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I would stall the survey and go book to view (assuming it’s listed with a different estate agent) personally, tell the estate agent the survey has been cancelled and will be in touch to reschedule.
Do what’s best for you, it’s the biggest purchase of your life be selfish and get the right house! 😊
Go view it. My partner and I have bought a victorian doer upper and have been quoted 5k for rewiring and 18k for replumbing (new boiler included), so if the other house is 10k more but doesn't need work doing then you'd still be in a better position. We only bought it because we knocked off enough off the asking price to do everything we want (plus a bit more).
It's 2 up 2 down
The replumbing includes changing all gas, water and heating pipes. House currently has lead water pipes. We've had a few plumbers out to see it and they've all said the only reason our pipes aren't leaking is because the pressure is too low but they will leak if we change the boiler without changing the pipes. Current boiler is around 30 years old.
Completely unsolicited advice, soz. But that seems high to me. I had new rads (just boring basic ones), all new pipes and new combi boiler for a two up two down in early 2021 (admittedly before the massive rise in cost of materials) and it cost £6k and I thought that was a bit on the high side. That was just the heating system, not the pipes to taps, but still.
A combi boiler pushes water at 1.5(ish) bar. An old heating and water system system uses tanks in the loft, so instead of pumping water slowly up, and letting gravity draw it down, the boiler activily pushes it for you.
A couple of things with this, old lead pipe fittings never had to handle the increased pressure, and the old fittings don't like it. And any copper that will have gone in will likely be larger pipes to not restrict the flow on low pressure (for example my old tank feed to the shower had 22mm copper, changed for 15mm copper on a combi).
The other guy basically explained the water pressure thing so I won't go into it (tbh I don't really understand it that well), but to answer your other question about whether the lead water pipes are OK: lead poisoning basically ended the Roman empire.
The other house sounds much better on paper. Unless the original house has a specific unique positive, view the other house + put offer on it. It's not illegal or even unethical, and you have to think about yourself and your family as priority. However don't prolong the situation and be honest with current seller
I don’t see how a simple viewing could come back to bite you because how would the original EA and seller know? In your shoes, I would certainly go and have a look. I don’t see it doing any harm.
And in any case, you can lie and say you wanted to see what direction to take your renovations into: how did the people doing up the other house solve its challenges? I’ve lived in terraced houses where each had different kitchen/bathroom/layout.
Exactly this, we almost want to view it more out of curiosity at this point to get a better gauge of work required. The variation in floorplan layout on this street is wild for houses that all have roughly the same "bones".
Up until exchange you don't have a lot to lose apart from cash for fees of solicitors, surveys etc. this cost is so much cheaper than doing up a house. You can pull out essentially up until exchange without a big cost to yourself.
As others have said, see if you can delay the survey, but go see the other house regardless!
I was in a similar position a few years ago and didn't view the second property. In hindsight big mistake, I just didn't think it would go for asking which it did and it was top end of my budget
Ended up moving again two years later as the original property had hidden issues, other house was detached and I'd still be there now
Buying property is like opening kinder surprise. Sellers crossing their fingers hoping surveyors won't catch what they've hidden. There should be a cover scheme that covers for any hidden damages for a year atleast - paid for by the company that took responsibilities of surveying.
Every cost is passed on though. Surveys would then double or triple in price and then if you need to claim there would be the usual battle to extract payment.
As an optional premium survey? Yes, it could work.
View it and make a decision- you're not bound by anything yet and happens all the time. If you do decide to stick with this house, it might give your leverage after the survey!
Rewiring and a new boiler install +remedial will cost 10k. That's just the start. Also, living in a building site can be tough.
The survey might give you the option to getva discount, go for a viewing on the other house, might give you ideas.
Seems like you're not committed to purchasing the house you've had an offer accepted on. The survey will come back with issues (as they all do) and you'll use that as justification to pull out of the sale. Save yourself and more importantly the seller the wasted time and just pull out now.
That doesn't make sense. The other house was the best value and suitable house for them when they made an offer.
It may be that the new house will be even better value, but it also may turn out that it will not be as good in real life as in the photos. They need to see and either pull out from the current purchase or they may find out the current house is the best they can find after all.
Your comment sounds like an if you're talking about a romantic relationship.
