[Help] New house viewing - dilemma

Normal Rob · Jan 27, 2021

We have a second viewing on a house that we are pretty keen on, however we have found out following the first viewing that the roof on the house is in a bad way and will cost c£15k to fix (wife's work colleague is a roofer who worked on the house last year and told them it needed replacing). We can't afford the asking price if we also need to have £15k to spare, so we would offer under.

Now it's likely that the second viewing will be conducted by the homeowner. Should we raise this issue then, or go purely through the estate agent? I'm worried that if we raise it with the owner, they are likely to tell us to 'go away' before they comprehend that this issue would come up in any survey and that any potential buyer would arrive at the same conclusion as us, but probably at a later point.

Chicken Run · Jan 27, 2021

Normal Rob said:
We have a second viewing on a house that we are pretty keen on, however we have found out following the first viewing that the roof on the house is in a bad way and will cost c£15k to fix (wife's work colleague is a roofer who worked on the house last year and told them it needed replacing). We can't afford the asking price if we also need to have £15k to spare, so we would offer under.

Now it's likely that the second viewing will be conducted by the homeowner. Should we raise this issue then, or go purely through the estate agent? I'm worried that if we raise it with the owner, they are likely to tell us to 'go away' before they comprehend that this issue would come up in any survey and that any potential buyer would arrive at the same conclusion as us, but probably at a later point.

Deal with the agent and put everything in an email.

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MattBackHome · Jan 27, 2021

Normal Rob said:
We have a second viewing on a house that we are pretty keen on, however we have found out following the first viewing that the roof on the house is in a bad way and will cost c£15k to fix (wife's work colleague is a roofer who worked on the house last year and told them it needed replacing). We can't afford the asking price if we also need to have £15k to spare, so we would offer under.

Now it's likely that the second viewing will be conducted by the homeowner. Should we raise this issue then, or go purely through the estate agent? I'm worried that if we raise it with the owner, they are likely to tell us to 'go away' before they comprehend that this issue would come up in any survey and that any potential buyer would arrive at the same conclusion as us, but probably at a later point.

If you definitely want to secure it, maybe make the full offer then amend once the survey comes in?

BNthree · Jan 27, 2021

Combination of the 2 posts above. Put an offer in, subject to a survey. Have a survey and the roof should be noticed. Get a quote to repair the roof and then reduce the offer by the price of the work. All done throughout the estate agent. It is what the agent is there for. They'll want the sale so will usually advise the seller to go with it.

Ooh it’s a corner · Jan 27, 2021

Agree the agent is the best way. The other factor if relevant to you is timeframe and Stamp Duty. If beating the Mar 31 deadline is crucial things will need to move fairly swiftly

mwrpoole · Jan 27, 2021

Is it possible they've had the roof done but your wife's work colleague wasn't involved in the work?

I'd speak to the homeowner on the 2nd viewing. I wouldn't mention the roof at all but just say if you go ahead you will have a full survey and is there anything they know about which might show up? They might say - no we had the roof done last year! They might just say No. They might say yes actually the roof needs some work but we've priced the house accordingly. Either way you'd know more about it. Also find out if the homeowner has found somewhere to go or just looking.

Machiavelli · Jan 27, 2021

Ooh it’s a corner said:
Agree the agent is the best way. The other factor if relevant to you is timeframe and Stamp Duty. If beating the Mar 31 deadline is crucial things will need to move fairly swiftly

Good point, but I'd estimate the chance of this being concluded pre-Apr is about 1%. The infrastructure around property sales (surveyors, solicitors, etc) cannot cope with the spike in demand that the Stamp Duty holiday has generated.
In terms of the OP's question, I'd recommend one or both of two things:
-- raise this with the agent, explaining this is why you are submitting a reduced offer
-- offer nearer the asking price, but get a full survey done, raise the issue of the roof with the surveyor, and then you'll be in a better position to reduce your offer once the survey comes in. This will be a negotiation remember, and the owners might not accept what you want.

Gazwag · Jan 27, 2021

Ooh it’s a corner;9706128 said:
Agree the agent is the best way. The other factor if relevant to you is timeframe and Stamp Duty. If beating the Mar 31 deadline is crucial things will need to move fairly swiftly

The government will have to extend this (well hopefully) as estate agents are barred from viewing at the moment under lockdown unless its some way through the transaction, my daughter has been try to sell her flat and the agents say they have people interested but are barred from letting them view.

