The nervous wait to exchange....

  • Thread starter Thread starter noj
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Looks like our hopes are out of the water. I was probably a bit foolish in hoping that we'd get a Spanish mortgage without clearing our existing mortgage, but i guess when you get emotionally attached to a house you lose a bit of logic!

A mate did suggest a loan from his company, but at 300k it's a lot of money and if we had any issues in securing a mortgage on this particular house i'd hate to be unable to pay it back in a decent timeframe.

Back to plan A, of being sensible, waiting till we sell our house. Getting the cash in the bank and only then looking at houses!
 
After years of living in a sub-par terraced rental with 3 kids and a woman I can't stand then months of looking for anything remotely suitable; we had an offer accepted 2 weeks ago and yesterday my mortgage was approved.

All being well on the legal side I'll soon be living in a 3 bed semi with a garden, driveway and garage converted to office & gym with 3 kids and a woman I can't stand :D

Initial impression was the vendor had their heart set on a property with no chain so hopefully we'll see the end of summer in it in time for the boys birthdays. Having some space and separation will hopefully alleviate the pressure cooker aspect of living & working in a small 3 bed terrace as a family of 5. It means a lot to me given I grew up in a rural 3 bed semi that backed onto an open field. This property is similar so having the space to play and make memories will be life changing hopefully. I'll be screwed if I have to start commuting again mind you.
 
EMF survey looks unsurprisingly good. Next hurdle, after doing an intro with the surveyor we'd like to go with (recommended from a friend and has great reviews online) - the agent rang back fairly quickly saying in the vaguest of ways that the owners aren't comfortable with this surveyor. A bit more prying and supposedly the owners know someone who had a bad experience with him. Red flag territory right? I'm going to email again asking for more details as their vagueness is also making us feel uncomfortable. This surveyor did over a supposedly more detailed ISVA Level 2 compared to the RICS traffic light Level 2. So a part of me wonders if either the agent or sellers are weary of the level of detail. But we'd likely find an alternative so the same standard so that theory can be tested fairly quickly.
 
gazref said:
Any experience with concrete sub stations? Ever have an occasion where readings have been "high" or impact resale?
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I can't recall ever doing a concrete sub-station, I've done a few new build sub-stations but the regs on those require them to be shielded so it's never been an issue. The concrete would provide some basic shielding, but nothing spectacular. I'd guess if your more than 5m away the levels would drop to acceptable however unless it was a huge install. I haven't ever measured anything unacceptable at a distance of more than 5m. The furthest away was 4.2m, which was within a data center as they left some cables unshielded and buzz bars were not well shielded at all. But even that was ok from a health point of view as it's non-public facing/non constant working area.

The main thing I believe would impact the resale is normally the perception of "power sub-station near house = bad" when the reality is from a health point of view it's very likely to be irrelevant. I expect the aesthetics or "humm of electrical noise" makes more a difference than anything.
 
doodah said:
EMF survey looks unsurprisingly good. Next hurdle, after doing an intro with the surveyor we'd like to go with (recommended from a friend and has great reviews online) - the agent rang back fairly quickly saying in the vaguest of ways that the owners aren't comfortable with this surveyor. A bit more prying and supposedly the owners know someone who had a bad experience with him. Red flag territory right? I'm going to email again asking for more details as their vagueness is also making us feel uncomfortable. This surveyor did over a supposedly more detailed ISVA Level 2 compared to the RICS traffic light Level 2. So a part of me wonders if either the agent or sellers are weary of the level of detail. But we'd likely find an alternative so the same standard so that theory can be tested fairly quickly.
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The more we think about this, the more weird it sounds with such vague reasoning. Going back to them asking for more detail, sellers don't typically say which surveyor the buyers should go for.
 
doodah said:
The more we think about this, the more weird it sounds with such vague reasoning. Going back to them asking for more detail, sellers don't typically say which surveyor the buyers should go for.
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It does sound very strange... Maybe the sellers have something to hide?
Or maybe they do have reason not to like that particular surveyor but it's a bit of a coincidence they would know the surveyor... I mean how many surveyors does the typical person come into contact with in thier lifetime... Not many...
And why be so vague about not liking them?

Edit.. Is probably got with a level 3 survey anyway tbh as it's not a new build.
 
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mattyfez said:
It does sound very strange... Maybe the sellers have something to hide?
Or maybe they do have reason not to like that particular surveyor but it's a bit of a coincidence they would know the surveyor... I mean how many surveyors does the typical person come into contact with in thier lifetime... Not many...
And why be so vague about not liking them?

Edit.. Is probably got with a level 3 survey anyway tbh as it's not a new build.
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Exactly and the supposed bad interaction/incident wasn't with them but a friend. Just emailed saying, if there is a genuine concern - please let us know. This vagueness isn't enough. Already lined up an alternative that goes into some detail just in case it's something they're hiding.

