Survey price reduction

[woebetide8]

So. my buyer has had their survey done and is asking for nearly £30,000 off their original offer. If this happens we can't afford to move, so that will be that. Not one single thing is in the A column, e.g. nothing is immediate, dangerous etc. they are all advisory, e.g. the roof has about ten years left, well it might have longer than that, who knows... according to my own survey a few years back it was a fairly new roof! I'm not paying for a whole new roof, or a whole set of new windows (the current ones are quite old but they work!), and so it goes on, an endless list of maybes and might haves. Anyone ever given money off for might haves and maybes, or stood their ground and sold at original agreed price?

I'd personally hold firm especially if you need offer price to move. Just remind them it's not a new build and anything that they've listed was apparent on viewing and doesn't need immediate attention. What percentage of the price is £30k? I'd also let the estate agents handle it, let them earn their fee.

Having said that I've asked for money off after a survey and mortgage valuation, there was alot of hidden faults so I asked them to come down to what the bank valued the property at which was 1.5% reduction. (About a third of what it would cost to fix the problems and the roof did need doing immediately.) I thought that was a good compromise.

If you can't knock £30,000 off then you can't. What can you afford to knock off and how much do you want to sell? Once you know this you have your answer and if they dont like it then so be it.

Hold firm. They are really pushing their luck. Sure a roof may fail tomorrow or in 15 years - that's not something you renegotiate on. If the roof is leaking and causing damp, that's more legit. If the find pervasive damp - again a bargaining chip.
It is also more regular to reduce by half what the remedial costs are as the buyer will get the benefit if it. But in your case there doesn't seem to be any reason to ask for a reduction. General updating doesn't count.

We reduced our offer by £60k but that was because it was more wrecked than we'd imagined and needed immediate work to try and stop it getting any worse. We were prepared to walk away though - and we did. If you can't afford the reduction or any reduction then say so but it may end up with them walking away.

Not everyone is out to get a bargain but some people are easily scared.

We are in a similar position in that if they ask for any money off we simply can't afford to move.

I'd tell that to your estate agent and let them deal with it. If the buyers are trying their luck then the reality of losing the sale might make them have a second thought.

I'd also remind them, if they pull out they'll probably be completing on a different purchase after April and be paying the higher stamp duty.

My DD had a further 10k off but it was "red" flagged work and although it could be seen on viewing (pointing and blown brickwork, and windows letting in water) they didn't see it or have the knowledge to understand it. After all, that's why a survey is done.

However, as a used house it will have ongoing maintenance. Rooves do wear out although I'd question the 25 years they seem to be given by surveyors. We replaced ours 8 years ago and it was 60 years old

If you can't afford to move with that reduction, well, there you go.

30k off is a lot! Especially for a house in reasonably good condition.

I would make a counter offer to show willing (if you can afford to and still move) but no more than 10k maximum.

Don’t do it. I’ve read quite a few surveys and they’re all it may need this in x amount of years. I think they’re wrote in a way to cover the surveyors back.

If the roof has 10 more years at least and there are not leaks/issues with it currently you don't have to offer any reduction.

Put it back on the market if needed.

Honestly they are taking the piss. Only immediate and urgent stuff should affect the price. Tell them to sod off.

I asked to see the survey and they said no. I get that they don't have to show me, but without it they could be plucking figures out of the sky for all I know. I've agreed to £4,000 off for some damp and told them to jog on. It's gone quiet.

If they won't show you the survey, that shouts "chancers" to me. If they had solid evidence that a professional had identified £30k worth of serious issues, they'd be shouting all about it.

Seems all suspicious that they’re asking for £30k off and not willing to share the survey. Definitely rings red flags here. £4k is reasonable for the damp but I probably wouldn’t go much further.

If it was me and I wasn’t in a rush to move, I’d be tempted to just withdraw and then re-market it.

I’d also be getting the estate agent to do all the leg work - that’s what you pay them for!

When we had stuff raised when we were buying, we got tradesmen related to the specific things round to give actual quotes- a surveyor is not a roofing expert or whatever, tell them they can get a roofer round and provide an actual quote because you can't negotiate from thin air.

Absolute chancers!

We sold a two year old house back in 2003, the buyer had a survey done and demanded around £20 reduction for 'faults' including the flashing over a window being half a brick too far to the left! There were two slates that had cracks in (bay window sort of thing) thanks to a cowboy window cleaner so we paid to have those fixed but eventually settled on £5k reduction. We later employed the same surveyor to (hopefully) do a similar hatchet job on our new build but he missed more than he found with that one!