Sale agreed, Surveyors Report...what next?

[Prittstick]

My son has made an offer on a house, price agreed and Surveyors report received.

There are issues highlighted in Surveyors report, some minor and a few causing concern ( eg party wall with adjoining house, in attic roof-space not fully built up to roof line, extra bracing needed in attic etc)

My question is about what to do next?

Do you go to the Auctioneer and ask the vendor to fix these before proceeding to contract.

Do you get an Architect to get cost of fixing these items and then suggest the price is lowered accordingly.

Should I send the Surveyor report on to Auctioneer, for vendor attention..

Do I go direct to Auctioneer myself, or should we be communicating thru solicitor, I am not sure?

Would appreciate any advice on how to proceed, and the best way to handle this.

My son wants to buy the house, he is happy with price, he paid a bit over asking on the basis that it was all ready to move in, so any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks

 

[Leo]

Do I go direct to Auctioneer myself, or should we be communicating thru solicitor, I am not sure?

First steps is to understand of how serious the issues are, get advice from the surveyor or a competent professional. They don't sound serious enough to advise walking away, but you should get a ball-park indication of what the costs might be to remedy them.

Next, talk to the auctioneer directly, no need to involve a solicitor here at this stage, and see if the vendor is willing to resolve the issues or budge on price to offset the estimated costs. Some vendors might be willing to resolve issues like these to make a sale, many won't. As the house went for above asking, that's an indication there was some demand, and the vendor may be less accommodating to such requests.

Depending on how big the number is, you may need to threaten to walk away from the deal if they refuse to budge. Of course, you also run the risk of losing the sale with this approach as the vendor may decide to sell to the under-bidder instead if you go too far.

 

[abc_xyz]

When I got the survey report I had a lot of small items (sagging drain pipes, creaking floor board) and one bigger item (attic thing). Given the age of the house certain maintenance issues are to be expected. The bigger item had an estimated cost to fix in the survey report (3k). I asked the estate agent directly for a reduction in the sale price of that amount and included the summary page of the survey report which listed the attic cost. He came back and asked for the full report. I provided that and then the seller agreed to take the 3k of the sale price. Took about a week altogether from start to finish as far as I remember. Possibly worth nothing the price was still above the next highest offer. YMMV.

 

[LDFerguson]

I'd go to the surveyor and ask him/her to list the issues under three categories: -

(1) Normal wear and tear for a house that age and not a big issue.
(2) Needs to be sorted eventually but doesn't really matter if it gets sorted now or over the course of the next year or two.
(3) Really should be sorted NOW - possible health and safety issue or potential to cause damage to the house if left unresolved.

As has been said above, get a rough estimate of the cost of repairs. Go back to the auctioneer. Try to get them all fixed by the vendor. If the vendor is not willing to do everything, will they just do the items in (3)?

If your son is stretching himself financially to buy this house, i.e. borrowing the maximum percentage he can get (80% or 90% depending on his circumstances) remember that if the vendor agrees to drop the price, that doesn't mean that he has the money to spend to fix them himself. Example - he is borrowing 90% of purchase price. Cost of repairs = €10,000. Vendor drops price by €10,000. Mortgage also drops by €9,000. Right now, your son is only €1,000 better off in terms of money he has in hand to fix the problems.

If the vendor plays hard-ball and refuses to either fix or drop the price, then your son has to make a hard decision. Is he willing (and able) to suck it up and proceed with the purchase, paying for the repairs out of his own pocket? Perhaps over time unless the surveyor says some of them must be fixed right now. Or does he walk away?

 

[Prittstick]

Thank you, Leo , abc and LD F.
I appreciate your suggestions.

I will let you know the final outcome.

Much appreciated

 

[cremeegg]

Obviously, I have not read the engineers report, but if I were the vendor, based on the information you have given, I would think you were either a messer, i.e. not serious about buying the house, or a chancer, i.e. trying to reduce an agreed price. Either way, I would be looking for another buyer.