Did a house survey and now you feel like you made a mistake? Worry not as we take you through a point-to-point process to renegotiate the prices after conducting survey. It is common to find unexpected issues when you thoroughly inspect the house you want to buy. However, it becomes problematic when you have to deal with those issues by yourself when they weren’t your headache in the first place. So let’s explore what options you can opt for to resolve such issues.
Things to Consider Before Deciding to Renegotiate
You need to consider some factors before deciding whether it is best for you to consider renegotiation or not.
- Severity of the problems identified in the survey.
- If you can fix the issue yourself.
- Whether you’re still happy to make the purchase or not.
Major Issues That Require You to Renegotiate
It’s important to understand that not all issues that you may find in the survey demand renegotiation as they are mostly cosmetic and easily fixable. However, there are several issues that cannot be ignored such as:
- Asbestos
- Drainage
- Insulation
- Dampness
- Roof issues
- Lack of planning
- No carbon monoxide or smoke detectors
- Lack of safety analysis for electrical systems
Who Do You Renegotiate a House Offer With?
If you’re not satisfied enough to make a purchase and consider renegotiation, then first you need to know who to discuss the matter with. Although, discussing directly with seller is always preferable, it’s not often possible. Therefore, if discussion with seller is out of the question then it is better to contact estate agent involved in the process.
Communicate your concerns and provide him the survey report as well so that he can pass on these details to seller. The agent then can share the seller’s response and how he wants to proceed with the survey details. Another party you can share your concerns with are conveyancers as they can give legal advice and let you know whether renegotiation is possible or not.
Proceeding With Renegotiations: How to Do It?
Now when you have decided to proceed with renegotiations, it is best to understand how to navigate through this process.
- First you need to compare the property condition based on survey output with its present market rate. Remember the issues you identify must be important enough to foster renegotiation.
- To make your case stronger, you can calculate the refurbishing costs yourself and share it with your estate agent and conveyancer.
- The seller can ask for additional reports to conduct his own check-up. In such a case, be ready to bargain while being realistic about your demanded price.
- You must be willing to accept the outcome and give your time and energy to renegotiate as it is hard to determine how much time it can take and what the success ratio is.
Special Tips for Post-survey Renegotiations
As it is said before that determining the final output is difficult but you can follow these tips to turn the tables in your favour:
- Research, Research, Research: It is important to minutely and thoroughly conduct survey to identify issues and then conduct proper research with your estate agent and conveyancer to develop proofs that encourage renegotiation.
- Take Second Opinion: If you think that you need more evidence or a cross check on your first survey findings then hire another surveyor as a second opinion.
- Present Your Findings: If you’re satisfied and confident about your findings then present them to the seller with full honesty and transparency.
- Listen to Other Parties: Your estate agent and conveyancers both are experienced in their fields so ask for their advice and pay a heed to it.
- Be Patient: Remember, clear communication with patience is key in any negotiation. Don’t get impatient or aggressive or get ready to ruin the relationship between you and the vendor.
- Be Realistic: It is important to be pragmatic about the market condition and create expectations likewise. You need to be realistic while bargaining to avoid the risk of getting gazumped.
What to Do When the Vendor Doesn’t Negotiate?
There are some options you can still try post survey, if the vendor do not accept the renegotiated offer:
- Try, Try, Again: Don’t always accept the vendor’s ‘No’ as the last word. You can always reach out again with more arguments and evidences to get him to negotiate. A little persuasion and communication is all you need.
- Carry On With Sale: If the vendor doesn’t agree and you still want to buy or rent the house then you can always carry on with the sale but you’ll have to develop a budget to resolve critical problems.
- Pull Out of Sale: In case the damage is off the charts and you don’t want to move on with the sale then you always have the option to pull out as the contracts haven’t been exchanged yet.
Conclusion
Remember renegotiation can be a time-consuming and complex task depending on the problems that may arise during the process. So carefully assess the survey and then wisely choose to go for it following the approach we have described in this post. If you want to acquire comprehensive survey facilities for residential and commercial properties then contact Bidston Draughting Ltd. on 0203 576 1705 or email at info@bidstondraughting.co.uk. Your reliable survey providers are just a call away!