The nervous wait to exchange....

  • Thread starter Thread starter noj
  • Start date Start date
Currently going though the selling/buying process and come to a bit of a speed bump....

Our vendors have come back and said they've dont have the installation/testing certificates for the complete electrical rewire and gas fire install that they've had done (2011 onwards). Now I dont yet know if its just a solicitor mixup, but it would also appear they're saying they cant remember who they used for the work, so cant obtain copy certificates and I've checked the relevant bodies (LA, NICEIC, Gas Safe, Corgi) and they dont have any of the work registered either.

Vendors solicitor have suggested they provide an indemnity policy (they'll pay for it), but i dont feel this is adequate and want them to provide test certificates (or equivalent reports) even if that means they need to pay to get the installs tested again, seeing as they have no proof either install was previously tested as per legal requirements.

Question is - Am I being unreasonable in expecting them to fund this additional testing? In my opinion they've been negligent by a) Not retaining the original install/test certificates, b) Not chasing up their tradesmen to ensure the installs were registered as per legal requirements.
 
Last edited:
scorza said:
Just trying to offer you a bit of hope fella by passing on what I've read in the papers and heard on the radio...
Click to expand...

It's a proper "2 sides of the fence" situation. Currently while trying to buy house prices rising is screwing us over. However, as soon as we own a house, I want house prices to be shooting through the roof at the fastest rate possible :p

Burned_Alive said:
Currently going though the selling/buying process and come to a bit of a speed bump....

Our vendors have come back and said they've dont have the installation/testing certificates for the complete electrical rewire and gas fire install that they've had done (2011 onwards). Now I dont yet know if its just a solicitor mixup, but it would also appear they're saying they cant remember who they used for the work, so cant obtain copy certificates and I've checked the relevant bodies (LA, NICEIC, Gas Safe, Corgi) and they dont have any of the work registered either.

Vendors solicitor have suggested they provide an indemnity policy (they'll pay for it), but i dont feel this is adequate and want them to provide test certificates (or equivalent reports) even if that means they need to pay to get the installs tested again, seeing as they have no proof either install was previously tested as per legal requirements.

Question is - Am I being unreasonable in expecting them to fund this additional testing? In my opinion they've been negligent by a) Not retaining the original install/test certificates, b) Not chasing up their tradesmen to ensure the installs were registered as per legal requirements.
Click to expand...

Nope. Electrical systems should be tested regularly (10 years for owner occupied I think) and its recommended you get then tested when selling too. If it was a routine check then you could argue either side should pay for it, but as it needs to be done due to the vendors not being able to verify the work they had done only 5 years ago I would absolutely push for them to fund it.

If you can't get any movement on it though, pay for it yourself. How much is an electrical inspection?
 
always4lora said:
i'm looking at a couple of houses on Monday, as i'm currently living at home with the parents and not bought a house for such a long time what kinda of questions should i be asking and what should i be looking for?
the House i'm more interested in is this one: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-34414503.html
Click to expand...

Nobody is going to be rushing to buy that because it has comedy levels of decoration.

It was also previously listed : £97.5K
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-pr...l?prop=30721887&sale=52030616&country=england

Physically the house looks OK, just knock off £5K to rip out her awful "improvements".
Never give women too much money to decorate with, almost none of them have a clue.
 
Burned_Alive said:
Currently going though the selling/buying process and come to a bit of a speed bump....

Our vendors have come back and said they've dont have the installation/testing certificates for the complete electrical rewire and gas fire install that they've had done (2011 onwards). Now I dont yet know if its just a solicitor mixup, but it would also appear they're saying they cant remember who they used for the work, so cant obtain copy certificates and I've checked the relevant bodies (LA, NICEIC, Gas Safe, Corgi) and they dont have any of the work registered either.

Vendors solicitor have suggested they provide an indemnity policy (they'll pay for it), but i dont feel this is adequate and want them to provide test certificates (or equivalent reports) even if that means they need to pay to get the installs tested again, seeing as they have no proof either install was previously tested as per legal requirements.

Question is - Am I being unreasonable in expecting them to fund this additional testing? In my opinion they've been negligent by a) Not retaining the original install/test certificates, b) Not chasing up their tradesmen to ensure the installs were registered as per legal requirements.
Click to expand...

100% get them to pay to get it tested. Smells as being a potential dodgy install tbh!
 
bitslice said:
Nobody is going to be rushing to buy that because it has comedy levels of decoration.

