Help - buying a house, estate agent wants us to email him our building survey - should we?

[gardeninggirl]

Desperate to move from small flat now have rampaging one yr old.
Can't afford much, and anxious about falling prices, but found place we like.
Price seems low as 'Needs moderinising' reduced by 19 000 as been on market for 7 months with no sale, a probate property.
As 100 yr old got survey for eye watering £700, showed problems with damp, and the roof probably needs replacing or at bare minimum re buttressing
Hubby speaking to estate agent to see if vendors would consider reducing price a little. EA says he and vendors must see survey and want us to email it to them.

Just feels wrong to send them all this hard-paid-for info for free or am I just too cautious??

First time buyer so have not got a clue - as you can prob tell!!

Thanks

You're under no obligation to show it . Give them your reduced offer, if they decline then they are the losers as another prospective purchaser will find the same.

You have to send it to them - it's your proof that the work needs doing and it's a negotiating tool. Otherwise they just have to believe you and for all they know, you could be making it up.

Ok, you have no legal obligation to show it to them but for the life of me I can't see why you'd want to hide it from them. If you feel so strongly about it, just email them the parts of the survey that point out the probelms with the property.

I would not provide them with the entire survey just the parts that show the problems that prove the work needed.

The house has been on the market for 7 months so they aren't really in a very strong position, are they? If you really object to sending them the survey, just tell them 'my offer is X, take it or leave it'. Obviously you have to be prepared to them to say 'no thanks', though.

Personally I'd send them the survey or, if you are that bothered, the relevant paragraphs. (Buttressing the roof sounds alarming, btw!)

Agree with Fizzylemonade.

Normally the survey is seen by the other solicitors if you want to negotiate a reduction.

We had someone try to renegotiate house price on basis of "bad survey" but wouldn't show it to us which made us highly sceptical about seriousness of work needed. We had been trying to sell for a year but still walked away and found another buyer. What do you imagine vendors are going to do with the survey? Just blank out valuation bit if it worries you that much.

I remember about 30 years ago being told not to give out explicit survey info to the sellers as some sellers were taking the information and covering up for the next prospective buyer. E.g. rotten floorboards - sellers were nailing carpets into place so the next surveyor couldn't investigate.

How true that is I don't know

Not much you can do about a knackered roof other than fix it though, is there?

I suspect your "eye watering £700" was money well spent! Sorting problems with damp and replacing/rebutressing the roof are expensive undertakings and that £700 will probably seem insignificant when you price that. I would find out how much it would cost and ask for that off the price. The vendors are facing a buyers' market and in no position to walk away.

Wouldn't send survery we lost a house (?partly) over this.
Maybe for the better now who knows?