Buyers' survey says walls are sagging

Owlet

Our buyers have just had their structural survey back. The survey apparently indicates the walls might be sagging and also a ceiling and some smaller bits and bobs e.g. small patch of damp. Sounds like pretty serious stuff (though nothing really visible to the naked eye, i.e. no big cracks in walls or anything like that.) Estate agent thinks some of it relates to 'improvements' that were made to the property before we bought it, e.g. two rooms were opened up into one. The house is 100 years old. Our survey didn't highlight any problems when we bought, but that was 10 years ago.

I don't mind too much if the buyers renegotiate the price, but apparently if work needs doing they will pull out. They are sending a builder round for 2 hours tomorrow to take a look.

If they pull out, what shall we do? We would really like to sell up as quickly as possible. Is an auction a good option? Or just drop the price and be up front with potential buyers about work that needs doing? We would rather not do the work ourselves. Just want to move on with our lives.

By way of background the house is in Dublin, fairly central, 2 beds, red brick, ok (not amazing) area, all the people who viewed it were first time buyers.

antoinolachtnai

They mean that the plaster is sagging?

It doesn't sound very serious to me.

Don't do any work yourselves.

A purchaser of an old house who doesn't think there's going to be any work to do is naive.

i would try to get your price if I were you.

If you want to sell as quickly as possible, explain this to your agent. The main thing is to find someone who can move quickly to purchase. The agent will advise you on the auction route. It just isn't a popular way to do it anymore.

Cuddlesworth

Thats pretty bad advise.

At the moment, banks will expect the purchaser to have the cash ready to fix the property, outside of the sale.

Builders costs are high right now, any quote to fix potential structural issues will also be high as a result.

Very few first time buyers will have that sort of cash on top of the deposit.

antoinolachtnai

But what is the issue here? Is it cosmetic? Or is this structural?

Sagging floors and ceilings could mean anything. If it is a lath and plaster wall or ceiling, it is most likely eventually going to sag. It doesn't mean there is anything wrong with the house.

On the other hand, if your house really is a doer-upper, you need to find a purchaser who is looking for a doer-upper. If the house really needs remedial structural work like putting in new beams, then getting what you need done will take you too long. The best thing is for a construction-minded purchaser will take it on.

Alkers

Who did the survey? If it's a surveyor and they suspect anything serious they will only recommend getting a structural engineer's assessment. Personally I wouldn't negotiate unless they had a structural engineers report identifying a particular issue which wouldn't be obvious to a layman during a viewing.
You could make this clear in any communication to the bidders, your happy for them to let builders etc mooch around and have a look but in that absence of a professional report identifying an issue the price is the price. Did you have much other interest during the sale?

voluntary

Was the wall which has been removed a structural by any chance? It seems like it could have been. If you move walls around in timber framed houses this is sometimes what you get in the years ahead.

Askthe EA

The other option is to get your own engineer to go through it. If he finds the same issues and is of the opinion they are a structural defect, well then a conversation needs to be had.

If he is of the opinion that these are cosmetic issues, you can push back at the purchasers with your own report. Might be the best €500 you ever spent!