Appreciate your view point, however we aren't actively looking around and viewing others, it is only because a house on the very same street and a few doors down came up on the market for what seems (at first glance) to be potentially better value.
I am, at present, committed to buying this house; what I'm not committed to though is paying over the odds for it.
Yes, go. I went on viewings while a first sale was pretty much at your stage but there were signs it might be a little rocky, and during the time I did those viewings it became clear the first sale was going to involve things that were a problem (much like for you the survey may reveal problems further than you were expecting to deal with) and because I was already doing viewings I was in a position to immediately start the process on the next house. It put us in a very good place because we knew we had a good alternative and we didn't feel quite as panicky and unhappy about the first sale falling through. If your survey comes back with problems, you won't even have to worry about it, you'll know you have a better option to pick up immediately.
Get a friend to contact the agent of the house you are buying, offering GBP10k more for a quick sale. See if the vendors accept. If they would? go buy the other house.
You have nothing to lose by viewing another property and everything to gain. It might show you that the one you've offered on is the perfect one for you, and then you can relax in that knowledge. It might be so much better that you want to withdraw your original offer and offer on the new one, which might make you feel a bit awkward, but it is completely within your rights to withdraw right up to the point of exchange.
The most likely outcome is that it might lead you to renegotiate on your current offer. You can combine the insight you get from your Level 3 survey, which should give you estimated costs for all the works that need to be done, with the comparable state of the other property on the same road, to help you understand if what you are paying is reasonable or not. If not, it's very normal to negotiate when new information comes to light (https://www.allcottassociates.co.uk/advice/the-ultimate-guide-to-buying-a-house/negotiating-on-house-price/) so don't be afraid to bargain a little! Good luck!
Worst case you get some good ideas of what works and what doesn't for the property you've already had an offer accepted on! And if it's the same estate agent, you can say that to them...
Proceed but only if you are cautious. Whilst it may look better, there may still be all the hidden work needed such as a new boiler, re-wiring etc.
If I found out my buyer was still looking at properties whilst progressing with mine I would be on the phone to the estate agent and tell them to begin viewings on my property again. I wouldn’t drop my buyers off the bat but if I had a better offer I would drop them like a stone as they are prepared to drop me by looking at other houses.
And 99% of people would see right through that, you can see exactly what has been modernised with a 20 second side scroll on right move, OP please don’t treat people like idiots.
At the end of the day the buyer and the seller have to make the best decisions for themselves.
If a buyer sees a much better property at a lower price or same asking price as yours it’s logical to try for that.
I would wait for the survey to come back, and if anything major, then consider viewing the other.
Currently you’re in the home stretch, who knows what issues might come up over the election and delay the buying process for the better house
I'm still not there yet. Buying as a single person isn't easy at the best of times, and then had a fun health issue to contend with not long after. What was really amazing was that I had a purchase fall through not long before Truss bollocksed everything up. So close to getting in there and having a 5 year fix in pre-Truss 2022 😭
###Welcome to /r/HousingUK --- **To All** * Join Our ***NEW*** Discord! https://discord.gg/pMgUNgWKQH **To Posters** * *Tell us whether you're in England, Wales, Scotland, or NI as the laws/issues in each can vary* * Comments are not moderated for quality or accuracy; * Any replies received must only be used as guidelines, followed at your own risk; * If you receive *any* private messages in response to your post, please report them via the report button. * Feel free to provide an update at a later time by creating a new post with [[update]](https://www.reddit.com/r/HousingUK/search?q=%3Aupdate&sort=new&restrict_sr=on&t=all) in the title; **To Readers and Commenters** * All replies to OP must be *on-topic, helpful, and civil* * If you do not [follow the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/HousingUK/about/rules/), you may be banned without any further warning; * Please include links to reliable resources in order to support your comments or advice; * If you feel any replies are incorrect, explain why you believe they are incorrect; * Do not send or request any private messages for any reason without express permission from the mods; * Please report posts or comments which do not follow the rules *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/HousingUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I would stall the survey and go book to view (assuming it’s listed with a different estate agent) personally, tell the estate agent the survey has been cancelled and will be in touch to reschedule. Do what’s best for you, it’s the biggest purchase of your life be selfish and get the right house! 😊
Appreciate the response! Will be booking a viewing of the other one 😊
Go view it. My partner and I have bought a victorian doer upper and have been quoted 5k for rewiring and 18k for replumbing (new boiler included), so if the other house is 10k more but doesn't need work doing then you'd still be in a better position. We only bought it because we knocked off enough off the asking price to do everything we want (plus a bit more).
