why is'nt buying a house like buying a car?
Discussion
just about to exchange contracts on new house..looked fine.sent a surveyor round.
his words..."i am suprised it is still standing"
and "its the house that jack built"...
so, approx £12000 later i realise that its a shed.
f***hell!
my view is that prior to any vendor offering any property for sale the equivalent of an mot cert should be obtained..that is before people like me invest time and money attempting to buy...
whilst i know mot 's are'nt often worth the paper they are written on , at least it gives me the impression that car has been indepent'ly assessed.
also, when buying a car , you meet the owner...
personally i think with your gut feeling about vendor/perusal of service history and viewing/driving the thing one can have a good idea re wether or not you'd buy the thing..
NOT SO WITH HOUSES....
why not. ....
why is'nt there a "service history"with property
ie "i've had this done by so and so and this done by what's his name...
really frustrating...
his words..."i am suprised it is still standing"
and "its the house that jack built"...
so, approx £12000 later i realise that its a shed.
f***hell!
my view is that prior to any vendor offering any property for sale the equivalent of an mot cert should be obtained..that is before people like me invest time and money attempting to buy...
whilst i know mot 's are'nt often worth the paper they are written on , at least it gives me the impression that car has been indepent'ly assessed.
also, when buying a car , you meet the owner...
personally i think with your gut feeling about vendor/perusal of service history and viewing/driving the thing one can have a good idea re wether or not you'd buy the thing..
NOT SO WITH HOUSES....
why not. ....
why is'nt there a "service history"with property
ie "i've had this done by so and so and this done by what's his name...
really frustrating...
Oh I could write a book on this....
The government is actually proposing something along these lines with the Seller's Pack that they are insisting will be compulsory for any residential sale
The idea is that the seller will have a survey done before they sell and that survey will be available for any purchaser
It's a great idea but there are some serious problems. The surveyor's PI insurers don't want the surveyor to have liability to any and every potential buyer, the buyer does not have a choice who carries out the survey, surveys are a snapshot at a particular moment in time and go out of date, to save cost most sellers are going to have a minimum survey carried out...
The list goes on.
On the other hand we could discuss cars; clocking, bad repairs, cut-and-shut jobs, insurance write offs being passed off as pristine models
Ultimately the concept is "buyer beware"
I used to do ad hoc lectures on property law to business students and they could not believe that under UK law sellers were not responsible if they sold an absolute lemon to some unsuspecting buyer
Until that changes anything else is just tinkering around the edges
The government is actually proposing something along these lines with the Seller's Pack that they are insisting will be compulsory for any residential sale
The idea is that the seller will have a survey done before they sell and that survey will be available for any purchaser
It's a great idea but there are some serious problems. The surveyor's PI insurers don't want the surveyor to have liability to any and every potential buyer, the buyer does not have a choice who carries out the survey, surveys are a snapshot at a particular moment in time and go out of date, to save cost most sellers are going to have a minimum survey carried out...
The list goes on.
On the other hand we could discuss cars; clocking, bad repairs, cut-and-shut jobs, insurance write offs being passed off as pristine models
Ultimately the concept is "buyer beware"
I used to do ad hoc lectures on property law to business students and they could not believe that under UK law sellers were not responsible if they sold an absolute lemon to some unsuspecting buyer
Until that changes anything else is just tinkering around the edges
I agree with billsnemesis. It has always struck me that someone is willing to pay £200 to have a £30000 car inspected but not £500 for a homebuyers survey for a £300000 house. (I am assuming that your house was large/in a problem area/of special construction type hence the hike)
Consider it money well spent (or infact £29000 saved). Sellers packs are on their way (who knows when but soon) that should take some of the uncertainty out of the process.
You could try and knock hom down £30k or probably just move onto the next one.
Consider it money well spent (or infact £29000 saved). Sellers packs are on their way (who knows when but soon) that should take some of the uncertainty out of the process.
You could try and knock hom down £30k or probably just move onto the next one.
thanks again..
i've moved on.
surveyor's report is now with me...
main problems are
1. that one of the upstairs bedrooms is collapsing onto entrance porch.
2.walls have been plastered in some waterproof stuff but structure underneath is sodden...all over house.
3.upvc windows have been fitted to replace timber sash ones so if some idiot from the conservation area gets the nod, they'll ALL have to come out..