LamieRobertson · Jan 27, 2021

Make sure they visit when it’s not raining

Live by the sea · Jan 27, 2021

I agree - always go through the agent - unless it’s one of the clueless incompetent online agencies like purple bricks .

Billy the Fish · Jan 27, 2021

BNthree said:
Combination of the 2 posts above. Put an offer in, subject to a survey. Have a survey and the roof should be noticed. Get a quote to repair the roof and then reduce the offer by the price of the work. All done throughout the estate agent. It is what the agent is there for. They'll want the sale so will usually advise the seller to go with it.

Someone tried to do that to me and I told them to piss off!

They had trades coming round to quote for things the survey had shown up, mostly cosmetic and nonessential, and then asked us to knock £15k off the asking price. I dropped £500 as a goodwill gesture and said I'd rather put it back on the market than lower any more. Funnily enough they still bought the house, pretty sure they never did any of the work either and the house is still standing.

It's completely subjective, depends on the market, if it's a good price to start with (mine was), if they're in a rush to sell, how many other people are interested etc.

dejavuatbtn · Jan 27, 2021

Gazwag said:
The government will have to extend this (well hopefully) as estate agents are barred from viewing at the moment under lockdown unless its some way through the transaction, my daughter has been try to sell her flat and the agents say they have people interested but are barred from letting them view.

Wasn’t my understanding of the rules. I thought the house sales process was allowed subject to usual Covid hygiene rules. I suspect that some agents do, and some don’t - which is about par for the way people have utilised the rules to suit their own agendas.

Uncle Spielberg · Jan 27, 2021

The mortgage lender would want the work done before completion and may put a retention on it. If anyone buying now hopes to beat the stamp duty deadline of 31/3 good luck with that one. Possible with a fair wind for a cashbuyer, otherwise do not factor this into your decision and assume you will not beat the deadline. The end of march is going to be very messy and I would not want to be a conveyancer at that time. The process would normally take 3 months even pre covid 19 which has fractured and delayed every part

happypig · Jan 27, 2021

Don't be afraid to walk away.

Normal Rob · Jan 27, 2021

Gazwag said:
The government will have to extend this (well hopefully) as estate agents are barred from viewing at the moment under lockdown unless its some way through the transaction, my daughter has been try to sell her flat and the agents say they have people interested but are barred from letting them view.

Not sure if that's accurate. We have had viewing all through until accepting an offer 10 days ago, and we are seeing houses ourselves now. We did have a couple of estate agents refuse us viewings until we had an offer on ours though, so perhaps this is the situation affecting your daughter?

blockhseagull · Jan 27, 2021

Gazwag said:
The government will have to extend this (well hopefully) as estate agents are barred from viewing at the moment under lockdown unless its some way through the transaction, my daughter has been try to sell her flat and the agents say they have people interested but are barred from letting them view.

Nope no banning of viewings.

I had a further viewing of a house I’ve had an offer accepted on pre Xmas last week.

Some estate agents are only showing buyers round if they already have an accepted offer on their property but there is no ban.

Normal Rob · Jan 27, 2021

Just to address one other area many have mentioned - we have absolutely no expectations of hitting the stamp duty holiday deadline! That ship has sailed.

Thanks for the responses so far - plenty of food for thought.

Official Old Man · Jan 27, 2021

What if another buyer comes along without a survey or a surveyor misses the roof? Would you be inclined to inform the estate agent about the roof and would they in turn tell any new buyer?

happypig · Jan 27, 2021

Uncle Spielberg said:
The mortgage lender would want the work done before completion and may put a retention on it. If anyone buying now hopes to beat the stamp duty deadline of 31/3 good luck with that one. Possible with a fair wind for a cashbuyer, otherwise do not factor this into your decision and assume you will not beat the deadline. The end of march is going to be very messy and I would not want to be a conveyancer at that time. The process would normally take 3 months even pre covid 19 which has fractured and delayed every part

It took us 4 months. Bloke viewed ours in early July, we moved early November. Our buyer was a cash buyer and old lady we bought from was going into a nursing home.
Our buyer was a picky sod and delayed it by about a month though (in the end we had to tell him to exchange contracts within a week or forget it).
No way will it get through by March 31st, even if cash buyers.

Barham's tash · Jan 27, 2021

MattBackHome said:
If you definitely want to secure it, maybe make the full offer then amend once the survey comes in?

100% this route. You’re under no obligation to complete the transaction at this stage and the seller will know this is likely to come up in the survey. Which by the time you’ve got that far they should elect for the path of least resistance which would be negotiating with you rather than starting from scratch.

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