 3) which has come back with quite a few issues, some of which are due to shoddy works the seller had done & which need sorting urgently.

There is also a lot of overgrown bamboo which is spreading everywhere, including into next doors garden through their lawn & patio so it's at risk of undermining both houses foundations.

Solicitor advised me to email the survey to the estate agent (another story 🙄) saying in view of all the problems I'll need to negotiate a price reduction with the seller.

Seller is extremely difficult to deal with and this reputation follows it around.

They've now come back & said no... the property is "sold as seen". The sale has fallen through on 3 previous occasions so you'd think they'd be a bit more reasonable but they're not.

If that's the case then why do people even get a survey done?
I've pointed out that a lot of lenders would refuse to lend with the bamboo as it is. Plus it also devalues homes anyway. But they won't have it. Their attitude is bonkers and makes no sense to me.

The house really isn't worth what I've offered so I don't know what to do. I've always been happy to put in a new kitchen, bathroom, carpets etc but I don't see how I should pay to have all the other faults rectified.

I don't want to walk away but I don't think there's any reasoning with them. But I really like the house.

WWYD?

OP posts:
sausagesandchamp · 10/05/2022 23:01

It sounds too risky with the ongoing potential of being a money pit. Best to throw no more money at it and let the stress be someone else's problem. When several buyers have walked away before you, there's often a good reason!

StageRage · 10/05/2022 23:04

Of course people re-negotiate the price if the survey reveals something that wasn't obvious on viewing, takes a professional to spot, wasn't disclosed by the vendor or isn't just 'wear and tear'.

OP, in truth, given the ongoing potential for issues with the HA I would swerve this.

MrsElijahMikaelson1 · 10/05/2022 23:05

I wouldn’t buy it-find something with less problems

Original poster
Elle8344 · 10/05/2022 23:06

House needs new kitchen, bathroom, painting, carpets & heating which I was happy to do. But these other issues won't be cheap to rectify.
I've been advised to lower my offer by solicitor / surveyor.

OP posts:
MountainDewer · 10/05/2022 23:09

How long has the house been on the market? How many offers have they had so far?
Unless it's one of those rare properties that only come up once in a blue moon.. sounds like a money pit to me.
You may even find that nobody else wants to touch it with a barge pole, and the vendors will come round after a while.

Chumleymouse · 10/05/2022 23:11

Bamboo doesn’t grow through concrete, And it rarely goes any deeper than 2ft.it likes to stay near the surface. It’s not difficult to remove if you know what your doing. Yes it can spread if not looked after. There’s a lot of hysteria on here about bamboo.

PinkWisteria · 10/05/2022 23:12

If the seller won't negotiate on price, then I would walk away.

Original poster
Elle8344 · 10/05/2022 23:13

MountainDewer · 10/05/2022 23:09

How long has the house been on the market? How many offers have they had so far?
Unless it's one of those rare properties that only come up once in a blue moon.. sounds like a money pit to me.
You may even find that nobody else wants to touch it with a barge pole, and the vendors will come round after a while.

It's been on the market about 8 months with current agent although I think the HA may have originally tried to offer it as a swap or shared ownership via their tenants
It's been empty for over a year.

OP posts:
NightshiftNancy · 10/05/2022 23:16

I like my bamboo, just needs putting back in its place each year. Like most plants..

OP are you buying my neighbours house? Because it sounds just like it! Secret is he doesn't want to sell but is under court order to do so, owes his ex wife half of the value but mysteriously the sales keep falling through 🙄

Original poster
Elle8344 · 10/05/2022 23:16

Chumleymouse · 10/05/2022 23:11

Bamboo doesn’t grow through concrete, And it rarely goes any deeper than 2ft.it likes to stay near the surface. It’s not difficult to remove if you know what your doing. Yes it can spread if not looked after. There’s a lot of hysteria on here about bamboo.

I'm sorry but I have to disagree. I've done a lot of research.

"Due to the extraordinary distance the roots can travel, running bamboo has the potential to be more damaging to property than Japanese knotweed and has similar abilities to push through brickwork, drains, cavity walls, patios and exploit cracks or weaknesses in concrete."

OP posts:
Original poster
Elle8344 · 10/05/2022 23:18

NightshiftNancy · 10/05/2022 23:16

I like my bamboo, just needs putting back in its place each year. Like most plants..

OP are you buying my neighbours house? Because it sounds just like it! Secret is he doesn't want to sell but is under court order to do so, owes his ex wife half of the value but mysteriously the sales keep falling through 🙄

I don't think so. My neighbours They are HA so not selling.

OP posts:
Kite22 · 10/05/2022 23:25

BitOutOfPractice · 10/05/2022 22:29

“The house really isn't worth what I've offered”

you need to walk away from this house now. Just on the basis of that sentence, let alone all this other shit

This ^

You've answered your own question.
I mean, to some extent, the vendor is right with things like the bamboo / needing refitted kitchen etc etc etc - all that you could see, so presumably factored it into the offer.
The survey is there to let you know what work will need doing.
Yes, people will try to re-negotiate the price if stuff that couldn't reasonably have been seen at a viewing comes up, but it sounds like it is in clear need of a complete overhaul anyway, and you would know if doing that much work you will uncover other bits, so again, the vendor has a point. It's not like they have literally painted over the cracks so you thought you were offering on a pristine home that then turns out to need work.

As ever with a house sale, it is down to how much they want to sell, and how much they need to receive for it against how much it is worth to you. There isn't a fixed price of what anything is worth. The price is what the 2 parties agree. If you can't agree, then the sale doesn't proceed.

