What to do.... House sale problems

[Vron]

Hi,

Had the house on market since Sept 09. It is a cottage c200 years old and thus solid walled and the usual cottagey things. Priced £265K at EA's recommendation with a view to getting just under SD @ £250K. It sold in 6 days for £249 then fell through on a 3 1/2 hour homebuyers survey that according to then buyer was a 32 page list of 'faults'. They never showed me the report but some of the things they said on the phone were literally laughable e.g no smoke detector and loft insulation doesn't meet current building regs. The Surveyor at the time said the house was fine and nothing you wouldn't expect in a 200 year old house.

Roll on to now - 17 viewings another offer (priced now at £229950) accepted at £215K. Valuation and Homebuyers survey according to EA fine no retainer but mentions some damp downstairs. Buyer asks for copy of damp guarantee this morning and 1/2 hour after my Solicitor faxes it I get a call to say theyre pulling out - no reason given.

I bought in 2007 (at £224K from £250k so already losing out financially) and had a structural survey which highlighted some damp - described as very minor and to re-plaster etc to 1 metre next time I decorated which I did because the house was spiky aretex on all the internal walls so I had them all re-plastered. I agree there is some damp downstairs but its not major and in my view doesn't warrant the removal of plaster and dpc injecting etc.

So, I am wondering which way to go. My EA seems to be of the opinion I should get the whole house DPC'd again. Obviously I would rather just reflect in the price and move on as as said previously its really not that bad (especially at £215K from £265K !!!) but a damp meter will show damp. The walls don't feel damp to the touch and it is a 200 year old house!


Advice appreciated. I start my new job in June and was hoping to have moved by now.

[birdcage]

Rent it?

[Vron]

I am considering that as a last resort really as I will be moving 40 miles away with my job so don't really want it round my neck.

[mk1fan]

Hang in there.

I know a buyer pull out of a house sale because the seller refused to knock £20k of the agreed price becuase the buyer didn't like the year old kitchen and wanted to replace it.

Generally people are stupid. As you say it's a 200-year old house and that 'history' comes with positives and negatives. Keep pushing the positives.

[Wacky Racer]

You have my sympathies......

Been there, done that.

All you can do is hang in there....the hardest part when selling an old house (imo) is not actually finding a buyer, but passing the survey.....The surveyor naturally wants to cover his back.

Selling a house is (usually) a fking nightmare.....

[Engineer1]

How about getting a surveyor to look your house over? it will cost you a little bit but if the surveyor says there are issues you now either know about them and can say yes that is reflected in the price or if the rectification is cheap enough you can do it before the sale. Also get the gas checked and a sparky round to check the electrics both of which if passed and certified show there are no problems.
These suggestions may cost you some money but could improve the saleability.

[Vron]

Thanks its already too cheap at £215K (the EA told me not to go below £230K) but the buyers were in rented with a large deposit so I thought I would make an exception - their opening offer was £205k!. I am hoping to get more feedback tomorrow. The irony is the Surveyor had been and surveyed the house in 1987 and had even got the brochure (£67K!) and he said it was worth the money (I should bloody well hope so at £215K!)

[Vron]

Engineer1 said:

How about getting a surveyor to look your house over? it will cost you a little bit but if the surveyor says there are issues you now either know about them and can say yes that is reflected in the price or if the rectification is cheap enough you can do it before the sale. Also get the gas checked and a sparky round to check the electrics both of which if passed and certified show there are no problems.
These suggestions may cost you some money but could improve the saleability.

I had a full survey when I bought it in 2007 and the house has been drastically improved since then - new kitchen / bathroom replastered new floors etc. The house is already down from £265K to £230K and the accepted offer was £215K so I think that more than justifies a bit of damp proof work at some point in the future by the buyer.

The boiler is serviced anyway and is a fairly new combi, haven't done the electrics but that's not been mentioned as a problem.

[grumbledoak]

"Reflect in the price", or wait. It isn't going to "cost in" to pay for someone else's speculative works- as the buyer, it should be their risk.

[Mojocvh]

Vron said:

I am considering that as a last resort really as I will be moving 40 miles away with my job so don't really want it round my neck.

Life indeed can be hard at times.................

[Vron]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

The price I paid was a reflection of the state of the house at the time - it had been lived in by 2 pensioners with their 5 dogs and was frankly a total dump but I like a project. I have completely renovated the house and I know I won't get those costs back as the market has dipped but looking at comparables nearby (which is not easy as its nearly all 1980's bungalows!) it is priced very very competetively at £230K. Infact, there are no other houses under £230K within 1 mile on Rightmove. The offer I accepted was already £15K down on the revised asking and all the EA's I had round to value said put it on at £265 with a view to getting £250K so basically none of them can value the house?

I know the damp will be a pain to fix from a mess and inconvenience point which is why I am not doing it and am reflecting in the price. It has been valued at £215K with the damp by both the Valuation and the Homebuyer Surveyor.

[Vron]

Mojocvh said:

Vron said:

I am considering that as a last resort really as I will be moving 40 miles away with my job so don't really want it round my neck.

Life indeed can be hard at times.................

Yes I have better things to do than have to make an 80 mile round trip after I have finished work because the Tenant rings up to say the washing machine's bust or something. You only have to read the horror stories on Landlord Zone and suchlike to be put off renting your house out.

[birdcage]

Vron said:

Mojocvh said:

Vron said:

I am considering that as a last resort really as I will be moving 40 miles away with my job so don't really want it round my neck.

Life indeed can be hard at times.................

Yes I have better things to do than have to make an 80 mile round trip after I have finished work because the Tenant rings up to say the washing machine's bust or something. You only have to read the horror stories on Landlord Zone and suchlike to be put off renting your house out.

My property is on London where I live but do have one in Brighton, I have visited once in 7 years and a trusted agent does the rest...Stuff does go wrong as it will but it certainly isn't me they call.

[Si 330]

You need to remove this figure of £265K from your mind as you were hoping to achieve £250K both clearly not achievable in present market or condition of property. If you want to achieve the maxs price get the problems resolved if the surveys say it needs new DPC don't dismiss it either get it fixed or price with reflection and highlighted fact don't wait for surveyor to flag it up then your just open to a price drop.

[anonymous-user]

Why not get the damp sorted out. It might not seem that bad to you but it's clearly putting other people off? Most people probably don't want the hassle of having to do it themselves, they imagine it might be a much bigger job than you or the surveyor tells them.

[Vron]

Si 330 said:

You need to remove this figure of £265K from your mind as you were hoping to achieve £250K both clearly not achievable in present market or condition of property. If you want to achieve the maxs price get the problems resolved if the surveys say it needs new DPC don't dismiss it either get it fixed or price with reflection and highlighted fact don't wait for surveyor to flag it up then your just open to a price drop.

The figure of £265 is long gone I was never expecting that. My hopes were raised when it went under offer at £249 after only 6 days but I have been totally flexible on price otherwise I wouldn't have accepted £215K. I truly believe at £215K the house is a bargain - there is nothing else in this area at that price and that has ben demonstrated by both the valuation and full survey the buyers commissioned coming in at £215K in current condition with no retainer.

I can't help people panicking over the survey - it is a 200 year old house after all, they aren't even coming back to renegotiate. The other issue is if I have the DPC done it takes 1 month for every 25mm of brick to dry out so basically the rest of the year is gone before I could try to re-decorate and sell it again.

As I reiterated before the damp isn't bad i.e the wallpaper isn't falling off and there's no mould etc, the house looks in showroom condition but it shows on a meter. It could easily be lived with for several years before having to do the work.

[Jasandjules]

In your shoes I'd be inclined to:

1. Get a survey done
2. Fix the damp if your surveyor says it needs to be done.

Then you price the house according to it's value.

IF there is a damp problem then people will pull out because they are stupid, and because they will think that if you haven't fixed it before sale then it will be a very difficult thing to fix.....

[anonymous-user]

Vron said:

As I reiterated before the damp isn't bad i.e the wallpaper isn't falling off and there's no mould etc, the house looks in showroom condition but it shows on a meter. It could easily be lived with for several years before having to do the work.

That's your view though, isn't what matters what the buyer/surveyor thinks. Why not just get it sorted?

[JR]

What's causing the damp? Is the damp in the wall only? Is it penetrating the solid walls? I get the feeling that another DPC may not address the problem.

[Vron]

Spoken to another EA today and he has said basically I have to draw the line and tell buyers it is what it is and at £215K its well worth the money and they either take it or leave it.

He told me he has had a house fall through 4 times that is advertised as needing a rewire, offers accepted, survey says needs re-wire, buyers pull out. In his view its over zelaous Surveyors in the current market.

If I ever hear back from my lost buyers I am going to ask if I can buy the Survey from them and see what is says. I have to point out that I used to be a Surveyor for Rentokil and there is a DPC guarantee with Rentokil but the problem really is minor but a damp meter will pick it up and thats what the Surveyors are focusing on.