Buying a house - First time buyer

Hello, we've had the damp survey done now - £800 roughly.



Not brilliant but the house IS over 100 years old. Problem - we can't ask for any money off the house as we would need to get a new mortgage and under the new rules it is VERY unlikely we would be able to buy a house. HELP!

 

Ask them to get the damp course done before you complete and you'll still pay the price you agreed.

 

The mortgage we have is for THAT house at THIS price, we can't change as it would mean processing a new mortgage application. I think our only choice is to get them to do the work before we move in.

 

They might want you to Exchange, with Completion conditional on the work having been done. I would! as otherwise they could have the work done and there would be no requirement for you to actually Exchange & Complete.

Probably a negotiating point for you anyway. "We will Exchange on the basis that XXX work is done before Completion", as far as the Seller is concerned the house is basically sold.

 

Mortgage aside, couldn't the balance of the work needed to be done be a cash payment between yourselves?

 

I did suspect as much.

Prices of similar houses in my village are increasing by £2,000 a month! You need to decide whether to risk buying this property that may well have further remedial/disruption costs and make a judgement based on what will happen if your financial circumstances change (both buying and subsequently selling).

 

I would just buy the property and then pay the £800 cost ... but that's me.

I think if the seller were to give you an £800 refund that might be construed as artificially inflating the selling price to get a higher mortgage, so to speak ... Probably some pitfall ...

Were there any fixtures and fittings you had planned to buy (that seller could "throw in"). The wood burning stove??

 

That's the only choice we have really. We've sent to info to the estate agent to pass on to the seller, let them sweat a bit. Am I right in thinking they should be paying for it all/mostly?

@Scrungee yes you were correct. Does £800 sound about right? How much do you think about redoing the decor on top? Any other secret costs?

Thanks All!

 

No idea these days. I retired early and abandoned such stuff many years ago.

 

I'd say its down to you. You can negotiate that you assumed the price of the property was "fault free" and now you have found faults that need fixing, and they may pay / meet you half way / tell you to get lost. The longer you take before you exchange the more likely that someone else does, or the estate agent tells them that the market has risen and they should increase their price.

If you are confident that they won't accept a new buyer then you can negotiate whatever you would like to have a shot at but there is a risk that it falls though, and then you are out of pocket for all the profession fees to date.

Were you going to do that anyway? or was their decor spot-on for you? If it was spot-on (and presumably you would have already danced a jig in their living room on that point, so that they will know it?? then that is a negotiating point "Of course we love your decor, so having this work done means we are going to incur the extra cost of having to redecorate"

If you were going to redecorate anyway, or didn't already tell them you love their decor, then expect to be told to "get lost" on that point!