4.he mentions the word "bodge " and "shoddy" in at least 8 areas.
5.AND THIS IS THE BIGGY....
the main walls of the property are "spreading", the weight of the roof is causing this and the options for repair....
either put a brace in between the two so to pull them back together but this would be at nose height throughout the main living area.....
OR....TAKE THE ENTIRE ROOF OFF...AND REPLACE WITH A NEW ONE WITH ITS OWN BRACING.......
now.....spoke to the agent...one of this countries posh ones..and i have emailed this to them...
they think i am still going to proceed...
"these surveyors always find problems...etc.etc."
W..t the F..k!
to my untrained eyes this proerty had "charm".
little did i know.
we need protection from this kind of thing.
properties should be independently checked prior to going on the market..
then the everyone knows what they are dealing with .
and would make this whole procedure a synch
instead of a nightmare.
ps .have found an amazing flat instead...
went there today....floors a bit wobbly....
get the surveyor in again?????
i've moved on.
surveyor's report is now with me...
main problems are
1. that one of the upstairs bedrooms is collapsing onto entrance porch.
2.walls have been plastered in some waterproof stuff but structure underneath is sodden...all over house.
3.upvc windows have been fitted to replace timber sash ones so if some idiot from the conservation area gets the nod, they'll ALL have to come out..
4.he mentions the word "bodge " and "shoddy" in at least 8 areas.
5.AND THIS IS THE BIGGY....
the main walls of the property are "spreading", the weight of the roof is causing this and the options for repair....
either put a brace in between the two so to pull them back together but this would be at nose height throughout the main living area.....
OR....TAKE THE ENTIRE ROOF OFF...AND REPLACE WITH A NEW ONE WITH ITS OWN BRACING.......
now.....spoke to the agent...one of this countries posh ones..and i have emailed this to them...
they think i am still going to proceed...
"these surveyors always find problems...etc.etc."
W..t the F..k!
to my untrained eyes this proerty had "charm".
little did i know.
we need protection from this kind of thing.
properties should be independently checked prior to going on the market..
then the everyone knows what they are dealing with .
and would make this whole procedure a synch
instead of a nightmare.
ps .have found an amazing flat instead...
went there today....floors a bit wobbly....
get the surveyor in again?????
Housebuying is a real sod in this country indeed. I wish we had the Scottish idea, once accepted, the buyer cannot just withdraw for no reason, neither can the seller..
IN this country we have had a seller just withdraw the property from the Market, we have had a seller (a few weeks prior to exchange, having had the survey done) just sell it to a cash buyer....
Billsnemesis - Unless they deliberately conceal a fault though?!?!
IN this country we have had a seller just withdraw the property from the Market, we have had a seller (a few weeks prior to exchange, having had the survey done) just sell it to a cash buyer....
Billsnemesis - Unless they deliberately conceal a fault though?!?!
pneumothorax said:
now.....spoke to the agent...one of this countries posh ones..and i have emailed this to them...
they think i am still going to proceed...
"these surveyors always find problems...etc.etc."
The key thing to keep in mind when dealing with the Estate Agent is that they're the sellers agent. That said, they're looking out for themselves only. Not only did we have to deal with the normal agent/leech but the people selling th house are both agents. Nightmare. Deal's done now but way more stressful than it needs to be.
Surveyor's reports always paint the darkest picture, they have to. We've recently exchanged on a property in London - went with a full structural survey. Once we read it through I actually spoke to the surveyor about the main points he brought up and asked him his opinion on the offer on the house. It looked serious but his opinion was it wasn't worth haggling over them as they're normal for the age of house.
Sounds like you've escaped a real money-pit of a property. Basically you have to make sure your investment is worth what you're paying so get a decent survey every time. £1200 seems a bit steep though, think ours was only £800 minus a chunk from the mortgage company (they paid the valuation portion)...
iaint said:
it wasn't worth haggling over them as they're normal for the age of house. ....
The classic was the 'Home Buyers Survey' done by some potential buyers of our old house. It stated "the building would not meet current building regulations"....well, what a bl**dy surprise that was considering the house was built in 1924.
Golden rules, a) get a good surveyor (get a recommendation) b) get a full structural done (others are just about pointless c) be prepared to ignore some of the things they will pick up on.Just focus on the major items.
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