It was also previously listed : £97.5K
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-pr...l?prop=30721887&sale=52030616&country=england

Physically the house looks OK, just knock off £5K to rip out her awful "improvements".
Never give women too much money to decorate with, almost none of them have a clue.
Click to expand...


Yeh decoration is certainly different. the bathroom didn't look as bad as the photos but not my idea of decent decorating. Looked around it yesterday, the house itself is quite decent for the money.. quiet area, reasonable parking, nice bit of garden and so on. There's a few issues that i'm getting someone to look at with me when i view it again on friday...
noticeable issues are the chimney breast walls are damps, looking at the chimney the lead where the chimney meats the roof is ends at that point and not bent round onto the roof so the water will run down and into the house.
Boiler is from 2003 so will likely need replacing, the fuse box is pretty much brand new however the plug sockets look old so likely not rewired/freshend up anytime recently. Will see what the verdict is on friday, knock the cost of the house and put an offer on the back of it.
 
Despite the best efforts of my solicitor to really slowly everything down as much as possible.. I've exchanged.

Jeez. I'm not even selling anything and I need a holiday. I feel for you guys.
 
Got our Building Condition Survey back from the surveyor. Doesn't make for great reading.

Lots of issues with damp in the fireplaces and a few other areas, flat roof to be replaced (20m² but we knew this already), render and re-pointing needed to approx 60% of property, new windows (some cracked, some rotten), some movement where extension meets original building (built 1905).

We knew there would be a lot of work on the cosmetic side internally but now there's even more than we expected. I'm tempted to make a lower offer as we really like the house but I doubt the owner will accept it.

We are renting until end of August and not seen anything come on the market for the past 2 months that we like. Not sure I want to start the process again.
 
Actually thought it was a bargain at the listed price as not seen this style house on at such a low price. The survey result could be why. I'd want a 20% price reduction and I can't see the vendor agreeing to that. They wouldn't consider anything below asking when I made my first offer.
There's also the amount of time it would take to complete the works. We allowed about 3 months to do what we wanted but looks like to will either be longer or cost more.

Arranged viewings on 3 other places already and me and the better half will have chat tonight.
 
I've always found the reports to make worse reading than some of the issues are, they have to do that so they don't get sued if you uncover an issue that they didn't spot. That's why they use words such as "may, should, looks to be, further inspection required...." And stipulate that they do not lift up carpets or do invasive tests etc...

That said it should not be completely ignored, but taken under advisement, But please do make your own mind / opinion about it. Fortunately I'm surrounded by structural engineers who are able to calm down the somewhat more extreme language.

Unless you buy a new build you will find that most surveys probably read the same way!

Though this is anecdotal.
 
My missus' dad has a good idea on this sort of thing being in the trade so he's looking over the survey as I type. Her sister and brother in law have an old house and seen similar problems (but they have the money to correct them).

I'm aware of the covering your back policy they use but the photos and observations don't fill me with confidence. They picked up on things I never noticed the 2 times I've been in as I think I may have been a bit too keen on the place.
 
Had my mortgage offer agreed today, valuation was done yesterday. Very quick turnaround. I have been in this situation before and still had my purchase fall through twice so still not putting all my eggs in one basket.

Having spoken to the agents they are happy with how quick i have done things, guess its up to the solicitors and vendors now not to balls this up!

Regarding surveys, having had one done on the first house purchase that fell apart, it was probably the cause of it falling through. If you want a house really bad then i would be hesitant to have one - its only going to put you off the purchase, or cause arguments. The way the housing market is here in London im not going to bother with one now as i do need to move asap and don't want anything to hold it up.
 
Our Survery came back with lots of reds and ambers and made me panic. But a mates dad who is a Surveyor checked it over and put us at ease, and when you read it through properly most of it is stuff that easily fixed or not even an issue (few points about the condition of the kitchen which we are replacing anyway, etc). Its still scary to open up the first page and see all those bad looking colours though :eek:.

So after pulling out of their purchase last Friday, we had a call yesterday from the Estate Agent saying our sellers have had an offer accepted on a property so were all go again now. :)
 
After speaking to my partners dad, he says a lot of it is easy to rectify. He has concerns about the damp course though and the extensions that have been added over the years (and blocked the air bricks as a result).
He thinks we should stick with it though but I'm still going to see about getting a reduction in price.
Will wait until we get mortgage valuation back.
 
I think the current owners are greedy. Lovely period house but needs so much work doing that it might become a money pit. Offer accepted at 240k. Doubt they will accept 210k.

The 2 I viewed this morning were great sizes in quiet areas. Modernisation needed but thats not a problem. Might be starting this whole process again....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom