I think they did the survey on our house - it's early days to say whether they did a good job! They do seem to have missed a few problems with rotten wood which are still going to come to £2k or so to fix (one of which the vendor pointed out to us), but on the whole they seem to have been quite sharp eyed.
- Thread starter robgil
- Start date
Matt Green
Member
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- 671
Surveyors missing rotten timbers? Surely not. Make sure a surveyor for a house like that has a RICS conservation accreditation at least, if you happen to want/need a survey.
We were asked to put in 'a best and final offer' on our new-house-to-be-as-long-everything-goes-well-fingers-crossed on an informal basis against another potential buyer who also had nothing to sell. Our offer was accepted depite being less than theirs because we said we were aware the joists supporting the dining room floor were rotten and floor sagging because of this and that I wasn't worried about the condition of timbers within the house. I said I reserved the right to negotiate based on a better look and more invasive investigations and opinions from others. The vendors had previously lost a sale after a survey.
Despite putting this is writing, the agents passed on that we were prepared to buy the house in 'as is' condition. They removed all our bargaining power with the vendor and we had to threaten to pull out when they wouldn't budge over the repointing of a chimney (which, being outside my realm of expertise, I was concerned about). We ended up asking the vendor for their 'best and final offer' on the repointing work. Machiavellian, yet satisfying.
We were asked to put in 'a best and final offer' on our new-house-to-be-as-long-everything-goes-well-fingers-crossed on an informal basis against another potential buyer who also had nothing to sell. Our offer was accepted depite being less than theirs because we said we were aware the joists supporting the dining room floor were rotten and floor sagging because of this and that I wasn't worried about the condition of timbers within the house. I said I reserved the right to negotiate based on a better look and more invasive investigations and opinions from others. The vendors had previously lost a sale after a survey.
Despite putting this is writing, the agents passed on that we were prepared to buy the house in 'as is' condition. They removed all our bargaining power with the vendor and we had to threaten to pull out when they wouldn't budge over the repointing of a chimney (which, being outside my realm of expertise, I was concerned about). We ended up asking the vendor for their 'best and final offer' on the repointing work. Machiavellian, yet satisfying.
jocelyn plummer
Member
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- 2,297
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- North Norfolk
I have first hand experience of WCP's services and highly recommend them. I particularly like their willingness to meet with you, on site, for discussions at some point during the survey-- usually after the first hour.
Penners
Member
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- 17,294
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- Suffolk, England
That's the best you can hope for with a structural survey. Surveyors can only form their judgements based on what they can see. And since they can't remove plaster, lift fitted carpets or floorboards, dismantle walls.... and so on, this can sometimes be a severely limiting factor.Hatster said: