Buyer asking for repairs to be done

[Strawberriesandmelons]

We just sold our house and about 5 weeks into the conveyancing process. The buyer had a homebuyers survey done and now is asking for repairs to be done. Is this normal?

Yes, normal.

I'd expect any safety issues sorted.

And any security issues.

Any serious structural issues not evident from viewing I'd expect a reduction.

Nothing cosmetic.

So, dangerous wiring, broken windows, windows stuck on open sorted by seller before close, etc.

They can always say no tho!

Depands:

• if the survey revealed some major/urgent issues they might have a point, so wait to be given the specifics
• if it is just cosmetic work, they are unreasonable.

So it is hard to say without more details.

It's part of the negotiation, like buying something if seller throws something else in for free. They are entitled to ask, you are entitled to say no.

So you haven’t ‘sold’ it yet, you’re going through the conveyancing process.

Depends what it was but probably not if cosmetic. They’re free to pull out and probably would already if whatever they uncovered was that bad so 🤷🏼‍♀️

We did this when buying our last house. The seller agreed to get a broken window lock repaired - as otherwise insurance was invalid. That one came up in the survey.

And the flat roof sprang a leak between going on the market and survey. The seller offered to repair but we wanted a higher standard with extra insulation repair so in the end he got a quote for the basic repair and that was taken off the purchase price. Then we got the repair done as we wanted once we owned it.

So it very much depends what they're asking for?

No it isn't normal.

If they thought the roof needed doing for instance they shouldve dropped their offer by £10k of whatever you were asking and mentioned this when initially putting it forwards.

You can't make your offer, have it accepted, wait 5 weeks and then start giving lists of cosmetic jobs that need to be done!

They are chancers - just say no OP but obviously be prepared that they may pull out - people like this are CF's and time wasters.

I had the opposite when I bought my house. The sellers (landlords; a big organisation not an individual) accepted the offer then raced around doing things like putting in fire doors in the loft, which clearly were legal requirements they should have done before. At some point they said hopefully that maybe we'd raise our offer to reflect works done. We declined.

yep, we had a developer who wanted a full decoration (or 50£ reduction).

My son's survey found lack of pointing around chimney pot making it dangerous as it could fall off in extreme weather conditions. He emailed report to seller asking for pointing to be done or price reduction and seller lowered price. My son got pointing done as soon as he bought house.

I know someone who did loads of work the buyer asked for after the survey. Then the house looked so nice they decided not to sell it!

I worked in Conveyancing for years and it’s surprisingly common for people to ask this. Completely up to you if you accept it though but obviously you risk losing the sale.

It totally depends what's on the list. If it's stuff.you can't see and they weren't expecting them yes they should ask or reduce price to reflect additional work. If it's just stuff they knew about then no.

A friend had this with mostly small things which seemed odd at the time. She needed to sell quickly so did them.

Then a few weeks ago I read that in some countries this is the norm - and her buyers were from one of the countries mentioned so it suddenly made sense.

Our buyers requested we do certain repairs (outhouses, they viewed them in the condition, so we hadn't hidden anything, and an third party retaining wall, so not ours to repair anyway). We said no, they requested we drop the price to match the supposed repairs, we said no, the sale proceeded as they were still keen and just chancing their arm.

Would depend what the repairs are and how keen you are to not rock the boat etc/proceed with the current sale

''@Justforlaffs

If they thought the roof needed doing for instance they shouldve dropped their offer by £10k of whatever you were asking and mentioned this when initially putting it forwards.

You can't make your offer, have it accepted, wait 5 weeks and then start giving lists of cosmetic jobs that need to be done!

They are chancers - just say no OP but obviously be prepared that they may pull out - people like this are CF's and time wasters.''

No. This is perfectly normal and happens all the time.

If the survey revealed several issues that could not be picked up initially with just a visual inspection then it is perfectly normal to renegotiate.

I doubt the buyers are asking the OP to paint the walls a particular shade or to put the carpet of their choice...

It is likely the survey revealed the the house is in a worst state than expected (that's what surveys are for...) so it is normal to negotiate some money off to cover this.

I am in the process of buying a house if the survey reveals hidden defects that will be costly to repair I will ask for the price to be adjusted accordingly or I will walk.

It is likely that the OP refuses point blank, the next potential buyers will also do a survey and the same problems will be revealed anyway and she will be in the same situation.

The OP has the choice to do the repairs or negotiate on a reduction. That is the sensible option unless you want to be back at square one...

It is ludicrous to calling the buyers ''time wasters'' in this scenario.