Owning your own home

I would add ‘cut and pasted’ to the list of characteristics

Yeah there's that too. They'll have generic templates for all the different types and classes of properties then it's a case of removing the stuff that's not applicable and adding in anything not covered. Can't really hold that against them, it's an efficient way of doing the written report.

What did annoy me was that none of them could offer any differentiation over the others, their sales patter was literally "I'm qualified, I'm available". I asked one who charged a hefty amount about whether he could provide references or testimonials and I received this as a response:

Most estate agents in Ealing including Sinton Andrews and Grimshaws Know me well , operating in West London over the last 25 years or so.

How persuasive.

It came to light for me because one report I got had a section that made literally no sense, it talked about things that were clearly not there. When I questioned it they coughed to having pasted it in.

Due to exchange on Weds. Buyers coming for a final extra viewing on Tues. Feel a gazundering brewing.

Some of the full buildings reports shared with me had that too.

Buying a home is a remarkably shit process.

Buyers coming for a final extra viewing on Tues. Feel a gazundering brewing.

Meet them at the door, present them with a bottle of Champagne. Problem solved.

Most estate agents know me well

It’s a decent point. It you go back to the agent post survey and say “joe bloggs says this is a problem, and you know joe bloggs isn’t a wind-up merchant” then you are likely to have more luck in any discussion over price or the seller fixing it.

FWIW I have found the best approach to be to get a standard homebuyer survey to identify any areas of concern and then get “experts”/ tradesmen in to investigate those more fully (except damp, which can fuck off)

Patch of damp in the hallway has escalated into needing an entire new roof at a cost of £10k.

FML

Have £500 in my budget for this

Shite. Anything else than can be delayed/sacrificed? Sounds like something I would want fixed while living with something else not done yet.

FWIW I have found the best approach to be to get a standard homebuyer survey to identify any areas of concern and then get “experts”/ tradesmen in to investigate those more fully (except damp, which can fuck off)

This is the conclusion that I came to.

And save a wedge to account for the issues that can’t be identified by surveyor, like the great example above.

It’s a decent point. It you go back to the agent post survey and say “joe bloggs says this is a problem, and you know joe bloggs isn’t a wind-up merchant” then you are likely to have more luck in any discussion over price or the seller fixing it.

This is total conjecture though. The whole point of the chartered system is that they should not be wind up merchants - they are disinterested professionals who will be delivering to well understood standard.

The chummy connection to the EA is basically an anathema to me.

A bathroom?

pretty much, based on this years experience - wouldn't bother with a survey again - lots of writing about damp (durr, peeling wallpaper) and re-doing pointing / repair on crack in external wall (no sign of water ingress, looks like its about 70 years old), no mention of death trap terrace, cracked roof joist, danger beam holding up living room, fucked drain access etc...

just a 38 page document of niggles you'd expect in a property that had been utterly neglected for 30 years...

Our mortgage broker said to us it may take Virgin up to 6 weeks to get out our mortgage offer.

Found this: https://www.ftadviser.com/mortgages/2020/07/21/lenders-reinstate-pre-covid-service-commitment-to-brokers/ which makes it look like theyre still trying to meet pre-covid targets at least, 6 weeks seems insane

FWIW its taken our buyer 8 working days from application to offer including a surveyor attending.

Do you only have one bathroom? Could you get away with a shower room/en suite for a bit until the budget is re-bolstered (assuming one exists or is being installed - not sure of the layout of the new place)?

We had five viewings over the weekend and speaking to the EA this morning, one has offered (but she wouldn't tell me how much for until they had proof of funds - which struck me as odd but it's only a couple of hours wait) and another is "likely to offer". Depending on how much they come in at, we will be making an offer on the fixer upper. To make this ramble relevant, everything needs doing, pretty much. But, it is liveable. The couple live there currently. The only thing we would be prioritizing is making sure everything is safe. Full fat survey then getting a spark in to replace the old fuse box with a newer CU. Following great advice up thread, this might unearth (pun intended), some re-wiring work. So we're not going to start anything major (new kitchen, bathrooms etc), until we know the extent of that. Just scrub up what's already there. The second BR is just a shower room really, and that shower is fucked so out of commission anyway. Planning to rip that out and try doing it myself. But, getting ahead of myself here, haven't had our offers yet.

We've started the process of talking to a mortgage adviser and the estate agent my gf used previously. Meanwhile we've been looking online to see what kind of place we can afford and I think I've spotted the sweatspot of size/location and slightly under budget, but there's no way it'll be around by the time we are able to put offers down. I'm sure we'll find an equivalent at the time but it's just frustrating for now. I should stop looking at rightmove.

sweatspot

Sums up house hunting.

Nah, there's only one bathroom and it needs to be suitable for two small children which = a bath.

I'll have to find the cash for the roof. I guess I will sell a couple of watches.

I'd not both with the survey. Absolute waste of money.

Visit site with a really good builder and get into all the spaces fo the roof, under the stairs etc..

Yeah it's probably best to seriously start looking when you start looking etc. We only viewed 3 places before having an offer accepted, but the nice ones I'd seen sell in the last few weeks of saving I rang the agents and said I'm keen for first refusal. They were happy to take my details. With it being so competitive and the frequency of chains breaking down every little helps I guess.

Also thanks for all the survey chat recently, this has helped me a lot.

I guess I will sell some a couple of watches.

Sympathy....waning....

Still sucks. The fixer upper's serviceable bathroom thankfully has a bath. Just got a message back from the seller (was letting them know our situation and that we're still interested). Apparently likely to be another offer made, but they're keen for it to go to a good home (ie. a family, ie. us). Hopefully won't burn too many bridges with our anticipated low offer to them (5% under asking).

I should stop looking at rightmove.

My sentiments too, at the start its all exciting than after a few calls of oh sorry its sold already the shine starts to wear off!

They leave them on for lead generation. You just have to get on their mailing lists and get stuff that way.

What is it that you are waiting for, do you need to sell somewhere first or just amass the funds? There's no right or wrong way to do it. It's all down to how much you can control your excitement. For me, I was fine to look early as it just gave me more of an idea about what and where I wanted. Also what the different price brackets would give me. But, for ms_com it was torture as she couldn't help getting carried away when she saw somewhere she liked.

Could a survey not have spotted the roof needs rather urgent re-roofing?