My survey says the property needs X thousand pounds worth of work done
Answer
First of all let's clear up one very common misunderstanding here. Does your survey really say that?
Is there a retention on the valuation?
A surveyor may have put a retention on your valuation - they are saying they agree the property is worth £X but they would only recommend paying £Y until a particular issue is resolved.
This is not an estimate of the costs - it is a much larger amount to cover all eventualities.
The surveyor is not a roofer, damp specialist, plumber, electrician, structural engineer or drainage expert so he or she doesn't know the cost. In fact he or she doesn't even know for sure if there is an issue at all, they are just trained to spot tell tale signs.
Where those tell tale signs are of major concern they play it safe by making the retention a big figure. Only the appropriate specialist can clarify the situation.
So lets take an example where you have offered £200,000 for a house. The surveyor has said he agrees the property is worth £200,000 but he has placed a £40,000 retention on the valuation until the roof is checked out by a specialist.
£40,000 is, in this situation, probably double the cost of a new roof but as the surveyor is not a roofer he can't be accurate and so needs to go high on the retention - a kind of "just in case and then some".
You'll need to organize for a roofer to go round and give their take. They might say (and they often do) everything is fine. They might punt for a bit of work because ... well its a roofing company.
You then send the roofers report to the surveyor and he removes the retention.
On the other hand if the roofer says the current roof has come to the end of its natural life and a new one is needed for £20,000 you can go to the vendor and say "I didn't know about this" and you can see of there is space to renegotiate.
At the same time you forward the report to the surveyor who changes the retention to the real figure of £20,000.
All being well you renegotiate the buying price to £180,000 or somewhere close (remember roofs generally need major work every 20 years so the vendor might not be willing to help you fund all the work!) and you have a survey valuation that will allow you to buy the property.
Has the surveyor simply suggested a cost?
If the surveyor has not put a retention on the valuation then they are saying there may be an issue but they don't see it as large enough to affect the value of the property.
Professional surveyors know that they are not a roofer, damp specialist, plumber, electrician, structural engineer or drainage expert so they won't suggest costs to you for issues they have flagged up. They will know only a specialist can do this.
But not all surveyors are professional ... or they just feel like they are being helpful by giving you a figure. Ignore it.
Get the right specialist into the property to give you the real situation.
To learn more about how to handle surveyors reports the smart way when purchasing a property pick up a copy of my ebook How to Really Buy a Property.
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How to Really Buy a Property
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Property FAQ
- What are the different types of property survey?
- My surveyor has put a retention on the property value
- My survey says the property is overvalued
- What should I do if my survey says the property has a damp problem?
- My survey says the property has problems with the electrics
- What to do if my survey says the property has problems with the roof
- My survey says the property has problems with the plumbing
- My survey says the property has subsidence or structural issues
- My survey says the property needs X thousand pounds worth of work done
- Survey valuation lower than offer, what to do?
- The Survey says the property has subsidence, what to do?
- Should i get a structural survey done?
- What happens if the survey valuation is higher than my offer?
- The property price was £190000 I offered £191000 and accepted the property was showing sold as after survey I lowered my offer to £181000 and provisionally accepted again ,but now it is on market and
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Property Terminology
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- Agreement in Principle
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