Preparing for the buyer's survey
A survey is where a sale is most often renegotiated. Knowing what it will find before the buyer does is how you avoid it.
Almost every mortgage purchase involves a survey, and the survey is the point at which a price most often changes. The buyer commissions it, reads it, and uses anything significant as the basis for a reduction — at a stage where you have already turned other buyers away.
The defence is preparation. Most of what a survey reports is predictable, and much of it can be established, explained or resolved before the buyer's surveyor arrives.
What a survey typically reports
Surveyors work to a standard format, and the same items appear repeatedly in older properties.
- Roof condition, including flashings, valleys and chimney stacks
- Damp and its likely cause, which is the most common basis for a reduction
- Timber decay, particularly around roof timbers and ground-floor joists
- The condition of the electrical installation, and whether an EICR is recommended
- The age and condition of the heating system
- Subsidence or structural movement, and whether monitoring is advised
- Drainage, which is often inspected and sometimes defective
- Asbestos, which will be flagged as a possibility in any pre-2000 property
Pre-empting the renegotiation
A buyer who discovers a defect in a survey feels justified in asking for money. A buyer who was told about it at the viewing, with an explanation and any supporting report, has far less room to do so.
- Obtain your own survey before marketing, particularly on an older property
- Resolve anything with a known cost and a known contractor, rather than discounting for it
- Provide reports and guarantees for any work you have had done
- Disclose known issues at the viewing, with the context and any quote you hold
- Have the EICR, gas safety certificate and any guarantees ready to hand over
If a reduction is requested
Where a survey does produce a request for a reduction, deal with it on the evidence rather than on the negotiation. Ask for the specific finding and a quote for the work, and compare it against your own knowledge of the property.
A small, well-evidenced concession frequently preserves a sale that would otherwise fall through, and the cost of a fall-through is usually greater than the concession. But a request unsupported by evidence should be resisted, because agreeing to it invites a further request.
Common questions
- Should I get a survey before selling my house?
- On an older property, usually yes. It costs a few hundred pounds and it lets you resolve, explain or price the issues before a buyer's surveyor finds them. A buyer who was told about a problem has far less room to renegotiate than one who discovers it, and the renegotiation is where sales are lost.
- Can a buyer reduce their offer after a survey?
- Yes, until contracts are exchanged there is no binding agreement and either party can walk away or renegotiate. That is why preparing for the survey matters. Once contracts are exchanged the price is fixed, and a buyer who tries to reduce it after exchange is in breach of contract.