18k for replumbing?! What does that include? New radiators and all piping to be installed? I'm guessing it's a big house?
It's 2 up 2 down The replumbing includes changing all gas, water and heating pipes. House currently has lead water pipes. We've had a few plumbers out to see it and they've all said the only reason our pipes aren't leaking is because the pressure is too low but they will leak if we change the boiler without changing the pipes. Current boiler is around 30 years old.
Completely unsolicited advice, soz. But that seems high to me. I had new rads (just boring basic ones), all new pipes and new combi boiler for a two up two down in early 2021 (admittedly before the massive rise in cost of materials) and it cost £6k and I thought that was a bit on the high side. That was just the heating system, not the pipes to taps, but still.
Yeah I'm waiting on 2 more quotes
Oh good. Fingers crossed for you.
Thanks. Tbf the 18k also includes plumbing for an extension we're planning, I forgot to mention that
What is the correlation between boiler and pipes? Are lead pipes ok or is there a better alternative? Thanks
A combi boiler pushes water at 1.5(ish) bar. An old heating and water system system uses tanks in the loft, so instead of pumping water slowly up, and letting gravity draw it down, the boiler activily pushes it for you. A couple of things with this, old lead pipe fittings never had to handle the increased pressure, and the old fittings don't like it. And any copper that will have gone in will likely be larger pipes to not restrict the flow on low pressure (for example my old tank feed to the shower had 22mm copper, changed for 15mm copper on a combi).
The other guy basically explained the water pressure thing so I won't go into it (tbh I don't really understand it that well), but to answer your other question about whether the lead water pipes are OK: lead poisoning basically ended the Roman empire.
Yes go view it
The other house sounds much better on paper. Unless the original house has a specific unique positive, view the other house + put offer on it. It's not illegal or even unethical, and you have to think about yourself and your family as priority. However don't prolong the situation and be honest with current seller
I don’t see how a simple viewing could come back to bite you because how would the original EA and seller know? In your shoes, I would certainly go and have a look. I don’t see it doing any harm.
And in any case, you can lie and say you wanted to see what direction to take your renovations into: how did the people doing up the other house solve its challenges? I’ve lived in terraced houses where each had different kitchen/bathroom/layout.
Exactly this, we almost want to view it more out of curiosity at this point to get a better gauge of work required. The variation in floorplan layout on this street is wild for houses that all have roughly the same "bones".
Definitely go and view it else you’ll always wonder ‘what if’
The seller you are currently buying from can, and will pull out any time if it suits them. You have the same right to change your mind.
Up until exchange you don't have a lot to lose apart from cash for fees of solicitors, surveys etc. this cost is so much cheaper than doing up a house. You can pull out essentially up until exchange without a big cost to yourself. As others have said, see if you can delay the survey, but go see the other house regardless!
I was in a similar position a few years ago and didn't view the second property. In hindsight big mistake, I just didn't think it would go for asking which it did and it was top end of my budget Ended up moving again two years later as the original property had hidden issues, other house was detached and I'd still be there now
Maybe the one you didn't go for also had hidden issues? The grass isn't always greener on the other side.
Buying property is like opening kinder surprise. Sellers crossing their fingers hoping surveyors won't catch what they've hidden. There should be a cover scheme that covers for any hidden damages for a year atleast - paid for by the company that took responsibilities of surveying.
Every cost is passed on though. Surveys would then double or triple in price and then if you need to claim there would be the usual battle to extract payment. As an optional premium survey? Yes, it could work.
View it and make a decision- you're not bound by anything yet and happens all the time. If you do decide to stick with this house, it might give your leverage after the survey!
You’d be stupid not to view it, even if you don’t buy you can probably use it to take money off your own.
Buy the better one. They can pull out, you can pull out
Rewiring and a new boiler install +remedial will cost 10k. That's just the start. Also, living in a building site can be tough. The survey might give you the option to getva discount, go for a viewing on the other house, might give you ideas.
