Soldato
Surveyors always cover themselves by putting everything that 'might' be an issues down on paper. I have seen lots of stupid reports over the years!
The nervous wait to exchange....
- Thread starter noj
- Start date
My mortgage advisor has offered me a homebuyers survey for £200 but I'm unsure whether to go with this or a full structural (unsure of cost). Am I right in thinking that the homebuyers survey is non-intrusive and will just check what they can see and easily access (i.e. they won't even lift the loft hatch?)
Just wondering what the benefit would be to going full structural in the first instance, as opposed to getting a homebuyers report and then arranging any further, more in depth surveys based on what comes back in the homebuyers.
Cheers guys.
Just wondering what the benefit would be to going full structural in the first instance, as opposed to getting a homebuyers report and then arranging any further, more in depth surveys based on what comes back in the homebuyers.
Cheers guys.
Long time lurker and first time buyer along with my partner. Currently renting a property and after 9 months of searching found a house we liked. Currently on the market for 190 O.I.R.O, they are using an online company to sell. We went in with a low ball offer for 180k to test the water and they came back saying they rejected 185k previously. We offered 185,500 and they came back saying the minimum they would accept would be 187,500 and this was yesterday morning. We really want the house (have a mortgage for that amount agreed in principle and its affordable) so we stuck the offer in immediately. A few hours later we got a message from the seller saying "thanks for the offer I will discuss it with my wife, we are actively looking for a property but the market has dried up recently. I will get back to you". Being new to this it feels horrible having to wait even though we've met what he said they wanted. Just have a sneaky feeling they are going to push for more or are just mucking us around.
Associate
Basically... With the house we are buying I got my brother-in-law, who is a builder, to look at the property, which cost us nothing (well, a few beers sometime
) and I trust his skills to spot things as much as anyone. I did get a quote for a level two (I think it was) which was around £500 and all they do is look... no prodding or poking, and they use binoculars to look at the roof; that sounded like money for old rope to me.We don't need a mortgage, so we were able to make our own choices in this matter.
The chap buying our house had very much the above, which was a guy wandering around with a clipboard for a hour... he did look in the loft though.
Thanks redline, a level 2 survey is a home buyers survey which sounds about right.
I've had some quotes for a full structural survey which are coming back at around £450. I was expecting quotes of double that figure so think, for peace of mind I'll go with a structural survey unless someone tells me it really won't be worth the money.
The house does need some work doing hence me being a little cautious about choosing the right survey.
I've had some quotes for a full structural survey which are coming back at around £450. I was expecting quotes of double that figure so think, for peace of mind I'll go with a structural survey unless someone tells me it really won't be worth the money.
The house does need some work doing hence me being a little cautious about choosing the right survey.
Associate
Go with whatever makes you comfortable and confident about the property. I would never advise someone not to have a survey, even though that is basically what we did in official terms, however, a lot of it is common sense and when you've had a few properties, and been around the block a bit, you know what to look for... also, don't be scared to ask any questions of the vendor, assuming the property is occupied.
During the search that resulted in us buying our new place, we looked at many period properties, including a couple of thatched places and one of timber frame construction... had we gone for any of these I would have sought expert advice, as these would likely require more specialized skills should problems occur down the line. The same goes for location, where ground issues could present themselves... we looked a 1970's bungalow in a stunning location, but it was on a very steep hill, and it had obviously suffered lot of movement, some of which looked recent. Chances are it would be fine, but again, I would want that carefully looking in to.
Well as I suspected, offer got declined and they basically said they can't find anywhere (odd as we only made our offers over the last week so that would be quick if they had!) and assumed we wanted to be in straight away because we rent (we didn't say that at all). And they have decided to take it off the market, sounds like they've bricked it when we've offered the asking price, total time wasters. Back to the drawing board!
Associate
What a shame... some people are just idiots. They lost what seems like the ideal buyer to me: in rented, so no downward chain, mortgage in place, not putting on the pressure for them to get out. If they change their mind in the future they might no be so lucky next time; the sad thing is, its your loss too. I hope something else comes-up soon, although we're entering the dead zone with xmas fast approaching. Having said that, our area has been pretty dead all year, at least for what we were looking for anyway.
It's absolutely gutting. I had a niggling feeling they were messing us around when were putting the offers in. Their loss at the end of the day, like you say we are in no chain and can go at anytime. We've got another two viewings this weekend so fingers crossed and they are 10k cheaper.
Soldato
We actually sold, five years ago and have been in rented since. We have just found the ideal property and are near to exchange. So I see both sides of this, the seller unwilling to go until he has a positive destination and you as a good buyer with all the right attributes. Hopefully you find a place that suits, the market remains flat for people wanting to move up as good properties are still few and far between in many places. Unless you want to buy into a new estate.
Yeah and the worst part is we are very sympathetic to the fact they need to find somewhere, we've told them following them declining that we are more than happy to wait with it being the end of the year but to string us along with offers and the say they want a particular price which was met to then back out just makes you look stupid. We've got another two viewings lined up this weekend, one in the same town and one where we live now which we are still open to living in as it's a nice place. We are in a good position so we just have to stay positive and accept some people will muck us around.
Soldato
Their loss. First house I offered on back in June was on the market for £105,000. I final offered £102,500 which they refused saying they were holding out for asking price.. It''s recently been reduced to £95,000
Surprised they haven't come crawling back to see if I was still looking..
I'm pretty sure our agent, who is one of the biggest in the country, did not break the law... and we did not drop the price
Dear oh dear. Read this:
http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/...ew-14-week-rule-in-portal-juggling-crackdown/
Depending on when this took place, your agent DID break the rules but whatever. Got away with it didn’t they? Jolly good.
Soldato
Who cares!
Soldato
Can't see it applying when you change agents. Also big difference between 6 months and 14 weeks..
Soldato
So still not found out about my buyers mortgage
All legal work is done so once this is done we should move pretty soon after I'm hoping.
So Countrywide came round this morning first thing to do the valuation report for my buyer. Whilst he was there with my wife I got a call from our Agent saying that my buyers are pulling out as he got made redundant last night. Awful situation for them granted but it's hard not to be angry after how slow and how much time they've waste over the past 3months
Luckily we've been doing backup viewings and we have another buyer with no chain wanting to pay the same. My builders (new house that I'm buying) seem to be ok with that but want to put a Completion Deadline on it which I'm fine with. Ours is the last house on a huge estate to complete so they've moved off the site which is probably our saving grace really as no-one else is sniffing around for the house. Completion deadline is the 20th December, we shall see!
I'm never moving house again.
What's the 4th time?