Survey Results

[BungalowBuyer]

I've name changed so I can provide more details without outing my previous threads.

The background briefly, we're buying a 1960s bungalow, the owner is deceased and the property is being sold by her solicitor, no family involved.

We had an offer accepted we were happy with, the property was taken off the market, then another buyer who had viewed and offered before us made a new offer and we had to go to best and final, increasing our offer by £7k to ensure we were successful, as my house is sold and this is the only bungalow we've seen that meets our needs.

The survey report doesn't include anything we weren't aware of really, but it values the property at exactly our original offer.

Issues include, there are no Certificates or guarantees for the gas boiler, open fire etc. and no information on them. They haven't completed the questionnaire because the owner is deceased and hasn't left any paperwork. Essentially saying it's sold as seen.

There's an extension (I'm not really worried about) that's been up I estimate 50 years, which doesn't appear (supported by searches) to have building regs, I'm sure size wise it's well within permitted development. The surveyor is happy, on visual inspection, that the flat roof is in good order but we don't know when it was last replaced.

There are polystyrene tiles on two ceilings which will need to be removed and the ceilings at least skimmed. There's an older glazed interior door which may not be safety glass and needs to be replaced (it's awful anyway).

My thoughts are to ask the solicitor to

• consider a reduction in price to our original offer (there's no mortgage involved), to provide indemnity for the extension.
• To provide a inspection report on the flat roof. - To cover the cost of having the gas appliances and open fire/chimney safety checked.
• There's a redundant boiler in the loft (pretty much impossible to remove) I'd like to ask the solicitor to either arrange to have it removed or confirm it's not a hazard.

My hope is that they at least agree to reduce the price, provide the indemnity on the extension.

Does this sound reasonable?

Sounds reasonable. But they could say no. How far are you into the buying process?

Your being ridiculous, you say the extension was built 50 years ago and want indemnity? From what ? It’s half a century old 🙄.

@Diyextension To be honest, I'm really not that bothered specifically about the extension. I think it looks fine, and the surveyor essentially agrees, but if the roof hasn't been re-felted for more than 10/15 years it essentially could fail at any time.

I'm more interested in providing some rationale for an overall reduction in the price to fund the work that's needed like getting the boiler serviced, and the open fire checked, having the flat roof assessed etc. things that aren't expensive individually but will add up and wouldn't usually be at my cost because the vendor would be asked to provide certificates (or at least some info/dates), like I've done for the property I'm selling.

@AllAboutBread We're a way along and don't want to pull out, just some movement on the price if possible.

There probably was no requirement for building regs 50 years ago. Of course it is unlikely to meet those now as they change frequently. Nor is there any requirement re. Boilers , fire etc. if you want detail on their condition you need to get further specific inspections but tbh it sounds typical of the visual condition of the age of property. Surveyor is covering himself.

I think a safety check on the redundant boiler is a reasonable request, but other than that you offered a price you were happy to pay, knowing it was more than it was worth.

For the sake of 7k as a cash buyer I'd suck it up and get moved in ASAP.

its unreasonable to ask for a reduction based on future issues - if the roof isnt end of life now (ie leaking) then you’re being cheeky to ask for money off on the basis it might need replacing in 2/5/15 years.

I don't think any of that requires a reduction. You could ask, but depends how much you want the property as to whether how hard you're prepared to push.

The property was valued under what you offered, as you chose to offer more than it was worth in order to secure it.

Totally normal to buy sold as seen with a probate property, when I sold one, my solicitor told me how easy it was for him, as no questions could be answered really etc. PP is right, no boiler info is required either, and nobody really expects a relatively new roof. If it's not leaking, it is what it is. Same as with the glass door etc.

Personally I'd just go ahead without reduction, as you've said you're keen on the property.

I have been in a similar position but with a couple looking to downsize who couldn’t produce a damn thing because they did it on the cheap.

I will make some assumptions: you knew the owner was deceased, that family are not dealing with the estate, that old old folk generally stop looking after things because they have no money, and that things would therefore need replacing?

If you answered yes to all of the above, what you are suggesting is a dick move. A very old person not capable of maintenance lived there, and you should have been firm with not increasing your offer too much on that basis.

Do you have evidence the roof or boiler are imminent dangers? These are the things you need to keep money aside for or save for when owning an older home.

I don’t suppose the solicitor will care. If you pull out, he gets a second lot of fees, so yay for him.

*unneeded whether in my post!

I don't think anything that you mention warrants a price reduction at all.
It was your choice to pay £7k over asking to secure the purchase. Bungalows are usually in high demand as hardly any are built these days.

The chances of requiring a new boiler in any property you buy are always high unless you have paperwork that states it's a year old etc. Once you move in you can easily get a boiler serviced and the open fire checked. These are minimal costs.

The flat roof may require work in the future, it may not. That's just flat roofs for you.

It sounds more that you have seen the survey report that values the property at the original asking price, you paid over the asking price and now you want to renege and pay the original asking price and not the price that you agreed.

I would be very careful if I were you, especially with a bungalow that essentially has a good survey report, and the matters you are trying to quibble over are not strong price reduction factors.

If you did that to me I would ditch you for the other potential purchaser.

This is just a solicitor who's going to get a set fee, though, to be fair.

I 2ould say if you are buying as seen, you accept that there could be issues
But there could be after any survey as they are just checking on the day. Mime said the fence was likely to last years and we had a huge storm the first winter I was in. Not the surveyors fault it fell over. You need to look at what % of the overall purchase price is and whether you are prepared to lose the house over £7. If they think you are being cheeky they can just go with someone else.

I contacted the estate agent this afternoon, explained the valuation is lower than the agreed price and there are a number of issues that need addressed, and could they ask the vendor (solicitor) to consider a reduction in price.

No threats to pull out, just a request to consider our position.

They've met us half way, so a reduction of £3.5k which will cover some of the more urgent issues. Not a huge amount of money but as we're using every penny we have to buy the property for cash it's very helpful. We will do the remaining jobs, redecorate etc. over time.

Hopefully our buyer won't ask us to reduce but we'll cross that bridge if/when we come to it.

As I’ve personally discovered, you can get your boiler serviced and have the dratted thing break 2 weeks later.

boilers break. Frequently.

@whirlyhead We have approval to have the boiler serviced and fireplace swept/checked before we move in, the house has been empty for around 12 months.

Flat roofs can fail pretty much any time anyway, though modern ones are more reliable. My 2ps worth on flat roofs is that if there is one, you can see it on viewing, so should factor-in replacing it in your general maintenance estimates, and factor that in your first offer. Same with the boiler.

Just to clarify there's nothing, as far as I'm aware with the current boiler, its relatively new and a good brand.

The redundant boiler is from the 60s, it's cast iron and in the loft space, it really needs to be removed before we have the loft boarded. I assume it's been decommissioned appropriately but we don't know that.