does anyone know owt about building / surveys etc

sold my house after living in it for just under a year

i got the middle survey done last year and it came back with no problems

sold it this a few weeks ago and the buyers surveyors reckon that there's about 2 grands work to be done on it - does this sound likely? surely a house can't deteriorate that much in a year? i think they are going to try and knock me down on the price, should i tell them to piss off?

 

Have they shown you a copy of the survey? and do you have your previous one?

 

our agent has seen the copy so thats all above board mate - will try and dig my survey out, although knowing me i probably binned it

 

Depends if what they are complaining about sounds realistic. nt

 

damp coursing and timber treatment i think. bit of outside rendering on the kitchen and a missing slate on the kitchen roof. thing is - its quite an old house so i thought you were supposed to expect a little bit of damp / wear and tear.

 

Have they explained what the problems are at all? It could be ligitimate, they could have had a more intensive survey. Who knows? If you've had loads of interest though and you want the asking price. Hold on for it.

 

Different surveyors will come up with different stuff. Could well be fair comment by the sound of it. If their surveyor has come up with that then I suppose they think they need &pound;2K to spend straight away. Depends on whether you want to tough it out and risk losing the sale.</p>

 

wherever there's damp, say it's a 'wet room' . People pay more for that kind of thing.

 

Different surveyors acting for different parties will find different problems. The one doing it for you wouldn't really look in depth but the one doing it for the buyer will dig a lot deeper and bring up petty things, in an attempt to get their client money off. How long did it take to find a buyer? If it wasn't long then just tell them you aren't giving them anything off and if they don't like it put it back on the market.

 

cheers guys - was on the market for 2 weeks and sold for nearly 15 grand over the asking price, i think there were 7 closed bids on it. they have spent on the searches, surveys now so i guess they wont want to back out.

 

the wet room idea sounds a good one

i might just negotiate with them and offer them 3 nintendo wii's - what do you think?

 

Thing is if you gave them 2k off they wouldn't even get the works done, so they'd be saving it in their pocket. I'm an estate agent in Islington and when people ask for money off, they don't even get the works done!!!

 

aye thats what i was thinking - i think i might say i won't give them anything and then if they get a bit arsey knock off 500 quid?

 

and you're haggling over &pound;2K, greedy ....... !

 

Damp proofing seems to come standard on all surveys. Ignore it.

If its something major that the building society say must be fixed before they will give a mortgage then sure, it needs doing, but this sort of stuff is piddling, the mortgage company might put a retention on the amount they can borrow but they'll just have to make up the difference themselves.

 

be carefull you read the small print!

most surveys are non-intrusive....... in other words they are only visual surveys and thus do not necessarily pick up hidden problems i.e. beneath floor boards, structural problems where no signs of cracking etc.

They are expensive and if nothing is found, a surveyor may find himself padding out his report with minor items and preventive steps for potential problems.

If things such as damp are not picked up in the survey then you may have some come back, as signs are often visual. But in saying that each case is different.

Personally I would only have the basic one done unless you are completely clueless about building/constrution as most things picked up in a survey are "common sense items" that most people would pick up e.g. musty smell, damp patches/mould on walls would indicate damp, cracking on walls/ceilings would indicate possible structural problems or settlement etc etc... you could make you own notes and research problems!

 

hehe

the mrs wants to take money out of the sale to go to australia - not that im complaining

 

Sometimes the owners will offer to pay for half the works but I wouldn't recommend it because it will never get done. What I'd do is offer them nothing and if it looks like they are really really going to pull out offer them the £500. Instead of offering them money off if they are being arsey I'd go back to the person who offered the second highest amount, in the sealed bids, and ask them if they'd be willing to match the highest offer and not negotiate on the price cos of the survey. Your estate agent will make all the hard phone calls for you, thats why we come across as wnakers, but deep down we only advice the home owners what to do!

 

Timber treatment/ Damp Proof treatment. A tradesmans favourite, a lot of expense and you'll never know if its working or not. Tell 'em to phuq off. They are acting the reluctant buyer in a bouyant market. Wheres the house in Walkley btw?

 

Cundy Street mate