It’s ye olde buyers/sellers waiting room continued thread…

[ibelieveinmirrorballs]

The nail-biting wait continues….

My offer wasn't accepted, they've gone with someone who is chain free... back to the drawing board.

I found a tin of black treacle which was BBE August 2012 the other day. That has moved with us 3 times since then! I used it in a cake the other weekend. 🤣

Thanks @sweetpickle2 it's nuts isn't it! Here I am having the cheek to think about exchange dates. Fun times.

Sorry to hear that @startingoveragainagain hoping something better is waiting for you.

Glad there is a potential upside @NoWordForFluffy to these ancient cupboard treasures. Maybe @TomatoSoup69 was right, maybe my paxo will come good again.

At this rate though it'll have grown legs and walked out the house by itself before I move 😭

I’m really fed up. Had a call Friday am saying a survey being undertaken tomorrow imagining L3 so I’m thinking the worst. No one warned me either I just thought they were going to go with the mortgage survey. It’s really depressed me because of they pull out or offer too low then I’ll lose the house I’ve already sunk over a grand into. Feel like everything is at stake based on one persons judgement.

@IronNeonClasp Sorry to hear you're feeling so down. What are you thinking will come up on their survey? Do you have much breathing room for getting the house you've offered on, do you know how much they'd have to knock you down for it to be lost?

Thanks @TomatoSoup69 I accepted an offer £5k lower than asking price and sale was based on £10k of work needing doing so I really can’t afford to go any lower. I can’t even afford to do a survey on the house I’m trying to buy. Really depressed with the whole process

Did they know that the agreed price was based on it needing 10k of work doing? If so, as long as there isn't much more than that I don't see how they can knock you down further.

I feel a bit stitched up as I had no idea of their plans and they are getting a really really f good deal based on properties around here. I understand they are FTB and that is the advice it’s still frustrating and adding additional time to the process which was progressing quite well :(

Sorry you’re feeling stressed @IronNeonClasp but I would personally never buy without a L3 after our last saga. We were expecting 30k ish and the survey showed £100k so of course we had to pull out.
Offer accepted on 2nd property which is in much better condition.. £10-15k we will sort ourselves. Any big jobs that are more we plan to ask to meet in the middle e.g. £15k chimney job then take £7.5k off which I think is fair. The sellers have made triple what they paid 10 years ago so I hope they would be happy to negotiate with us.
Please don’t worry though, if you’ve maintained the place it should be okay! We’re buying a house that’s 150+ year old so a level 3 is needed but we definitely expect issues as FTB

But it’s really normal to do a survey! The mortgage valuation isn’t worth anything to the buyer (pretty sure Halifax just look on Rightmove at average sold prices).

Don’t worry unless it turns up something major. I’ve always had L3 surveys done, and never yet used it to knock the price down - I can see peeling soffits, missing tiles, elderly bathrooms and blown plaster with my own eyes and take account of those when I’m putting an offer in. I’m trying to avoid buying a house with major subsidence or dry rot. Or, memorably, one where the living room patio door doesn’t actually shut (we viewed during an open house in summer, the patio doors were hooked open and we didn’t test it ourselves).

DM has a tin of pear slices that is older than me. I am 45. She has also transported it to multiple houses, it is a family heirloom now. She has shown it off to DS, who was suitably impressed.

It sounds like you are aware your house has issues which will be picked up in the survey and more than likely the buyers will ask for a reduction in price that’s if they don’t pull out as many ftb are easily spooked.

If they do ask it means they are willing to negotiate and are keen on your property. You can meet in the middle

I am also a big believer in if you don’t ask you won’t receive.
It’s definitely a very cheeky ask but I will reach out to my onward chain to beg if they can take a hit to an extent to accommodate your buyers and your affordability so as to not break the chain.

I have heard of people who this has worked for. Worst you’ll hear back is no

If you can’t afford to take the hit and had other offers on the table then reach out to them to see if they are interested or put it back on the market.

And sometimes you might think your buyers are getting a good deal compared to other houses nearby but more than likely the reason those other houses haven’t sold is because they are overpriced for the current market/condition.

Houses I have seen sell this year have been those priced low or are in sought after locations where they sell above asking in a week or 2 tops so you really have to evaluate your location properly to determine if it is really a good deal that you can do better on or not.

Sorry you’re stressed @IronNeonClasp- I do understand as the survey is nerve wracking not knowing how buyers will react! But as others have said it’s very normal and recommended, even if the offer you accepted allows for £10k of work (do the buyers know this?) it would be foolish for the buyers not to do their own due diligence. Unless the accepted offer was subject to no survey at all- this would be weird, as offers are usually the opposite ie subject TO survey- The law in this country is caveat emptor/buyer beware, so I’d never buy any property without a full survey.