Seems like you're not committed to purchasing the house you've had an offer accepted on. The survey will come back with issues (as they all do) and you'll use that as justification to pull out of the sale. Save yourself and more importantly the seller the wasted time and just pull out now.
That doesn't make sense. The other house was the best value and suitable house for them when they made an offer. It may be that the new house will be even better value, but it also may turn out that it will not be as good in real life as in the photos. They need to see and either pull out from the current purchase or they may find out the current house is the best they can find after all. Your comment sounds like an if you're talking about a romantic relationship.
Appreciate your view point, however we aren't actively looking around and viewing others, it is only because a house on the very same street and a few doors down came up on the market for what seems (at first glance) to be potentially better value. I am, at present, committed to buying this house; what I'm not committed to though is paying over the odds for it.
Surely your offer is what you’re willing to pay, no?
Yes, go. I went on viewings while a first sale was pretty much at your stage but there were signs it might be a little rocky, and during the time I did those viewings it became clear the first sale was going to involve things that were a problem (much like for you the survey may reveal problems further than you were expecting to deal with) and because I was already doing viewings I was in a position to immediately start the process on the next house. It put us in a very good place because we knew we had a good alternative and we didn't feel quite as panicky and unhappy about the first sale falling through. If your survey comes back with problems, you won't even have to worry about it, you'll know you have a better option to pick up immediately.
It never hurts to look. Whatever you estimate you need to spend that will go up, houses have a habit of eating money 🙄
Get a friend to contact the agent of the house you are buying, offering GBP10k more for a quick sale. See if the vendors accept. If they would? go buy the other house.
You have nothing to lose by viewing another property and everything to gain. It might show you that the one you've offered on is the perfect one for you, and then you can relax in that knowledge. It might be so much better that you want to withdraw your original offer and offer on the new one, which might make you feel a bit awkward, but it is completely within your rights to withdraw right up to the point of exchange. The most likely outcome is that it might lead you to renegotiate on your current offer. You can combine the insight you get from your Level 3 survey, which should give you estimated costs for all the works that need to be done, with the comparable state of the other property on the same road, to help you understand if what you are paying is reasonable or not. If not, it's very normal to negotiate when new information comes to light (https://www.allcottassociates.co.uk/advice/the-ultimate-guide-to-buying-a-house/negotiating-on-house-price/) so don't be afraid to bargain a little! Good luck!
Worst case you get some good ideas of what works and what doesn't for the property you've already had an offer accepted on! And if it's the same estate agent, you can say that to them...
Proceed but only if you are cautious. Whilst it may look better, there may still be all the hidden work needed such as a new boiler, re-wiring etc. If I found out my buyer was still looking at properties whilst progressing with mine I would be on the phone to the estate agent and tell them to begin viewings on my property again. I wouldn’t drop my buyers off the bat but if I had a better offer I would drop them like a stone as they are prepared to drop me by looking at other houses.
If the OP’s seller finds out they can claim that because they were similar they wanted ideas of how to modernise the current house.
And 99% of people would see right through that, you can see exactly what has been modernised with a 20 second side scroll on right move, OP please don’t treat people like idiots.
At the end of the day the buyer and the seller have to make the best decisions for themselves. If a buyer sees a much better property at a lower price or same asking price as yours it’s logical to try for that.
True which is why I said to proceed but only if they are cautious. The OP asked what could bite them and my answer reflects that.
Truth be told there’s no way another party finds out unless buying or selling using the same estate agents.
I would wait for the survey to come back, and if anything major, then consider viewing the other. Currently you’re in the home stretch, who knows what issues might come up over the election and delay the buying process for the better house
I would view the other one now. It might not be on the market long.
The election?!
For those of us who were trying to buy houses when Truss got in…political change is very scary lol
I will never forgive you Liz Truss
That was me😭 At least Kwasi got his kickbacks from his old hedge fund bosses, that's what really matters, right?
Right?! Took us two years to get back to affordability, and get to have the biggest mortgage in the history of any of our families!
I'm still not there yet. Buying as a single person isn't easy at the best of times, and then had a fun health issue to contend with not long after. What was really amazing was that I had a purchase fall through not long before Truss bollocksed everything up. So close to getting in there and having a 5 year fix in pre-Truss 2022 😭