Chumleymouse · 10/05/2022 23:27

I don’t need to do any research , I have plenty of first hand experience with bamboos ….. a well established bamboo on a property would be a plus, There’s no such thing as bad bamboo……. Just bad owners.

PyongyangKipperbang · 10/05/2022 23:30

Walk away.

Regardless of the issues with the house (which are enough to make me walk away) the seller sounds like they will be a nightmare to deal with. They want to sell for as much as possible, may well drag it out as they are being arses to the people they are buying from and could end up dropping out anyway. Leave them and their poor neighbours to it.

Original poster
Elle8344 · 10/05/2022 23:40

PyongyangKipperbang · 10/05/2022 23:30

Walk away.

Regardless of the issues with the house (which are enough to make me walk away) the seller sounds like they will be a nightmare to deal with. They want to sell for as much as possible, may well drag it out as they are being arses to the people they are buying from and could end up dropping out anyway. Leave them and their poor neighbours to it.

The sellers are a housing association getting rid of one of their properties. They do have a bad reputation and are notoriously difficult.
All they care about is the money 😔

OP posts:
Womencanlift · 10/05/2022 23:40

You seem to really want the house even with all these issues so not sure what you want from this thread.

I agree with pp’s that this is just a money pit that unless you have unlimited renovation funds I would walk away from if I were you.

The survey is not a bargaining tool. It is for the buyer to understand what they are signing up for. Yes of course you can ask for a reduction due to the findings of the survey but the seller has every right to say no which is what has happened here

Changedagain876 · 11/05/2022 00:12

Of course you should use the survey to negotiate the price! It is the most expensive asset most people will ever buy. The whole point of the survey is to provide advice to the buyer. The seller has every right to not accept and the buyer has every right to walk away.

If it were me I would not be touching this with a barge pole either. "Sold as seen" - it's not a chest of drawers on marketplace. 🙄

PyongyangKipperbang · 11/05/2022 00:21

Elle8344 · 10/05/2022 23:40

The sellers are a housing association getting rid of one of their properties. They do have a bad reputation and are notoriously difficult.
All they care about is the money 😔

Show quote history

And all you should care about is money. Money that is YOURS being ploughed into a property that isnt worth it. You are not thinking with your head. You heart loves the property but you wouldnt be posting here if your head agreed.

You know the right thing to do, you just dont want to do it. I understand, I really do but for true peace of heart and mind I think you need to write this one off and try again.

And a HA getting rid of a property with many issues, now call me cynical but why would they be doing that in a time where there are not enough social housing properties available for housing associations to house all the people on their waiting lists? Why would they be desperate to offload a lovely house that people would be snapping their hands off to rent?

Maybe have a bit of a think about that.

wonkygorgeous · 11/05/2022 01:11

Years ago, in a rising market I put my house on the market with a local agent.

Having been through two horribly stressful sales previously I couldn't do it again.

My instructions to him were clear, my asking price was the price. I wasn't taking an offer, if anything showed on the buyers survey my price was still the same. I didn't want to hear from the agent until we were at the stage of instructing solicitors.

I handed him the keys and went away for an extended trip overseas.

He did what he said he would and we instructed solicitors whist we were away.

Apparently the purchaser wanted to haggle. I'm so glad he was solid and didn't contact me. At the time I would have just withdrawn the house from the market.

A survey is for the benefit of the purchaser so they know what they are buying. It's not a haggling tool.

I don't get a survey unless i suspect subsidence. I expect the worst and offer accordingly, but not in a rising market.

TheLadyofShalott1 · 11/05/2022 01:24

I read a gardening article the other day that said that this sort of bamboo is much worse than Japenese Knotweed. It is so strong that once it gets under a house in can grow through the foundation, and to get rid of it under a house the whole area where it is has to be dug up, and every single bit of root got and destroyed.

I'm sorry but I wouldn't walk away from this purchase, I would run as fast and as far away as possible. It could cost many, many thousands of pounds to sort it.

Starseeking · 11/05/2022 01:43

Elle8344 · 10/05/2022 22:57

The house is ex-local authority and has been rented out through a housing association.
The works they did as landlord for the previous tenant haven't been done correctly by their tradespeople. I didn't realise this until I got the survey through.
As for the bamboo, when I first saw it I thought it was the bush variety which isn't the bad one but you can see the roots are spreading all around the garden. I spoke to the neighbours who have said it's spreading all around their garden & patio too so it's a big problem.
There are no properties to compare it with as the others are still owned by the council but managed by the housing association.
There's also private drainage that I'd share with the other properties so I'll have to pay a monthly fee to the HA. I'm sure if the roots from the bamboo damage the drainage pipes the HA will be after me for the costs of the repairs though.
I understand that their tenants have so many problem's with them. They have properties all over the country so it's not just where this house is.

Based on this alone, give your head a wobble and run away from this mess. The shared drainage sounds like a tight pain. You'll be relying on someone else to fix it if there are any problems, and if the HA are not very responsive, it could be hard going.

The survey has given you the out that you need, take it!

whynotwhatknot · 11/05/2022 19:25

If its ha run away-why are they sell it off? theres low stock for housing so why would do this

because theres been so many problems they want to wipe their hands of the mess

Twiglets1 · 11/05/2022 21:35

I think it actually is common to renegotiate the price slightly after a bad survey but that doesn’t mean it is compulsory for the vendor to agree to a price reduction. Unfortunately for you, you have a vendor unwilling to negotiate. He may be an arse or he may feel you got the house at a very good price to reflect the condition, we don’t know.

Londongent · 12/05/2022 11:26

You know it's not worth what you have offered. All houses are sold as seen, doesn't mean the price is non-negotiable.
Put in a new offer at the price you would be happy and comfortable to pay. If it's not accepted, walk away.

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