I’m sure you’re just ranting here, but if you were my seller and I knew you were this stressed and annoyed at me having a survey I’d see that as a major red flag, sorry. Is there something you know about that you are expecting to come up? If not then I am sure it will be fine!

Dont forget that regardless of surveys your buyers can ask for money off at any time during this process up until exchange, as is the way house buying and selling works in this country. There really is no way to guarantee they won’t.

Echoing others @IronNeonClasp they would be absolutely insane not to do a survey. I still remember the gaunt look in a friends face at my front door full of fear after her builder had solemnly called her from her new house to tell her he thought it had subsidence - she had tried to save money by not getting a survey done.

I know it’s frightening because all these stages bring uncertainty, but you need to stay strong to maintain confidence in your house and its value.

@Dandelion24 my buyers tried to get over £30k reduction on spurious grounds and the EA suggested as an option we could see if my seller would take a hit, even stating that he had room to manoeuvre as he owned several properties (it was all through the same agent).

I absolutely refused to indulge my buyers terrible tactics by passing it on to my seller - why should he suffer as a result? I stood firm and offered a much smaller goodwill gesture reduction or told the buyers it was going to be relisted. In this case it was different as there was no evidence the work they claimed actually needed to be done, but I was furious and as a point of principle couldn’t go along with any of it.

Sorry to hear about the added extra stress @IronNeonClasp. You can't control or second guess where your buyers are going with the survey. Maybe best try to find something else to take your mind off things (not easy I know!) whilst you wait.

@Saschka that's brilliant!!! Haha I did not think about the heirloom potential of paxo.

My buyers are driving me nuts. We are so so close to exchange - we could exchange today! - and they are pressing us to pay for a £1000 condensation unit.

This is the only issue they have been able to present after three separate surveys (homebuyers, asbestos, damp and timber).

We won't be paying it - have offered a goodwill amount, with the agreement we exchange asap and set a completion date. They are still dithering on what is now a few hundred pounds difference, which will be far less than they have paid for the surveys at this point! Insane!!!!!!!

Stand firm @Pleaselettheholidayend - I feel your pain - what is wrong with these people? The fact they are so cavalier with the goodwill needed to sustain us all through this miserable charade of house selling/buying makes my blood boil. You can join us on the ‘fat fizz of fizz for the buyers’ bench !

@Pleaselettheholidayend wow frustrating! Reminds me of friends who had a similar issue. Their buyers dithered over a few hundred pounds but had already booked movers and ended up paying a fee to the movers for not rearranging a date in time. So odd.

@ibelieveinmirrorballs @ShittyGlitter thanks, they are really odd!

Being generous, I think they are just very very nervous FTB and I do remember that feeling, but I feel like yelling at them that after THREE surveys if the worst you have found is raised condensation in the bathroom and kitchen you're really not doing bad!

They just have no idea what is lurking Out There haha!

😂

@AUDHDVET@Saschka@Dandelion24@sweetpickle2@ibelieveinmirrorballs@ShittyGlitter thank you. So house is sold for 95k should have been 110k but 10k knocked off to factor in any works such as dehumidifier needed in bathroom, chimney leak (which I’m having to fix anyhow as leaking next door) etc etc so you can understand why money is tight. Single mum sharing with 14yo DS, DD in teeny room at the back - can’t afford to do a lot and reluctant to spend on mine. I’m just nervous surveyor will say needs new roof as they will most likely pull out.
I took my builder to see house I’m trying to buy as I knew I most likely couldn’t afford another £800 for full survey on top of escalating costs. Also EA recommended I go with their conveyancer as buyers were using them so would make things swift but turns out buyer hasn’t used them so everything feels like a bit of a stitch up and EA on buyers side (not mine) 😩
Someone mentioned mortgage survey they probably just looked on Rightmove - not the buyers - he was very thorough!

Our EA said that as well @IronNeonClasp about using the same conveyancer- we checked with our buyers as suspected they were lying and they were! I think they all try that. I don't think it's about stitching you up specifically, they're just trying to sell as many of their own add on services as they can.

If you have taken that amount of money off to factor in those works then the buyer is probably trying to establish whether there's anything else not mentioned- put bluntly if I was buying a house where the seller said "there is x y z wrong with it here's 10k off so dont worry about it!!" I would probably wonder what else was hiding.

Also we're almost at the end of the thread... I dont mind starting a new one (hopefully it'll give me good karma to exchange)

New thread https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/property/5017741-the-all-new-buyerssellers-waiting-room-continued-thread