Price negotiation following survey - advice please

[Needlebeetle]

We have a buyer for our house and the survey has flagged up issues and they want to negotiate on price. Damp and roof issues both have a red flag. How do you take this forward? Buyer wants to get quotes but how accurate will these be given that when I have had work done I would get around three different quotes? Would buyers have been expected to take this into account when offering (we accepted an offer well below asking). The house is absolutely not a wreck - survey says reasonable condition for victorian house. is it normal to split some of these costs with buyer when agreed?

Following this with interest. We have just sold our house, Grade 2 listed cottage and our buyers are about to have a survey done. We have not had any issues with the house. No damp patches, mold etc and when we look at it with our eyes its it great condition. It has been through renovation works and we really look after it.

However I just know that a surveyor will pick up things that we don't see and we are fully expecting for our buyer to want to negotiate on the price. It just seems to be the norm these days following a level 3 survey. We are bracing ourselves for this. Have no idea though whether they will want to get quotes and expect us to go halves or will just want to knock some off the asking price and be done with it. Never been in this position before as we have prior to this sold newer houses that were never surveyed by our buyers. Have no idea what the norm is with this kind of thing.

No - me neither @DildoSaggins . This was a level 2 survey so not as much detail as yours.

Hi I’ve not long brought a Victorian terrace, the survey showed roof /chimney problems. With seller agreement the estate agent arranged for a roofer to quote. In this case it was 3k. We ended up agreeing 2k price reduction & I had the work done when I moved in.

hope that helps a little

I should add that I had anticipated some work to the house which was reflected in the initial offer, but the chimney /roof was not evident until survey & not accounted for.

Roof issues usually aren't classed as things 'taken into account' on viewing at attic spaces and roofs are usually unaccessible.

What is the roof issue?

Something like 'this roof is near the end of its life and needs changing in the next 10 years' is wildly different to 'rotting/twisting/sagging is observed in the beams and ridge board causing undulation' etc... the first is just to cover a surveyors ass the second is saying there is structural issues that need serious investigation that are not understood/visible to laymen etc...

@housethatbuiltme Roof issue is possible minor repairs. The survey found high damp meter readings is a couple of areas downstairs (no damp visible). Pointing needs touching up in some areas - this is visible to anyone who looks at the house.

Damp metre readings are a load of bollocks, especially in old houses which are built differently. I’m fed up of surveyors trotting that one out. If there is no smell or visible signs of damp, it’s not damp.

That's like our house. Old house, built in the 1860's but is sound. Never had any damp issues or mold or cause for concern anywhere and we have been here nearly 15 years. Walls are not cold or feeling wet/moist and no visible signs of damp (because there isn't any!) Doesn't smell old or musty or anything, but you can bet your bottom dollar when the surveyor comes they will say its bloody damp. 🙄

Ignore the survey and ignore all requests from the potential buyers. They are obviously inexperienced first time rounders.

Old houses are not new builds which conform to current regs, anyone looking at a victorian house and expecting to not find any damp or roof issues have no business buying one. Also, they can't get quotes for any work as they don't own the property. Your buyers don't know the first thing about the property market.

I wouldn't reduce the price either, your margin is tight enough as it is.

It sounds like the roof issues are not major. Repointing is quite standard, isn’t it? If you have accepted an offer way below asking (assuming your house wasn’t terribly overpriced) I would not negotiate.

How do you actually know any of this ?

How many other interest did you have when it was listed. Personally i wouldn’t entertain it with a Victorian house- it sounds from what you’ve said the survey hasn’t thrown up any surprises. But you know how much you need this buyer

It’s normal to renegotiate after the survey. Plenty of threads on here about it.
How much are you willing to drop? You said you accepted an offer well below asking, which sounds like you didn’t have much interest in the first place?
You are selling an old house, no doubt with very energy inefficient solid walls. Once the pointing starts going, then damp comes through. Also repointing an old lime mortar house is not cheap.
Personally I’d be pragmatic and try to come to an agreement. Could be 3k reduction, could be 5k.
If they get quotes then discuss with the builder yourself as to the necessary repairs and how the cost is arrived at.

You said you accepted an offer well below asking, but clearly there wasn't any interest at asking or you could have sold it to them instead.

I would wait and see what they come up with. If they come up with a large figure you can get your own quotes and then use that information to justify why you won't reduce. Or you can meet them half way or any proportion. Or you can agree. Or you can refuse any discount. It all depends how much you want to sell the house at the price they offer.

How easy was it to find this buyer (probably not very or else you wouldn't have accepted the low offer) and how easy do you think it is going to be to get another one ? Do you want to move or are you happy to wait it out until another buyer comes along ?

Thanks everyone - we had quite a lot of interest, chose offer below asking as we want to move quickly (various reasons not relevant to this thread) and the buyer is in a great position.

Really interesting - re the damp I think you expect it in older houses but no signs of damp inside. I thought maybe I was too relaxed about it!

Old victorian houses have damp.

All old roofs will come back as needing repairs in any survey.

No trade will quote for work on a property you don't own.

No experienced buyer would even think about getting quotes for work on a property they don't own.

The rest of the info in in the OP.

Did you read it?

Err.... my DD got a quote on work on the house they were buying. It was a trusted friend in the industry. The seller agreed to let him visit and spoke to him on the issues he was quoting for and he explained them to her.

They renegotiated that value off with the vendor.

They instructed him to do the work ASAP on completion and they then moved in, from their rental, two weeks later after it was completed.

Yeah, her friend did it 🙄

the agent organised the quote for me before I purchased 🤷‍♀️

I'd get your own quotes.

I read it and I agree with @GasPanic I’ve had estimates for work post survey and pre purchase and detailed quotes where more specific work was clear as have all my DC when buying. Its standard practice with any house purchase.

I would not expect a “clean” survey from a period house but nor would I ignore the survey and buy without additional more specific checks.

As for reducing the price or not - well it depends on whether the OP wants to sell it or not and the extent of the likely work. If selling a house in need of “updating” then buyers should expect to spend money on it, if selling it in good order throughout then buyers will quite reasonably want to know the likely additional costs, irrespective of age.

What a load of bollocks. We’ve had quotes on properties we were about to buy. Most of them were rough quotes, but when the survey throws up big issues that’s what you do. You need to know if it’s a £500, £2000, or £20,000 job. I’d never bother renegotiating over £500, probably wouldn’t over £2k, definitely would over £20k job.

This is literally why you get a survey done.