roofline repair

We have just bought a bungalow with a slightly sagging roof. It was flagged up on our survey. We had a roofer look at it prior to purchase and he saw straight away what had caused the sagging. He reassured us that it was not a big problem. We had already fallen in love with the property, so we went ahead with the purchase. There were several other buyers wanting it, sagging or not.

Thank you Lynker. Thats reassuring - I might just hold out and see if they back down on the reduction. This has not been flagged up on a survey but by the architect they are employing to design an extension after the sale completion so im unsure as to how accurate the information is.

I would get some one to look at it and get an estimate for the cost and add it to the information pack

Hi aggie. Thank you for your reply. I agree that would seem to be a sensible solution however I live 120 miles away from the property so its not practicable for me to do that without some idea of the necessity.

First you need to find out why it is sagging. If it wasn't flagged up on the survey it sounds likely it will be insignificant. Anything structurally unsound would surely have been flagged up in the report.

Can you ask the person who carried out the survey to comment. If they can't or won't then I think you need to call a reputable roofing company and ask them to take a look. Perhaps the estate agent could let them in to save you the journey?

By the way, unless the property is huge I would have thought that £10K would be the cost of an entire re-roof.

I am not sure how much you can rely on surveys. We paid for a full survey on our last house and yet when we moved in and DH starting doing some of the renovating he found he needed to renew many lintels in the building etc. They don't inspect anywhere they cannot get to easily and neither do they move things!
I agree though that to get a roofer to have a careful look and an estimate of the cost would be a good idea both for yourself and any potential buyer.

Long distance ! Sounds like the buyers are taking a chance on you caving in , the Estate Agent could keep you right

I agree with Oriel....10k would go a long way towards a new roof. I think they are hoping that you are wanting a quick sale. Getting a roofer to check it out would give you the information you need to negotiate if needs be.

I would also ask your purchaser to get his architect to put in writing exactly what he feels is wrong with the roof that would justify a £10K reduction. I doubt very much that you will receive anything back.

My guess is that it may have been a throw away comment made whilst the architect was measuring up for the building work. The purchaser probably jumped on it as a good way of getting £10K towards his new extension!

Please don't agree to the anything without getting absolute proof in writing that there is a valid reason for such a reduction.

Often people will cite problems with roofing as there are few people who will actually climb up to inspect the roof themselves so it has an air of mystery to it. If they do climb up its not easy to ascertain what's nothing to worry about and what needs attention. A reputable roofer will provide a quote free of charge usually.

Instruct a surveyor to inspect the roof and make a report. Compared with the £10k reduction being asked for, the cost will be minimal. If the sale falls through, the surveyors report is there to be added to the sellers pack to obviate future problems.

Thank you for all your advice. I am at present waiting for a reply to an email to my estate agents requesting more concrete information than someones 'say so' before I make any decisions. Unfortunately my estate agents feel that I should accept the revised offer as ' we need to get this property sold'! There is no urgency on my part but clearly they want the property off their books asap. Im feeling coerced into accepting a lower offer at the moment so all your support and advice is very welcome. Thank you

You are the client, the agent is working for you. He should be getting the best deal for you, not getting the property off the books,. He must take your instructions.

Change estate agents. It is perfectly possible and I have done it on several house sales. If the first one is getting it moving, use another.

When I sold my house recently, I used an estate agent who negotiated with prospective buyers on my behalf. My buyers initially offered 10k below the asking price, he told them that I would not accept that and the house was worth the full asking price. They then upped their offer by 10k. I would change estate agents.