There are many ups and downs throughout the property selling process and several milestones to meet before moving. A key element is the survey report. This usually marks the point that the buyer's finances are in place, they are happy with the property, and they are keen to keep moving towards a completion day.
But what if the survey report doesn't go as you had hoped? After all, a surveyor's job is to find problems, right? So we shouldn't be surprised when issues are found, but it is still a shock when the buyer calls with concerns raised in the survey. How should you handle this part of the process?
The aim is to keep your sale together, and whilst a survey report can throw a spanner in the works, it doesn't have to mean that the sale collapses. Your first port of call is to fully understand the issues, and then you can decide how best to resolve them. Ideally, your buyer would share the report with you so that you can establish exactly what points in the survey your buyer is concerned about. Once you know what points have been raised, you can formulate a plan to deal with it and keep your sale on track.
Understanding how your buyer feels about the survey and what they are thinking is important. Are they looking for a reduction or renegotiation on the price, or are they concerned about some maintenance they weren't expecting? Here are your options for dealing with this situation.
- Accept —You could accept whatever reduction the survey recommends. This is usually a financial figure in the form of a price reduction for the purchase.
- Renegotiate - as you will probably have found when negotiating the offers in the first place, many elements are involved in the negotiation process, not just money. It could be possible to negotiate a new deal with your existing buyer to alleviate their concerns that do not necessarily involve you reducing your sale price. After all, a surveyor can only estimate the cost of repairs - you could get quotes from contractors to give your buyers a clear idea of what is expected and the work and costs involved.
- Do the work - You could arrange for repairs to be done to the property before the completion of the sale rather than reduce the sale price. This is likely cheaper for you in the long run, and your buyer will appreciate moving straight into the property without having to do any unexpected work.
- Do nothing — You could refuse to change or amend anything and see if your buyer will continue with the purchase. There is obviously a risk that the buyer will choose to withdraw from the purchase, and you will be left to find another buyer. This could be particularly problematic if you are in a chain of connected property sales.
In an ideal world, your buyer's survey will show no issues, but realistically, the older a property is, the more likely concerns will be raised. But these are simply to inform the buyer about the property, not necessarily to pull it to pieces. So, most property surveys will find something - the key is to figure out how to ensure that your buyers are confident with the purchase and still want to proceed with the deal.
If you need more help handling a survey issue in your property sale, contact our team of property professionals. They are experts at navigating the delicate property sale process.
