Can I use my survey to negotiate a lower price for the house?
Updated: 1 day ago
The short answer here is yes. As long as you have not yet signed contracts you can attempt to renegotiate a lower price than the one you went Sale Agreed on. However, the vendor does not have to accept a new offer.
There is a general view that because it is a "sellers market" it is not worth attempting to renegotiate. However, of our customers who attempt to renegotiate or ask the vendor to fix an issue or defect before closing, about 50% are successful.
Purpose of Sale Agreed
To get to Sale Agreed, you have offered a price for the house which has been accepted by the vendor. You've offered this price based only on information the estate agent has disclosed to you and what you could see during your short viewing.
In Ireland, the vendor does not have to disclose any issues to you before you buy. So while you are Sale Agreed, it is then your responsibility to do your own due diligence on the property. You do this by hiring a surveyor to conduct a Pre Purchase Survey and hiring a solicitor to investigate and confirm that the title is in good order and also by doing your own additional research on the house and area.
If while doing your due diligence you discover a serious or costly issue that was not disclosed to you by the estate agent/vendor, you have 4 options:
1) Attempt to renegotiate the Sale Agreed price
2) Ask the vendor to fix the issues
3) Continue with the purchase at the Sale Agreed price
4) Pull out of the purchase
If it is a case where the issue/defect was not disclosed to you by the agent, it would be very reasonable to review the offer you made and attempt to renegotiate or ask the vendor to fix the issues to continue with the purchase at the Sale Agreed price.
It is important to remember that Sale Agreed is NOT legally binding. So either party can pull out at any time for any reason.
What would the issue or defect need to be for it to be reasonable to try and renegotiate?
Firstly you have to remember that every single second hand home you buy will have issues and defects. You are not going to be buying a perfect home. So asking the vendor to patch up paint, fix door handles, chipped tiles etc. would generally be considered very unreasonable.
However, if the issue is on the serious, urgent or costly side and/or if it is a health and safety issues they it would be very reasonable to attempt to renegotiate if the issue/defect has not been disclosed to you before you bid and went Sale Agreed.
Examples of these kinds of issues can include:
Structural defects
Roof issues
Damp/Mould Issues
Leaks
Drain blockages
Unserviced boilers
What can you ask the vendor to do if there are issues on the survey which were not disclosed to you before going Sale Agreed?
As covered above, you have 2 possible approaches:
1) To agree on a lower offer than Sale Agreed
If you went Sale Agreed for €400k and you discovered the house needs a new roof that will cost €30k. You can tell the agent that based on what your surveyor has discovered, you are lowering your offer to €370k as you were not aware the property needed a new roof.
The agent is then required to bring your new offer to the vendor. The vendor can then either accept, decline to negotiate or attempt to meet you in the middle somewhere.
If they decline and will still only accept €400k or if they come back with a counter offer to meet you in the middle, you need to make a decision on how you want to proceed.
2) To Fix the Issue/Defect
You can also say that you are willing to continue with the purchase at the Sale Agreed price, but you want the vendor to fix the issue/defect before closing.
If they do agreed fix an issue/defect, make sure your solicitor is informed so they can build this into the contract if necessary.
As above, you do need to be reasonable with this approach and not ask for a list of minor defects, cosmetic issues that are generally accepted with buying a second hand home.
What are the chances of the vendor agreeing to renegotiate or fix the issue?
Once you are reasonable with your request, our customers have about a 50% success rate of either renegotiating the price or having the vendor fix the issue/defect. So it is definitely worth doing.
Remember, most vendors are just regular people and very reasonable to deal with. So once you are reasonable, they will be too.
What if the vendor refuses to renegotiate the price or fix the issue?
Then you are left with 2 choices:
1) Continue with the purchase at the Sale Agreed price
2) Pull out of the sale and get your booking deposit back.
Is there a risk the vendor can pull out of the sale if I try to renegotiate?
Technically yes. Until the contracts are signed, the vendor can pull out of the sale at any time for any reason. So if they don't want to renegotiate or fix any issues they would just get the agent to tell you that. Then the choice is still yours on whether or not you want to continue with the purchase.
How should I approach the agent?
Factually, timely honest and put it in writing. So as soon as possibly after the survey, you should email the agent explaining the situation and what your offer/request for the vendor is. Here is an example of a email.
Asking the Vendor to Repair a Defect
Dear <agent name>
Thank you for facilitating access to our surveyor to conduct a survey of <address>.
During the survey, our surveyor identified several defects. One of which was a leak related to damage to the roof which he has classed as urgent and advised that it should be repaired ASAP. We are still keen to proceed with the purchase, but we would like the roof to be repaired along with any damage caused by the leak before closing.
Could you please pass this request onto the vendor.
Kind Regards,
<name(s)>
Renegotiating Price
Dear <agent name>
Thank you for facilitating access to our surveyor to conduct a survey of <address>.
During the survey, our surveyor identified several defects. One of which was classed as serious/urgent and was related to the roof where the roof timbers are badly rotted and need to be fully replaced.
We have asked a roofing contractor to review the surveyor findings and they have advised the works would cost approximately €15,000.
We are still keen to proceed with the purchase, however upon bidding for the property, we were not aware that the roof was in such bad condition. This is work which we will need to carry out immediately after moving in. So to continue with the purchase and cover the cost of this work we are reducing our offer from €300,000 to €285,000.
Could you kindly pass this new offer to the vendor along with the background of the situation.
Kind Regards,
<name(s)>
Can the agent refuse to pass the new offer or request to fix the issue onto the vendor?
Absolutely not. The Estate Agent is required to pass ALL offers onto the vendor.
They can (and should) offer their advice to the vendor on how to proceed. But the decision is ultimately with the vendor, not the agent and so the agent must pass any offers to them.
Some estate agents will try to give you the impression that a Sale Agreed price can not be changed. They are wrong.
This is why it is important to keep everything in writing (email). If they refuse, simply reply with. "Thank you for your email. Could you kindly pass my new offer/request onto the vendor.".
Will I lose my booking deposit if I pull out of the purchase during Sale Agreed?
No. As long as you have not signed contracts, you can pull out of the sale for any reason and get your booking deposit back.
Can I show my survey to the agent?
Yes. If it helps give context of he issues you are negotiating on then there is no issue with sharing the survey.
Some buyers choose to only show the relevant page/section to the estate agent, rather than the whole survey. Once it gives them the background and context of the issue/defect, then that should be fine too.
When should I book my survey?
As early as possible in Sale Agreed!
There are different views on this, but ultimately if there are any issues, you want to know about them as early as possible after going Sale Agreed. Not a few days before you sign contracts!
That way, you can make an informed decision on how to proceed without being under pressure to sign contracts and you are also being fair to the vendors by raising the matter early.
At GetHouseSurvey.ie we specialise in conducting pre purchase surveys for buyers. Our reports clearly outline how serious/urgent any defects are so you'll be confident in your approach and can buy with confidence.
If you are Sale Agreed, book your survey now by heading over to GetHouseSurvey.ie or click the button below.
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