Edit - so the surveyor we want to go with is ISVA, looking at a Level 2:

The ‘Level 2’ or intermediate survey that I undertake is the ISVA (Independent Surveyors’ and Valuers’ Association) HomeSurvey, as opposed to the RICS Home Survey that you might have heard of. Both are ‘Level 2’ surveys, but the ISVA format is perhaps a little more descriptive/detailed, and it doesn’t use the ‘traffic light’ Condition Rating reporting style that has been adopted in the RICS survey. This ‘traffic light’ system and the somewhat brief reporting style are not universally popular. The ISVA HomeSurvey provides a more concise reporting style than a Level 3 ‘Building Survey’ but is nonetheless a fairly detailed report, based on an estimated inspection time of about 4 hours, in this instance. On average, the report is about 35 pages long and it includes 50+ annotated photographs.
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If we go down the RICS route, will be a Level 3 with the alternative company. It's a 1930s build and we suspect damp or a possible roof leak in the box room (visually - signs of some damp in the corner).
 
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dLockers said:
I'd take it as good advice tbh. If they aren't saying "but use this guy" then it may be well placed.
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I see what you're saying but if they aren't going into any specific detail as to why not it would certainly raise an eyebrow from me.

@doodah ... I though RICS was the main kinda standard but fair enough by the sounds of it. Is certainly not use a surveyor recommended by the agent or seller, for obvious conflict of interest reasons.

If there is a bit of a leak and the house is priced competitively then of course that's not the end of the world but these are things you obviously need to go into with your eyes open. But that's only a question you can answer really by being aware of the local market trends and what things are selling for.
 
Just spoke to the estate agent. No budging, no new information other than they would be happy with any other surveyor/level of detail. Now wondering if it's a delay tactic because the original one indicated a quick turnaround.

I don't like this. He's just rung and I had to tell a fib.
 
Whatever you do, don't be transparent with the surveyor. They could start litigation and dig their heals in against someone slandering them :D
 
dLockers said:
Whatever you do, don't be transparent with the surveyor. They could start litigation and dig their heals in against someone slandering them :D
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Interesting, a colleague is saying the complete opposite. Consider being open, whatever may occur isn't our problem (of sorts).
 
I can't see how it would be slander, it's just he said/she said Chinese whispers.

Either way I'd probably get another independent surveyor if you are worried.

Maybe they don't like that surveyor as they found too many problems, but that's literally the surveyors job,
You have to read between the lines a little bit with surveys as the surveyor will also be covering thier own back incase they miss something or under report the severity of a particular issue.
 
doodah said:
Interesting, a colleague is saying the complete opposite. Consider being open, whatever may occur isn't our problem (of sorts).
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You only need the surveyor to engage a solicitor who then spooks your conveyancer ("do nothing/pause" being the preference than "plow on and hope it works out").
 
mattyfez said:
I can't see how it would be slander, it's just he said/she said Chinese whispers.
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I'm not going to pretend I know the legal ins and outs but something has been said to actively stop this bloke being hired. That is pretty bad - and may be a bias the conveyancer now holds against that surveyor forever more.
 
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Well the solution is quite simple... Just get a different surveyor.

You employ the surveyor to provide a survey for you as a potential purchaser. The contents of the survey are no ones business other than yours and the surveyors.

Estate agents, sellers and conveyancer... Non of thier business unless there's a mortgage involved but the mortgage provider won't really give a crap as long as it's done properly by a suitably qualified surveyor.
 
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mattyfez said:
Well the solution is quite simple... Just get a different surveyor.

You employ the surveyor to provide a survey for you as a potential purchaser. The contents of the survey are no ones business other than yours and the surveyors.

Estate agents, sellers and conveyancer... Non of thier business unless there's a mortgage involved but the mortgage provider won't really give a crap as long as it's done properly by a suitably qualified surveyor.
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100%. I chalk it up to good advice from the seller and crack on.
 
doodah said:
If we go down the RICS route, will be a Level 3 with the alternative company. It's a 1930s build and we suspect damp or a possible roof leak in the box room (visually - signs of some damp in the corner).
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Why bother, surveys are generally a waste of time anyway, you've already given as much or more information that a surveyor will give.

Here's sample survey data for such things:
1. There is possibly some damp/mould, get a specialist contractor in to assess.
2. There may be a roof leak, get a specialist contractor in to assess the roof.
3. In relation to the above, the roof may need replacing in 0.5 - 50 years.
4. The grass is long, we recommend consulting a specialist contractor to see if it can safely be lowered in height.

*We are not liable for anything we say in this report and cannot confirm nor deny anything*
 
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-Ad- said:
Why bother, surveys are generally a waste of time anyway, you've already given as much or more information that a surveyor will give.

Here's sample survey data for such things:
1. There is possibly some damp/mould, get a specialist contractor in to assess.
2. There may be a roof leak, get a specialist contractor in to assess the roof.
3. In relation to the above, the roof may need replacing in 0.5 - 50 years.
4. The grass is long, we recommend consulting a specialist contractor to see if it can safely be lowered in height.

*We are not liable for anything we say in this report and cannot confirm nor deny anything*
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Ha! Ain't that the truth. Definitely take the report within the context of the surveyors remit and liability and not as a detailed description of the property.
 
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